Articulated within the emergence of the European nation-state and born in the context of the First World War and its aftermath, the discursive field of International Relations is organized around the constitutive concepts of conflict, anarchy, power, system, rule, law, and justice, and the practices of civil society and political economy. These concepts and practices organize, in turn, both the major schools of International Relations theory and contemporary methodological pluralism. This course interrogates these founding concepts from a philosophical perspective within the historical and discursive context of each major school: 1) from classical liberalism to international liberalism; 2) from classical realism to modern realism; 3) the ‘English School’ of IR theory (Bull); 4) Marxist tenets within international relations (from Karl Marx to international political economy); 5) Modern and Contemporary Critical Liberalism (Polanyi and Held); 6) The philosophical grounds of contemporary Constructivism.
Almost everyone today interacts with digital technologies in some way, whether it is through a smart phone, browsing the Internet, hailing an Uber, analyzing data, or dealing with the economics of our digital economy. It's hard to think of an activity today that does not rely on some form of digital technology. However, how much do you know about this technology that surrounds us? Do you know how bits and bytes and turn into words, sounds, and images? Do you know how or where your computer finds Facebook or YouTube or Twitter? Do you know how and why your personal information is being collected and analyzed and why or why not that is important? You don't need to know how digital works to live in our technology-dependent world, but you do need to know how it works to take best advantage of the opportunities it provides and to be a mover in our future economy.