I teach a rotating repertoire of undergraduate and graduate courses at UC. Many of my courses are eligible for UC undergraduate certificate programs such as the International Human Rights, Legal Studies, and War, Peace and Security certificates. My graduate teaching contributes to a new doctoral concentration in Feminist Comparative and International Politics offered by Political Science.
HIST/POL 1089: Human Rights and Security
Are human rights and security contradictory or complementary? Must we sacrifice certain freedoms for the sake of national or personal security? This course tackles these problems through the lenses of history and political science, enabling students to learn how knowledge of the past is essential for shaping our present and future. Focusing primarily on the domestic and international politics and policies of the United States, the course explores a number of case studies related to immigration and refugee affairs, wartime internment and detention, counterterrorism and intelligence practices, international intervention and alliances, and economic and social policy.
POL 7084: Contemporary International Law
This advanced seminar explores core theoretical and practical problems posed by the contemporary international legal system. Is international law a hegemonic tool of the strong or an emancipatory weapon of the weak? Can state sovereignty and individual human rights ever be reconciled? How do rules emerge, change, and die? What is the relationship between order and justice? Such questions will be considered through the lens of competing theoretical paradigms, using cases drawn from a variety of substantive issue areas including international human rights, migration, trade, environment, and armed conflict.
POL 2089: International Human Rights
This interdisciplinary course offers an introduction to human rights in history, culture, political theory, U.S. foreign policy, and international relations, law, and organization. Students will examine political, ethical, and legal dilemmas that arise in connection with establishing global norms and institutions to address genocide, torture, racism, violence against women, forced labor, sex trafficking and other gross violations of human rights, and the challenges that 21st century global terrorism has created in reconciling rights to security and personal liberty secured by the rule of law.
POL 3094: Fascism: Violence, Power, and Hatred in the Past and Present (Honors Seminar)
Fascism is a form of hyper violent, authoritarian, and xenophobic mass politics which emerged in the early 20th century, propelling the horrors of the Second World War, and animating numerous political movements, parties, and regimes around the world since. While once considered a phenomenon of the past, fascist and neo-fascist tendencies have re-emerged in global politics, creating the urgent need to better understand the characteristics, causes, and consequences of fascism, its relationship with other forms of politics, and its prospects for once again becoming an influential ideology. This course draws on political science, political theory, history, and cultural and literary studies to explore core features of fascism, analyze comparative cases studies, and assess contemporary developments.
POL 2085: Terrorism and Insurgency
This course examines terrorism and insurgency warfare in both a historical context and in their contemporary form. Students will develop foundational knowledge using classic works from the field of security studies to understand the causes behind these tactics and how they are employed to forward political goals. Students will apply both historical context, core analytical knowledge, and classic as well as state of the art political science concepts and methodologies to examine the particular cases of contemporary terrorism and insurgency warfare, including the conflict between the United States and Al Qaeda and U.S. efforts against Al Qaeda in Iraq and Afghanistan.
POL 2088: International Law and Organization
This interdisciplinary course provides a comprehensive survey of international law, intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations, and addresses theories of global governance, the U.N. system, and intergovernmental approaches to security, trade and development, environmental degradation and human rights. It requires students to apply relevant legal materials to disputes involving major issues of territorial conflict, war, climate change, and human rights and to examine political, ethical, and legal dilemmas.
POL 3085: Ethics, Violence, and War
This course examines ethical, moral, and legal dilemmas that arise in contexts of political violence and warfare. Using concepts derived from the tradition of just war theory, international human rights and humanitarian law, and related philosophical and policy perspectives, students will consider the legitimacy of various controversial aspects of the use of force in international affairs. Topics explored include ethical debates over the interpretation and application of the law of armed conflict, contentious state counterterrorism practices, new military technologies, private military contracting, preemptive attacks, humanitarian intervention, and accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity.