International Affairs
Chair: Bob Mandel
Administrative Coordinator: Tracy Robinette
International affairs encompasses political, military, economic, legal, and cultural relations involving states, nations, international and nongovernmental organizations, and transnational groups. Study in this discipline explores how international actors, the international system, and states’ domestic environments individually and collectively affect the prospects for conflict and cooperation. Academic work focuses in particular on foreign policy, national security, international law, international economic relations, and national political and economic development.
Often, this field of study is contained within a political science department. Lewis & Clark’s freestanding Department of International Affairs provides an opportunity to study the multiple dimensions of international relations in greater conceptual and empirical depth and breadth. It also allows students to integrate courses and insights from other disciplines into the major.
The department offers a rigorous and challenging conceptually oriented curriculum that introduces students to core ideas in the study of international relations, as well as the tools and methods of the social sciences and other disciplines. Students gain the analytical and methodological skills necessary to make informed judgments about the sources, significance, and consequences of diverse developments, as well as a solid empirical grounding in the field.
The department sponsors several extracurricular activities for students interested in international relations. The annual International Affairs Symposium, a three-day event organized by students, hosts academic and policy experts who debate aspects of a chosen topic in the field. Majors also participate in an active Model United Nations. The Meridian, a student-run journal, offers students a forum in which to publish their own essays and photographs related to international affairs.
Resources for Nonmajors
An understanding of international affairs is important to each student’s growth as an individual and as a citizen of an increasingly interdependent world. A number of courses in the department are accessible to nonmajors without prerequisites. Introduction to International Relations (IA 100) gives the best general introduction to the field as a whole. Nonmajors are welcome to participate in the department’s extracurricular activities.
The Major Program
Majors in international affairs are required to take six core courses as well as an elective in each of five subject areas. Each student works with an advisor to construct a program appropriate to his/her intellectual interests and career goals.
IA 100 Introduction to International Relations should be taken early in the student’s academic career. This course provides an overview of the central concepts used in understanding international relations and is a prerequisite for most of the courses in the department. Students are advised to complete ECON 100 Principles of Economics, POLS 102 Introduction to Comparative Politics, and IA 212 United States Foreign Policy, ideally by the end of their second year. These courses introduce students to important concepts and empirical information that inform upper-level courses. Normally, research methods and the three other subject-area classes should be completed in the third year. IA 310 International Relations Theories usually should be taken in the semester preceding the one in which the student takes IA 430 International Affairs Seminar. Students are urged to complete all other departmental requirements prior to enrolling in the seminar.
In addition to the course requirements, majors are encouraged to develop an academic program that enables them to study at least one language other than English beyond the 201 level, participate in an off-campus program, and take courses in other disciplines appropriate to individual intellectual interests and career goals. Majors are also encouraged to couple their coursework with practical learning that includes, for example, internships in Portland and elsewhere with government and nongovernmental organizations. These opportunities may be pursued during the academic year and/or the summer months.
The major’s diverse course offerings and opportunities create many career paths. Some majors decide to pursue further academic study and enter graduate and professional programs. Others find employment in public service, journalism, education, business, humanitarian work, international organizations, and local and national government.
The international affairs curriculum is organized into core courses and subject areas. (See lists below.) See appropriate department listings for course descriptions.
Major Requirements
A minimum of 44 semester credits (11 courses), distributed as follows:
- IA 100 Introduction to International Relations
- IA 212 United States Foreign Policy
- IA 310 International Relations Theories
- IA 430 International Affairs Seminar
- ECON 100 Principles of Economics
- POLS 102 Introduction to Comparative Politics
-
One elective course from each of the following departmental subject areas: comparative and regional perspectives; global security, conflict, and diplomacy; global governance; and economic perspectives.
-
One additional elective course from the research methods category, or an additional course from any of the following categories: comparative and regional perspectives; global security, conflict, and diplomacy; global governance; and economic perspectives.
A maximum of four courses from outside the IA department may be used toward the major. Special exception may be made by the department for courses from other institutions submitted by transfer students, and for courses taken on Lewis & Clark overseas programs.
