Bookbagging is open for Spring 2025! See below for courses taught by AGS Faculty Affiliates.
Unless otherwise specified, all courses below are open to undergraduates. Please visit Duke Hub for more information (including whether certain classes or class sections are reserved for freshman, sophomores, juniors, or seniors). Be sure to email professors with any questions about course availability or eligibility.
POLSCI 89S/PUBPOL 89S: The Dangerous 21st Century (Prof. David Schanzer)
TuTh 4:40PM – 5:55PM, Sanford 150
The 21st century began in a period of global calm, with the Cold War having ended and the United States facing mainly manageable security threats. However, the first quarter of the 21st century has proven to be quite dangerous, with a series of security, economic, and health crises including 9/11, the Great Recession, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Great power rivalries between the United States, China and Russia have reemerged, resulting in war, conflict, tension, and competition between these nuclear armed states. The 21st century has also witnessed a decline in democracy, with some formerly democratic states backsliding into authoritarianism and stable democracies experiencing erosion of democratic norms. New technologies like drones and AI have destabilized our international system and complicated the information environment. This course will explore the roots of the problems that have arisen in the 21st century and strategies for maintaining peace and stability in our turbulent world.
POLSCI 107: Intro to Comparative Politics: How to Compare the Incomparable (Prof. David Siegel)
TuTh 11:45AM – 1:00PM, Old Chemistry 001
An introduction to politics around the world through a comparative lens. Surveys elements of societies ranging from electoral institutions to persistent ethnic conflict. Provides explanations of the presence of those elements: e.g., why do governments take the form they do; when do they change; why do they experience conflict? Discusses explanations of consequences of those elements: e.g., how do institutions influence party systems, economic policy, and conflict? Introduces the tools necessary to assess those explanations. Highlights differences and similarities among countries and offers a range of approaches to analyzing the political world and comparing the incomparable.
POLSCI 128: Climate Change: A Political Economy Perspective (Prof. Clara Park)
MoWe 1:25PM – 2:40PM, Old Chemistry 001
This class introduces students to climate change from a political economy perspective. It reviews the main scientific facts about it and how their evolution traces back to political and economic causes. The bulk of the class is devoted to understanding the consequences of climate change for domestic and international politics and to study, with the political economy tools, the scope and limits of the solutions being proposed to address it. The class is purposefully interdisciplinary and will make use of academic work and data from different social and applied sciences. The class will cover the basics of climate change, political economy of climate change, using the framework of actors, interests, and institutions (domestic and international institutions), policies of different countries, including the EU and China, green finance, conflict, public opinion, and climate injustice including race and gender.
POLSCI 204/PUBPOL 221/AMES 214/HISTORY 224: 9/11 & Its Aftermath: How bin Laden Impacted America & the World (Prof. David Schanzer)
TuTh 1:25PM – 2:40PM, Rubenstein Hall 151
This course will examine the impact of the 9/11 attacks and the response to these attacks on America and the world. We will first study the historical, political, and sociological forces that gave rise al Qaeda and its ideology. With this foundation in mind, the bulk of the course will chart and assess the response to the attacks by the United States and its allies, including military actions (such as wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, targeted killings via drones, and the counter-ISIS campaign), U.S. foreign policy, especially with respect to the Arab Uprisings, intelligence collection (both abroad and against citizens), law enforcement policy, and homeland security. We will explore how the phenomenon of terrorism operates and apply these principles to the conflicts that have arisen in the Middle East since the Hamas attack on Israel in 2023.
POLSCI 233: Nuclear Weapons (Prof. Micah Harris)
MoWe 3:05PM – 4:20PM, Old Chemistry 201
Are nuclear weapons a source of security or insecurity? How do they figure into the foreign policy of the United States? How do they figure into the foreign policy of other nuclear states? Non-nuclear states? This course will consider the role that nuclear weapons have played, currently play and will play in international politics.
PUBPOL 236/HISTORY 201: Globalization and History (Prof. Giovanni Zanalda)
TuTh 1:25PM – 2:40PM, Old Chemistry 001
Examination of globalization issues in a historical perspective. Reviews phenomena, institutions, e.g. empires, states, religion, corporation, and international agencies, and policies which enabled exchange of commodities, people, and cultures. Explores empirical evidence on growth and development for different world regions and historians’ and social scientists’ interpretations. Examines benefit of maintaining fine balance between quantitative evidence and historical analysis in assessing waning international integration of societies, markets, and cultures from first wave of European expansion to the present.
