Selected Syllabi

SELECTED SYLLABI

You'll find below links to a number of syllabi (for political science courses mostly) which I downloaded off the internet. Some links to various other collections of (mainly political science) syllabi are also given here. To find syllabi for diplomatic history courses, check the course materials subpage from Sarantakes website and the SHAFR syllabus bank. Various other collections of syllabi are available online. See, for example, the Miller Center’s collection of syllabi, which includes a number on U.S. foreign policy and on military issues, or the collection of syllabi relating to German history generated by the H-German syllabus contest. Some of these syllabi—for example, Margaret Anderson’s syllabus for a course on the “History and Historiography of the German Problem”—are really superb. One should also remember that history courses are sometimes taught in political science departments by political scientists. Note, for example, the syllabus for Branislav Slantchev’s History of International Relations course (UCSD, 2009) (download).

You might want to use Google to search for syllabi yourself. Click into the advanced search window, limit your search to the .edu domain and to files in pdf or doc format, and include as search terms a short version of the title of a particular book or article that you would expect to find in the sort of syllabus you’re interested in, and also include the word “syllabus” in your search. You might try to guess what the sort of course you’re interested in would be called and then add to your search keywords or phrases (like “Political Science” or “History”) likely to be found in a such a course title.

You could also check out the webpages for major university history and political science departments, as well as the websites for schools of government and public policy. Often a department website will include links to that department’s course offerings and the course webpages will have links to syllabi. Or you could click into a list of instructors teaching in a particular department; those lists are often broken down by field and instructors’ webpages will often have links to webpages for the courses they’re teaching. Sometimes syllabi will be linked directly to an instructor’s webpage. But many institutions do not allow outsiders easy access to course syllabi.

The section of the MIT Open Courseware website for political science is very much worth checking out if you’re looking for syllabi in this area. Syllabi and lists of readings are linked to the courses listed there, and the readings are often linked to actual texts. You should also know about the American Political Science Association’s collection of online political science syllabi.

Some of the syllabi listed below are already a little out of date. To get more recent versions, just do a Google search for the title plus the instructor’s name, if necessary limiting it to a particular site or domain (e.g., “harvard.edu”).

I. General International Relations Courses (various levels, but mostly courses for beginning graduate students; listed alphabetically by last name of instructor)

Theories of Security in World Politics (Deborah Avant, GWU, 2002) (2014 version)

International Politics and Public Policy (Matthew Baum, Harvard—JFK School, 2009)

Foundations of International Relations Theory (Andrew Bennett, Georgetown, 2001)

National Security Policy (Richard Betts, Columbia, 2016)

Theories of International Security (Alexander Downes, George Washington, 2017)

International Relations History and Theory (Hein Goemans, Rochester, 2008)

International Politics (Robert Jervis, Columbia, 2000) (introductory course)

International Relations Theory (Stephan Haggard, UC San Diego, 2003)

Global Politics in the Post-Cold War World (Huntington, Harvard, 2003)

Seminar in International Politics (Robert Jervis, Columbia, 1998)

Theories of International Relations (Robert Jervis, Columbia, 1997)

Theories of War and Peace (Jack Levy, Rutgers, 2003). A very extensive 97-page syllabus. Links to other syllabi at various levels, some quite extensive, are given on the courses and syllabi page of Levy's website.

Introduction to International Relations (Charles Lipson, Chicago, 1999)

International Relations: Perspectives on Conflict and Cooperation (Charles Lipson, Chicago)

Realism (John Mearsheimer, Chicago, 2006)

Field Seminar on International Relations (Moravcsik and Stam, Harvard and Dartmouth, 2004). For links to other Moravcsik syllabi (including very useful ones on European integration and IPE in general), see the teaching page on his website

International Conflict (Dan Reiter, Emory. 1999)

Conceptual Foundations of International Politics (C. Roberts, Columbia SIPA, Summer 2001)

International Relations Theory (Scott Sagan, Stanford, 2003)

Theories of International Relations (Kenneth Schultz, UCLA, 2004)

Conflict and Peace (Randall Schweller, Ohio State, 2002)

Foundations of Strategy and Statecraft (Josh Shifrinson, Texas A&M, 2015)

Contemporary Issues of World Order (Jack Snyder, Columbia, 2000)

Theories of International Relations (Arthur Stein, UCLA, 2007) A very useful 18-page syllabus, with all sorts of important information for beginning graduate students in IR.

Causes and Prevention of War: Theory and Method (Stephen Van Evera, MIT, 2001). An extraordinary 35-page handout, more an introduction to the field than a syllabus in the usual sense.

Bargaining, Diplomacy and International Conflict (Robert Walker, Washington University in St. Louis, 2007)

International Relations: Theory and Practice (Stephen Walt, Harvard—JFK School, 2008)

Note also the reading list for the graduate exam in international relations (with sections on security and IPE), University of Chicago, 2004, and the international relations reading list (Yale, 2005).

II. Security Studies

Eliot Cohen syllabi:

Soldiers, Statesmen, and the Use of Force (2000)
Strategy and Policy (2001)
Research Seminar (2001)
War in the Modern World (2002) (pdf)
Understanding Military Technology (2002) (pdf)

Note also Cohen’s “Strategic Studies Core Readings” list.