Core Courses
International Affairs
| Introduction to International Relations | ||
| United States Foreign Policy | ||
| International Relations Theories | ||
| International Affairs Seminar |
Economics
| Principles of Economics |
Political Science
| Introduction to Comparative Politics |
Comparative and Regional Perspectives
International Affairs
| Global South | ||
| African Politics | ||
| Latin American Politics | ||
| Southeast Asian Politics | ||
| Middle East Politics | ||
| Democratization |
History
| Modern European History | ||
| Modern Latin American History | ||
| The Emergence of Modern South Asia | ||
| The British Empire |
Political Science
| Transitions to Democracy and Authoritarianism | ||
| Russian Politics in Comparative Perspective | ||
| European Politics | ||
| Topics in Comparative Politics |
Sociology and Anthropology
| Social Change in Latin America | ||
| Global Inequality |
Global Security, Conflict, and Diplomacy
International Affairs
| Global Resource Dilemmas | ||
| Resistance and Resilience in Civil Conflict | ||
| Studies of Diplomacy | ||
| Global Security | ||
| Perception and International Relations | ||
| Global Order |
Global Governance
International Affairs
| International Organization | ||
| Religion & Global Politics | ||
| Human Rights in International Relations | ||
| International Ethics | ||
| Crises in Global Governance | ||
| International Law | ||
| Politics of Humanitarian Intervention & Violence |
Economic Perspectives
International Affairs
| Political Economy of Development | ||
| Multinational Corporations | ||
| International Political Economy | ||
| Social Justice in the Global Economy |
Economics
| Economic Development | ||
| International Finance |
Research Methods
Economics
| Statistics |
Mathematics
MATH 105 Perspectives in Statistics
Sociology and Anthropology
| Ethnographic Research Methods | ||
| Quantitative Research Methods |
Honors
The honors program is based on the thesis. All international affairs majors who have a GPA of 3.700 or higher in the major are eligible. Students whose theses are judged by department faculty to be of superior quality, originality, and insight will receive the award of honors upon graduation.
Faculty
Elizabeth A. Bennett. Joseph M. Ha Associate Professor of International Affairs, director of the political economy program. International political economy, global social movements, voluntary social/environmental regulation, international development global governance. PhD 2014, AM 2010 Brown University. MALD 2008 Fletcher School, Tufts University. BA 2002 Hope College.
Suparna Chaudhry. Assistant professor of international affairs. Human rights, international law, political violence, nongovernmental organizations and civil society, South Asian politics. PhD 2016, MPhil 2014 Yale University. MA 2010 University of Chicago. BA 2009 St. Stephen's College, University of Delhi.
Kyle M. Lascurettes. Associate professor of international affairs. International relations theory, international order and global governance, international security, American foreign policy. PhD 2012, MA 2006 University of Virginia. BA 2004 St. Lawrence University.
Bob Mandel. Professor of international affairs and department chair. Conflict and security, global resource issues, transnational studies, psychological aspects of international affairs, research methods, international relations theory. PhD 1976, MPhil 1975, MA 1974 Yale University. AB 1972 Brown University.
Matt Scroggs. Assistant professor with term of international affairs. International security, coercive diplomacy, American foreign policy. PhD 2017 University of Virginia. AM 2010 University of Chicago. BA 2008 University of Washington.
Courses
IA 100 Introduction to International Relations
Content: An introduction to a conceptual, analytical, and historical understanding of international relations. Emphasis on the international system and the opportunities and constraints it places on state and nonstate behavior. Cooperation and conflict, sovereignty, the rich-poor gap, determinants of national power, interdependence, the process of globalization, international institutions, and the role of transnational phenomena. Designed for students who have no previous background in the study of international relations.
Prerequisites: None.
Usually offered: Annually, fall and spring semester.
Semester credits: 4.
IA 211 International Organization
Content: Examines attempts at governance in the international system, including the birth of the modern state system, the United Nations, and other international organizations. Explores competing explanations for global cooperation in conflict management, economics, and human rights.
Prerequisites: IA 100.
Usually offered: Annually, spring semester.
Semester credits: 4.
IA 212 United States Foreign Policy
Content: An overview of contemporary U.S. foreign policy from a historical and theoretical perspective. International, domestic, bureaucratic, and individual determinants of policy-making. New challenges and prospects for U.S. foreign policy in the post-Cold War era.
Prerequisites: IA 100.
Usually offered: Annually, fall and spring semester.
Semester credits: 4.
IA 220 Global South
Content: Explores important themes across countries in the Global South, including variation in conflict and peace, democracy and authoritarianism, wealth and poverty, and the strength or fragility of states. Examining similarities and differences across countries, students will explore compelling domestic, regional, and international explanations while touching on the roles of identity and culture in the patterns observed across the Global South.
Prerequisites: IA 100.