PUBPOL 255/COMPSCI 255: Introduction to Cyber Policy (Prof. David Hoffman)
TuTh 11:45AM – 1:00PM, Sanford 03
Policy and technical elements of activity in cyberspace will continue to impact and shape global society. Provide a basic understanding of fundamental of cyber technologies and threats, national and international cyber policies and frameworks, and key topical issues in cyber. Students will be required to complete a written mid-term based on lectures and readings, present short classroom briefings, and engage in class discussions. The final will be a capstone written and oral presentation on a realistic cyber scenario applying knowledge from classwork and their own research. No prior skills or knowledge is required.
PUBPOL 290.03: U.S. Diplomatic Strategy in the 21st Century (Amb. (ret) Miriam Sapiro)
Tu 3:05 PM – 5:35 PM
This course will examine the theory that the United States is “the indispensable nation,” as former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and others have suggested. Students will gain an understanding of which countries have diplomatic power and why as we explore the U.S. position in a changing world. We will also study strategic and tactical considerations that help shape a credible foreign policy and effective international diplomatic engagement during an era of increasing domestic and international polarization. We will consider the role that international law plays in the formulation and execution of foreign policy, as well as how important issues like climate change, human rights and technological advances are addressed. In addition, we will assess whether global politics should be viewed as a competition between autocracies and democracies, or through another lens.
PUBPOL 296/HISTORY 205: Wars of Empire: Europe’s Small Wars of the 19th and Early 20th Centuries (Prof. Jennifer Siegel)
TuTh 1:25PM – 2:40PM, Sanford 07
The 19th and early 20th century wars through which the modern European empires “pacified” the regions they conquered were considered “Small Wars”: conflicts that were imbalanced, with well-trained and equipped troops on one side, and what one theorist called “savages and semi-civilized races” on the other. In these clashes, “civilized” Europe was expected to easily triumph, but Europe’s great empires consistently found themselves challenged and thwarted by the indigenous forces on the battlefields of Asia and Africa. This course will look at examples from the histories of the British, French, Italian, and Russian Empires, discussing both the military and imperial contexts of these struggles.
PUBPOL 302D: Policy Choice as Value Conflict (Prof. Abdullah Antepli)
Lecture: MoWe 10:05AM – 11:20AM, Sanford 05
There is also a required weekly discussion section, please check Duke Hub for the various times/locations available to students.
Theoretical and practical problems in decision making in relation to conflicts of value and of interest. The manifestation of norms deriving from professional ethics, ideology, law, and other sources in such policy issues as welfare, environmental management, and national defense. Prerequisites: Public Policy 155D.
POLSCI 365/PUBPOL 376: Foreign Policy of the United States (Prof. Peter Feaver)
Lecture: MoWe 10:20AM – 11:10AM, Social Sciences 136
There is also a required weekly discussion section, please check Duke Hub for the various times/locations available to students.
This course is designed to help students become informed observers of (and perhaps participants in) American foreign policy. We cover the key themes in the historical evolution of American foreign policy and address current challenges and opportunities. This class’s combination of theory and history provides a better understanding of what happened and why it happened—all with an eye to improving policymaking in the contemporary era. This is designed to be the follow-on course for students who have already taking PS160/PubPol166 Intro to International Relations. However, students who have a strong background can jump right into this course even without having taken the intro course. It is possible that this course will not be offered in Spring 2026.
FECON 379/ICS 379: Emerging Markets: Finance, Trade, Institutions and the World Economy (Prof. Giovanni Zanalda)
Tu 3:05PM – 5:35PM, Allen 326
Analyzes rise of emerging markets/economies and their new role in the context of global economy. Focus on post-1970s growth of countries such as China, India, South Korea, Chile, Mexico, and Brazil (and/or other countries according to students’ interests) with particular emphasis on financial, industrial/trading and institutional aspects, linking such rise to the emergence of vast global economic imbalances and new trend in capital and trade flows of the last decade. Explores economic and policy challenges these countries and their companies increasingly face and implications for the world economy.
