週次

Week

課程主題

Topic

課程內容與指定閱讀

Content and Reading Assignment

教學活動與作業

Teaching Activities and Homework

學習投入時間

Student workload expectation

課堂講授

In-class Hours

課程前後

Outside-of-class Hours

1

Sep/18

Introduction of the course   

Christian Reus-Smit and Duncan Snidal, “Between Utopia and Reality: The Practical Discourses

of International Relations,” in The Oxford Handbook of International Relations, edited by Reus-Smit, Christian, and Duncan Snidal. : Oxford University Press, 2008-08-14.

Introducing the structure of the course, the basic understanding of the IR theory, and the purpose of this course.

3

24

2

Sep/25

Realism, Liberalism and Critiques 

1. William Wohlforth, “Realism” & Jack Donnelly, “The Ethics of Realism”


2. Arthur A. Stein, “Neoliberal Institutionalism” & James Richardson, “The Ethics of Neoliberal Institutionalism”


3. Andrew Moravcsik, “The New Liberalism” & Gerry Simpson, “The Ethics of New Liberalism”

All of above articles are in The Oxford Handbook of International Relations

Discussing and debating Realism and neo-Liberalism in IR

3

24

3

Oct/2

Mid-Autumn Festival

National Holiday

No class

0

0

4

Oct/9

Double-ten Long Weekend

National Holiday

No class

0

0

5

Oct/16

Constructivism, Critical Theories, Post Modernism in IR

1. Ian Hurd, “Constructivism” & Richard Price “The Ethics of Constructivism”


2. Richard Shapcott, “Critical Theory” & Robyn Eckersley, “The Ethics of Critical Theory”


3. Anthony Burke, “Postmodernism” & Peter Lawler, “The Ethics of Postmodernism”

All of above articles are in The Oxford Handbook of International Relations

Discussing and debating the three theoretical approaches in IR

3

24

6

Oct/23

English School, Marxism, and Feminism   

1. Tim Dunne, “English School” & Molly Cochran, “The Ethics of English School”


2. Benno Teschk, “Marxism” & Nicholas Rengger, “The Ethics of Marxism”


3. Sandra Whitworth, “Feminism” & Jacqui True, “The Ethics of Feminism”

All of above articles are in The Oxford Handbook of International Relations

Discussing and debating the three theoretical approaches in IR

3

24

7

Oct/30

Imaging the Discipline?

1. David Lake, “The State and IR” & Michael Barnette and Kathryn Sikkink, “From IR to Global Society”


2. Robert Cox, “The Point is not Just to Explain the World but to Change It” & Peter Katzenstein and Rudra Sil, “Eclectic Theorizing in the Study and Practice of IR”


3. Henry Nau, “Scholarship and Policy Making” & Joseph Nye, “IR: the Relevance of Theory to Practice”

All of above articles are in The Oxford Handbook of International Relations

Discussion will be focused on the key issues mentioned in these articles and the relevance to today’s IR and its major concerns

3

24

8

November/6

Midterm Exam

Midterm Exam

Bad News: You shall not pass if you didn’t read the required readings

0

24

9

November/13

Methodologies of IR I

1. Andrew H. Kydd, “Methodological Individualism and Rational Choice”


2. Joel Quirk, “Historical Methods”


3. Andrew Bannett and Colin Elman, “Case Study Methods”

All of above articles are in The Oxford Handbook of International Relations

This week’s major purpose of learning is to know how we could make IR theories operationalized and apply the key concepts into our analyses.

3

24

10

November/20

Methodologies of IR II

1. Friedrich Kratochwil, “Sociological Approaches”


2. James Goldgeier and Philip Tetlock, “Psychological Approaches”


3. Edward D. Mansfield and Jon C. Pevehouse, “Quantitative Approaches”

All of above articles are in The Oxford Handbook of International Relations

This week’s major purpose of learning is to know how we could make IR theories operationalized and apply the key concepts into our analyses.

3

24

11

November/27

Role Theory and Foreign Policy Analysis

1. 1) THIES, CAMERON G., AND BREUNING MARIJKE. (2012) Integrating Foreign Policy Analysis and International Relations through Role Theory. Foreign Policy Analysis 8 (1, January): 1-4.

2) THIES, CAMERON G.(2017) Role Theory and Foreign Policy Analysis in Latin America. Foreign

Policy Analysis, 13(3): 662-681.

2. HARNISCH, SEBASTIAN. (2012) Conceptualizing in the Minefield: Role Theory and Foreign Policy Learning. Foreign Policy Analysis 8 (1, January): 47-69.


3. CANTIR, CRISTIAN and JULIET KAARBO, ‘Unpacking Ego in Role Theory: Vertical and Horizontal Role Contestation and Foreign Policy,’ in Cristian Cantir and Juliet Kaarbo (ed.) Domestic Role Contestation, Foreign Policy, and International Relations (Oxford: Routledge, 2016): 1-22.