Restrictions: Sophomore standing required.
Usually offered: Annually, spring semester.
Semester credits: 4.
IA 230 African Politics
Content: Introduces students to political, social, and economic issues facing African states (primarily sub-Saharan), covering both domestic and international dimensions. The course explores the historical origins and contemporary dynamics of challenges associated with democratization, civil conflict, and underdevelopment, as well as emerging opportunities and prospects. Students gain specific country expertise and are also equipped to make sense of the variation in the experiences of a range of African countries.
Prerequisites: None.
Restrictions: Sophomore standing required.
Usually offered: Annually, fall semester.
Semester credits: 4.
IA 231 Latin American Politics
Content: Comparative analysis of politics in South and Central America. Specific emphases vary, but usually include the role of the peasantry, Catholic Church and Catholicism, changing political roles of women, international linkages, causes and effects of social revolutions, military rule, transitions to democracy. Emphasis on theories attempting to explain patterns of Latin American politics.
Prerequisites: IA 100.
Restrictions: Sophomore standing required.
Usually offered: Every fourth year, fall semester.
Semester credits: 4.
IA 232 Southeast Asian Politics
Content: Political and economic context of contemporary Southeast Asian states using a comparative perspective. Topics may include the effects of colonial and Cold War legacies on state development; the relationships among ethnicity, religion, and conflict; political transition and democratization; economic development policy; regional environmental issues; and Southeast Asian economic integration.
Prerequisites: None.
Restrictions: Sophomore standing required.
Usually offered: Every fourth year, fall semester.
Semester credits: 4.
IA 238 Political Economy of Development
Content: Introduction to theories on the role of the state in economic development. How politics affect the state's role and impact. Why are some countries poor while others are rich? How does government policy contribute? How does poverty affect political development and governmental stability? Organized according to major economic and political problems affecting developing countries. The theoretical debates surrounding the role of government in addressing problems of development. Focus is on thinking critically about the complexity of these problems in countries where the state apparatus is itself new, transitional, or developing.
Prerequisites: IA 100, ECON 100.
Restrictions: Sophomore standing required.
Usually offered: Annually, spring semester.
Semester credits: 4.
IA 244 IA Practicum/Internship
Content: Field learning experience combining theoretical concepts and skills learned in the classroom with practical work in on- and off-campus organizations. Students may participate in individually arranged opportunities or the International Affairs Symposium: Guided readings on the topic of the College's annual International Affairs Symposium. Focus on key issues of controversy within contemporary international relation. Recent topics have included global terrorism, arms transfers, migration, disease, and humanitarian intervention. Discussion of the substantive issues involved, preparation of written materials, and training and guidance to shape sessions and the ways to create an effective symposium. The International Affairs Symposium section must be taken in a fall-spring sequence; it may not be started in the spring, and students enrolling in the fall must take it in the spring. It may be taken up to four times.
Prerequisites: IA 100.
Restrictions: Sophomore standing and consent required.
Usually offered: Annually, fall and spring semester.
Semester credits: 1-4.
IA 245 International Affairs Symposium
Content: Research into international issues. Practicum involving planning and development of topics, themes, conceptual questions, and coordination of logistics, speaker invitations, and marketing, which culminates in the production of the annual International Affairs Symposium.
Prerequisites: None.
Usually offered: Annually, fall and spring semester.
Semester credits: 2.
IA 257 Global Resource Dilemmas
Content: Exploration of the controversies surrounding global resource and environmental problems. Topics include the "limits to growth" and "lifeboat ethics" debates; global population, food, water, and energy problems; environment and development; and international resource conflict.
Prerequisites: IA 100.
Restrictions: Sophomore standing required.
Usually offered: Annually, spring semester.
Semester credits: 4.
IA 262 Religion & Global Politics
Content: Introduces students to the often-overlooked role of religious actors and politics in international affairs. While commonly associated with radicalism or terrorism, religious actors and ideas have played significant roles in democratization, peacebuilding, conflict resolution, humanitarianism, the evolution of human rights, and foreign policy. The course also explores relevant religious histories, the recent "resurgence" of Islam and Christianity, and definitions of "religion" and "secular."
Prerequisites: IA 100.
Restrictions: Sophomore standing required.
Usually offered: Annually, spring semester.
Semester credits: 4.
IA 290 Middle East Politics
Content: Analysis and explanation of the historical forces that shaped the complexities of this region, placing the area in its proper setting and perspective.
