Spring course: Global Politics Through Film

I am again teaching Global Politics Through Film, but this time it is targeted to a 300-level undergraduate audience (POLS 360). It meets Tuesday-Thursday at 4 pm until 5:15. I've taught it previously as a 500-level course open to advanced undergrads and master's students, as a version of the senior capstone seminar for the department, and as an Honors seminar.

The first session was Tuesday and the class is mostly constituted by sophomores and juniors in Political Science, though it also includes at least one student from the Film Studies minor.  A couple of the students clearly have a good deal of experience thinking about film, which should be helpful to the rest of us. There are currently only 11 students so I would like to attract a few more this week before enrollments close on Friday. 

In mid-December, enrollment was closer to 15, so I fear that the omicron variant has pushed students online. If anyone is on the fence about spring courses, the classroom is very large and there is plenty of room for social distancing.

On Tuesday, we basically covered the syllabus, which can be found here. Mostly, we're studying films and covering topics that previous versions of the course have trod -- though the course content has improved significantly over the years. In 2006, in retrospect, I really didn't know much about what I was doing. 

I have adopted three new films: Green Zone, to discuss the selling of the Iraq war, Wonder Woman, to study gender themes in IR, and Eye in the Sky, to address the ongoing "drone war" in American Foreign Policy. 

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Spring Course: Intro to IR (POLS 330)

For the first time since 1996, I'll be teaching a section of the department's Introduction to International Relations (POLS 330). Since then, the unit made this a required class for certain tracks in the major. I've taught the graduate version of the class for decades, so it was really a matter of deciding what to teach to undergraduates -- and what to assign for readings/exams/papers.

I'm adding a link to my new (still draft) syllabus in case any students want to check it out. Class begins next Tuesday, January 11. There are no required textbooks -- all the readings will be available via Blackboard. 

Comments about topics or readings from fellow academics are welcome. I decided not to cover constructivism overtly though some ideas will sneak in various topics. 

Right now, only 14 students are enrolled, but the classroom could easily accommodate double that number without major concerns about physical distancing. I think students benefit in small sections, but it will remain relatively small even if it ends up with 25 students.

Online sections of department classes are mostly full, so I suspect the pandemic is having an effect on in-person enrollments. While a couple of students in my classes last semester reported positive tests, there were no outbreaks and I hope everyone generally felt safe. With masking required and distancing made possible by a large classroom -- plus a 90%+ rate of campus vaccination, I did not feel especially threatened. 

Update: Because of omicron, I'm not going to count attendance as part of the course grade. 

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