Role Theory in Foreign Policy Analysis has been the trend in the late 70s and 80s; yet after “disappearing” for decades, in early 2000s, a bunch of North American and European IR scholars returned to this approach and expanded its scope. This week of class focuses on introducing the basic ideas of role theory in FPA and its evolution since the 2000s.

3

24

12

December/4

Asymmetric Structure and the Small States in IR I

1. Gigleux, Victor. 2016. “Explaining the Diversity of Small States’ Foreign Policies through Role Theory.” Third World Thematics: A TWQ Journal 1 (1):27-45.


2. Chong, Alan. 2010. “Small State Soft Power Strategies: Virtual Enlargement in the Cases of the Vatican City State and Singapore.” Cambridge Review of International Affairs 23(3): 383-405.


3. Long, Thomas S. 2017. “It’s Not the Size, It’s the Relationship: From ‘Small States’ to Asymmetry.” International Politics, 54 (2): 144-160.

It is said that the IRT is designed for understanding the strong powers’ logics of behaviors. However, the real world of IR is composed mainly by smaller political entities. Scholars of IR began reflecting the unbalanced phenomena of the IR research and calling for more studies on small states’ foreign policy makings. This week’s task is to gain a little flavor of this newly emerged discipline.

3

24

13

December/11

Asymmetric Structure and the Small States in IR II

1. Womack, Brantley. 2016. Asymmetry and International Relationships. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Introduction.


2. Ibid. Ch.1.


3. Ibid. Ch.2

The theoretical approach of asymmetric structure provided by Womack helps further understanding the small state’s perceptions in the bilateral relationship with the great power and the psychological as well as physical discrepancy between the weak and the strong.

3

24

14

December/18

Emotions in IR

1. Hall, Todd. 2015. Emotional Diplomacy: Official Emotion on the International Stage. New York: Cornell University Press. Introduction & Ch. 1.


2. Sasley, Brent E. 2011. “Theorizing State’s Emotions,” International Studies Review 13: 452-476.


3. Clément Maéva and Eric Sangar. 2018. Researching Emotions in International Relations: Methodological Perspectives on the Emotional Turn. Cham: Palgrave Macmillam. Introduction, pp. 1-30.

Emotions have been proved to be a crucial component in human decision making process. States did not always follow the traditional ways of action and reaction as suggested by the mainstreams IR theories. Emotions as rhetoric and behaviors are often seen in states or their policy makers’ performances when managing foreign affairs. Emotions could be trigger that shapes and shifts states’ foreign policy making direction in critical moment. This week the focal point of discussion will be the Emotional Turn in IR.

3

24

15

December/25

Non-Western IR

1. Chih-yu Shih et al. 2019. China and the International Theory: The Balance of Relationships (Oxon & New York: Routledge). Introduction & Ch. 1


2. Acharya, Amitav and Barry Buzan. (2017) Why is there no Non-Western International Relations Theory? Ten Years On. International Relations of the Asia-Pacific, Volume 17, Issue 3: 341-370.


3. Ayd?nl?, Ersel and Gonca Biltekin. 2018. “Widening the World of IR: A Typology of Homegrown Theorizing.” All Azimuth, Vol. 7, Issue 1 (January): 45-68

Could IRT be developed outside of the Western World? What kind of influences/contributions could or have the non-Western experiences possibly bring/brought to the development of IRT? How do we understand the diverse aspects of Global Politics through the lens of non-Western IRT?

0

24

16

January/01/2021

New Year’s Day

National Holiday

No Class

0

0

17

January/8

Final Exam

Final Exam

Final Exam

3

24

In Class Presentation

1. Introducing the content of the reading briefly and concisely.


2. Reflection of the reading/theoretical approach is required, i.e. your opinion counts and matters.


3. I will interrupt you if you don’t finish the presentation in 15 mins, and this does impact your score.

Plus:

1. You will earn more credits if you are able to do comparison with other theoretical approach or theorists’ perspectives.


2. You can only do the presentation in 15 mins. No more.

Midterm Exam

1. Answering the Questions! (You got 0 credit by writing nonsense for 10 pages or more)


2. Try to apply the materials used in class and discussion

Plus：

1. Names of the theorists or titles of the articles and books ever appear in the required readings will help you gain more credits.

Final Exam

1. Again, Answer the Questions!


2. There are always questions about current affairs. Try paying more attentions to what’s going on outside of the classroom and the books.


3. You plagiarize, you die.

Tips：

1. Pretty much like the suggestions given for your midterm.


2. This is the occasion for you to show not only how much you know about the theories, but how good you are in terms of reflecting the merits and shortcomings of them, and more importantly, how capable you are on applying theories!

Participation

Evaluation made by the instructor and your teammates

Try not to screw up your teammate if you got any.