Prerequisites: IA 100.
Usually offered: Annually, spring semester.
Semester credits: 4.
IA 296 Human Rights in International Relations
Content: Tensions surrounding sovereignty, or nonintervention, in the face of increasingly severe human rights abuses. Overview of the philosophical underpinnings of human rights as well as prominent debates in the human rights literature. Critical examination of the doctrine of sovereignty in international relations theory and practice. Analysis of the international community's ways of preventing human rights violations, including political and judicial enforcement of human rights norms.
Prerequisites: IA 100.
Restrictions: Sophomore standing required.
Usually offered: Annually, fall and spring semester.
Semester credits: 4.
IA 299 Independent Study
Content: Opportunities for well-prepared students to design and pursue a substantive course of independent learning. Details determined by the student and the supervising instructor. May be repeated for credit.
Prerequisites: None.
Restrictions: Sophomore standing and consent required.
Usually offered: Annually, fall and spring semester.
Semester credits: 1-4.
IA 303 Resistance and Resilience in Civil Conflict
Content: Introduces the dynamics of civil conflicts (riots, pogroms, civil wars, revolutions, ethnic cleansing, genocide) in the 20th and 21st centuries through contemporary literature, memoirs, and documentaries. Topics include how ordinary people organize to contest injustice and resist; the various forms of mobilization (both violent and nonviolent) in which they engage; how these experiences are gendered; women's rights and roles during and after conflict; the role of NGOs and aid organizations in building resilience in post-conflict contexts as well as critiques leveled against them.
Prerequisites: IA 100.
Usually offered: Annually, spring semester.
Semester credits: 4.
IA 310 International Relations Theories
Content: Contending theories of international relations, specifically those that explain the evolution and content of world politics by reference to transnational, international, state-specific, and/or individual factors. Emphasis on the conceptual, analytical, and methodological aspects of and debates in international relations theory.
Prerequisites: IA 100. Two 200-level international affairs courses.
Restrictions: Junior standing required.
Usually offered: Annually, fall semester.
Semester credits: 4.
IA 312 Studies of Diplomacy
Content: A reading of diplomatic history and the rules governing the conduct of diplomacy. The tools of statecraft through case studies including the strategy and tactics of negotiating across cultures, diplomatic law, and multilateral diplomacy.
Prerequisites: IA 100.
Restrictions: Sophomore standing required.
Usually offered: Every fourth year, fall semester.
Semester credits: 4.
IA 313 International Ethics
Content: An overview of different theoretical perspectives concerning moral argumentation in IR theory: ethical dimensions of poverty, population growth, climate change, terrorism, migration, moral standing of states and borders, use of force, ethics of humanitarian intervention, individual vs. group morality, origin and meaning of human rights, global governance, and just world order. Discussion of cosmopolitanism, patriotism, and nationalism; just war theory; nuclear ethics; global distributive justice; climate ethics; and the responsibilities and duties of citizens, soldiers, leaders, and collectives.
Prerequisites: IA 100.
Restrictions: Sophomore standing required.
Usually offered: Every fourth year, fall semester.
Semester credits: 4.
IA 315 Crises in Global Governance
Content: Exploration of how different forms of governance, ranging from more formal institutions like the European Union and United Nations to less formal ones like alliances and simple coordination, manage moments of crisis or conflict. In-depth case studies and historical analyses; quantitative and statistical analyses; in-class simulations designed to get students thinking like policymakers.
Prerequisites: IA 100.
Restrictions: Sophomore standing required
Usually offered: Alternate Years, spring semester.
Semester credits: 4.
IA 318 Multinational Corporations
Content: Causes of growth of the multinational corporation, its impact on host states and home states, and international responses to its emergence.
Prerequisites: IA 100, ECON 100.
Restrictions: Sophomore standing required.
Usually offered: Every fourth year, fall semester.
Semester credits: 4.
IA 320 Democratization
Content: The international spread of democracy in the contemporary period. How variations in national institutional design and national context impact outcomes. Particular attention is given to the transition to and consolidation of democracy, instances of limited democratization, and the question of political accountability in nondemocracies.
Prerequisites: IA 100.
Restrictions: Sophomore standing required.
Usually offered: Every fourth year, fall semester.
Semester credits: 4.
IA 330 Global Security
Content: Analysis of the major theories covering human, state, and international security. Emphasis on developing a probing conceptual understanding of ongoing challenges emanating from both state and nonstate sources. Explores military, economic, environmental, political, cultural dimensions. Cross-cultural security perspectives relevant to both Western and non-Western societies.