POLSCI 402S: Origins of World War I and World War II in Europe (Prof. Joseph Grieco)
Mo 1:25PM – 3:55PM, Physics 227
In this seminar we will examine and assess contributions by historians and political scientists to our understanding of the origins of the First and Second World Wars in Europe. Our discussion will emphasize intra-European dynamics, but we will also examine the entry of the United States into the Second World War in Europe and, as a separate but related matter, the outbreak of war between the United States and Japan in the War of the Pacific. During Part I of the seminar we will attain a command on the basic fact-patterns and scholarly issues surrounding the onset of the two wars; during Part II we will focus on a set of enduring questions regarding the onset and expansion of the Second World War. The seminar will provide students with an opportunity to complete an individual research paper.
POLSCI 427S: World in Your Hand (Prof. David Siegel)
TuTh 1:25PM – 2:40PM, Gross Hall 104
Your chance to hold the (simulated) world in your hand. First half of class provides background and tools needed to create computational, simulation models of political, social, and economic phenomena. Second half provides practical experience with class-chosen group computational modeling project(s) that will be submitted for publication. No prior computer programming experience required or expected, and skills gained in class will translate beyond academia.
POLSCI 497S-3: The Strategy, Diplomacy, and International Politics of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement (Prof. Micah Harris)
TuTh 1:25PM – 2:40PM, Physics 205
This course takes three approaches to understanding the U.S. Civil Rights Movement. First, it analyzes the movement using tools traditionally applied to violent conflicts: strategy, leadership, doctrine, discipline, tactics, blocs, alliances, battles, morale, and so forth. Second, it considers how the Civil Rights Movement interacted with the U.S. Cold War, particularly the ways the Soviet Union sought to exploit the movement and the ways the U.S. tried to suppress it using tools ostensibly designed for the suppression of foreign infiltration. Third, it considers how the Civil Rights Movement both gave and received tactics, models, ideas, and inspiration for other freedom movements in the early and middle 20th Century, most notably anti-colonial struggles in India and Africa.
POLSCI 497S-6: Senior Seminar in Political Economy: International Political Economy (Prof. Clara Park)
MoWe 10:05AM – 11:20AM, Physics 227
This is an advanced undergraduate course in International Political Economy, focusing on the following topics: international trade, international investment, international monetary system, international development, and international migration. Students will learn about theories of international political economy and apply them to international economic institutions, trade politics, financial governance, global value chain, and foreign aid, among other topics.
PUBPOL 509/HISTORY 509: Modern Intelligence History from John Buchan to James Bond (Prof. Jennifer Siegel)
TuTh 10:05AM – 11:20AM, Sanford 07
This course examines the role of diplomatic and military intelligence in the making of policy. We will explore some of the most significant international events of the 20th century in light of the contribution of both covert and overt intelligence, focusing on the histories of several of the major 20th century intelligence organizations. The course will not be concerned with the intricacies of trade craft, but with the interplay between intelligence and policy. In our final week, we will consider the correlation between the growth of intelligence communities, their legitimization, and delegitimization, and the popular image of spying represented contemporaneously in fiction and film.
POLSCI 547/PUBPOL 506: The Politics of U.S. Foreign Policy (Prof. Bruce Jentleson)
Tu 1:25PM – 3:55PM, Sanford 03
Focus on politics of U.S. foreign policy: which institutions and actors within the American political system play what roles and have how much influence in making U.S. foreign policy. Fundamental questions about nature and practice of democracy as manifested in politics and policy processes in making US foreign policy. Scope is both historical and contemporary. Approach combines theory and policy analysis. Complements PUBPOL 502S, Contemporary U.S. Foreign Policy, which focuses more on foreign policy strategy.
PUBPOL 552S/SCISOS 552S: Cybersecurity and Health Data Policy (Prof. David Hoffman)
TuTh 1:25PM – 2:40PM, Sanford 102
In recent years health data has expanded beyond just clinical and pharmaceutical research data to also include a broad set of information from which health observations can be inferred. This health data landscape change has caused concern that existing health privacy and cybersecurity policy frameworks like HIPAA may need modification. This class will use interactive exercises to analyze the issues of how best to optimize health data public policy for the innovative and ethical use of data to enable better health outcomes and lower costs.
POLSCI 659S: Civil Wars (Prof. Kyle Beardsley)
Tu 3:05PM – 5:35PM, Gross Hall 111
This course introduces students to the literature and research agendas related to the causes and consequences of intrastate armed conflict as well as to challenges and pitfalls associated with peace processes. This course is designed for MA and PhD students in Political Science, but undergraduate students are welcome to reach out to the instructor to discuss if it might be appropriate for them.