Prerequisites: IA 100.
Restrictions: Sophomore standing required.
Usually offered: Alternate Years, fall semester.
Semester credits: 4.
IA 333 International Law
Content: The political setting of international law, its changing content, its influence on the foreign policies of states, the special problems of regulating war, and developing and implementing human rights. Focus on insights from social science theories and perspectives, not on technical understanding of international law.
Prerequisites: IA 100
Restrictions: Sophomore standing required.
Usually offered: Alternate Years, spring semester.
Semester credits: 4.
IA 340 International Political Economy
Content: The relationship between politics and economics in international relations. History of the modern international political economy, and theories to explain how political factors affect the content and evolution of international economic systems. Focus on trade, monetary, financial, and production relations.
Prerequisites: IA 100. ECON 100.
Restrictions: Sophomore standing required.
Usually offered: Annually, fall and spring semester.
Semester credits: 4.
IA 342 Perception and International Relations
Content: Processes and patterns of intergroup and international perception, views of enemies, perception in foreign policy-making and deterrence, ways of reducing perceptual distortions. Students analyze and theorize about the role of misperception - distortions in one state's perception of other states - in international relations.
Prerequisites: IA 100.
Restrictions: Sophomore standing required.
Usually offered: Alternate Years, fall semester.
Semester credits: 4.
IA 348 Global Order
Content: Exploration of the origins and development of the modern state system in world politics, focusing on the different and most productive ways to think about how international relations have been or could be organized. Topics include the origins of state sovereignty and alternatives to it; important material, ideological, and political trends in international affairs in the 17th through 20th centuries; the ingenuities and weaknesses of the American-led international order of the postwar era; the rapid development of international courts and tribunals, particularly since the end of the Cold War; and the prospects for and desirability of a non-Western-dominated global order emerging over the coming century.
Prerequisites: IA 100.
Restrictions: Sophomore standing required.
Usually offered: Annually, fall semester.
Semester credits: 4.
IA 350 Social Justice in the Global Economy
Content: Examines the concepts of social justice, environmental sustainability, and fair trade within the context of the international political economy (IPE). How have these concepts been fostered or limited in the 20th- and 21st-century IPE? How have states, international organizations, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector promoted or challenged further incorporation of concepts in the IPE? Focuses on empirical problems and analysis of existing and potential solutions, with special attention to voluntary, ethical certification systems such as fair trade.
Prerequisites: IA 100. IA 238, IA 340 or ECON 232.
Restrictions: Sophomore standing required.
Usually offered: Annually, spring semester.
Semester credits: 4.
IA 362 Politics of Humanitarian Intervention & Violence
Content: Introduces major debates surrounding the militarization of relief, politicization of aid, and armed interventions. Addresses tensions surrounding the appeal to "care for distant strangers," management of violence, and the response of various actors, from NGOs and international institutions to individuals, media, celebrities, and businesses. Students will become familiar with the key actors, agencies, and ideas in the development of modern humanitarianism, explore lessons from major past and present crises, and engage with the stories of people affected.
Prerequisites: IA 100.
Restrictions: Sophomore standing required.
Usually offered: Annually, fall semester.
Semester credits: 4.
IA 430 International Affairs Seminar
Content: Advanced research in international affairs. Students are expected to develop, research, write, and present a methodologically rigorous and analytically oriented analysis of some dimension of international relations. Topics and explanations are to be informed and guided by the relevant international relations literature. Normally taken during spring semester of senior year.
Prerequisites: IA 310.
Restrictions: Sophomore standing required.
Usually offered: Annually, spring semester.
Semester credits: 4.
IA 444 Practicum
Content: Field-learning experience combining theoretical concepts and skills learned in the classroom with practical work in on-campus and off-campus organizations such as the World Trade Center, World Affairs Council, or U.S. Department of Commerce in Portland. Students must be well prepared prior to enrollment, consult the faculty supervisor about the program in advance, and write a report on the practicum experience. May be repeated for credit.
Prerequisites: None.
Restrictions: Junior standing and consent required.
Usually offered: Annually, fall and spring semester.
Semester credits: 2-4.
IA 499 Independent Study
Content: Same as IA 299 but requiring more advanced work. May be repeated for credit.
Prerequisites: None.
Restrictions: Junior standing and consent required.
Usually offered: Annually, fall and spring semester.
Semester credits: 1-4.