Perspectives on the Liberal Arts and Sciences
Course Proposal
General Education Advisory Committee
Queens College, City University of New York
I. Course Information
Course Title:
Credits:
International Politics
3
Prerequisites:
None
PS 104
X Existing course, course number:
New course
Department:
Department Contact:
Political Science
Joe Rollins
Area of Knowledge and Inquiry
(select one)
Context of Experience
(select only if the course
emphasizes one of the
following)
Reading Literature (RL)
Appreciating and Participating
in the Arts (AP)
Extended Requirements
(select only if the course meets
one of the following)
Pre-Industrial Society (PI)
United States (US)
X Abstract or Quantitative
European Traditions (ET)
Culture and Values (CV)
X Analyzing Social Structures (SS)
Reasoning (QR)
X World Cultures (WC)
Natural Science (NS)
The following information is useful to the subcommittee to estimate the college's progress toward the goal of
offering enough sections and seats in each Perspectives category. How often does the department anticipate the
course will be offered? Please also estimate the anticipated number of sections and number of seats per section.
X Every semester
Every Fall or
Other:
January 2008
number of sections:
3
number of seats per section:
Every Spring number of sections:
number of seats per section:
number of sections:
number of seats per section:
55
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Course Description
Please include a course description. If the course will include variable topics or be taught in various forms, please
provide as many descriptions of specific sections as possible.
The subfield of International Relations (IR) is concerned with global politics writ large (politics
among nations). IR specialists examine relationships between not only nation states but the role
of non-state and supranational actors such as corporations, banks, paramilitary groups, and
terrorist organizations, just to name a few examples. Students in an introduction to IR become
acquainted with theoretical approaches to the study of power and domination in the global arena.
Topics explored throughout the semester include the causes of war and peace, the influence of
international law, treaty-making, policy-making, and, the rise and fall of non-governmental
organizations. Variables for analysis included in the study of IR include wealth and resources,
leadership, and technological development. These elements of the subfield are examined through
two primary analytic methods. The first approach emphasizes case studies and thus introduces
students to qualitative, textual analytic methods. The second, game theory, emphasizes abstract
logical reasoning procedures and economic modeling in order to unmask the power dynamics that
operate on the international scene. Processes reviewed in the course include the making of
conflict and cooperation, cost-benefit analyses, and war. As with other courses in the discipline,
PS 104 situates Political Science as a discipline within the liberal arts and society in general by
placing the role of states and government at the center of analysis. Although different sections of
the course may vary in their theoretical, historical, or geographic emphases, a focus on theories of
the state and their role in global history distinguishes Political Science as a discipline.
January 2008
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II. Criteria for Perspectives Courses
Justification
Please describe how the course will address criteria for Perspectives on the Liberal Arts and Sciences courses.
Be sure to include an explanation of the course’s specific learning goals for students to make a connection
between these and the general criteria for Perspectives courses.
IR courses inform students about social structures by introducing them to the structures and
processes of politics on a global scale. Readings are, by definition, theoretical and knowledge
production within the course is driven by active engagement with texts. Unlike other subfields
within the discipline (e.g., American Politics, wherein pollsters can conduct survey experiments
and analyze data), IR specialists take the world as their laboratory and analyze historical,
economic, social, and political data that occurs therein. Consequently, IR courses emphasize
theory and analysis and the variables included in such work are global by definition and
emphasize cultural variations and the diversity of values that guide how nation-states and other
NGOs interact on the global stage. Because the theories and case studies of Intro to IR are
arrayed along a temporal timeline, they teach students about the changes that have taken place
over time and across borders. In short, students in IR courses learn to apply theoretical concepts
to the world in which they live and, thereby, to develop more effective methods for creating a
better future for generations to come.
Criteria Checklist
Please be sure that your justification addresses all three criteria 1-3, below. For criteria 4-8, please check all that
apply and discuss these in your justification.
A Perspectives course must:
1. Be designed to introduce students to how a
particular discipline creates knowledge and
understanding.
2. Position the discipline(s) within the liberal
arts and the larger society.
3. Address the goals defined for the particular
Area(s) of Knowledge the course is designed to
fulfill.
In addition, a Perspectives course will, where
appropriate to its discipline(s) and subject matter:
X 4. Be global or comparative in approach.
X 5. Consider diversity and the nature and
construction of forms of difference.
6. Engage students in active inquiry.
X 7. Reveal the existence and importance of change
over time.
8. Use primary documents and materials.
January 2008
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III. Course Materials, Assignments, and Activities
Please provide an annotated list of course readings and descriptions of major assignments or exams for the course,
as well as distinctive student activities that will engage students in working toward the course goals discussed in
the course description and/or justification.
Please include the author and title for each reading or text, along with a short description providing information
about how the reading will contribute to course goals.
See attached syllabus.
IV. Assessment
Perspectives courses must be recertified every five years, and we are seeking ideas for how to best carry out this
assessment. What forms of evidence that the course is meeting its goals as a Perspectives course would be
appropriate to collect for this course during the next five years? How would you prefer assessment to be
conducted? How might evidence of effective teaching and student learning be collected and evaluated?
Assessment is part of the Political Science Department’s overall strategy for measuring our
success. As part of our ongoing commitment to maintaining high teaching standards, we
regularly collect samples of written work from our students so that we may track their
development across not only the span of a student’s undergraduate education, but across student
cohorts by using a time-series sampling design. Findings from this project allow the department’s
Curriculum Committee to monitor the progress and development of our undergraduate majors, as
well as stay to stay abreast of our success as teachers. Papers assigned for this class will be part of
that overall program.
January 2008
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V. Administration
What process will your department develop to oversee this course, suggest and approve changes, and conduct
assessment? Who will be in charge of this process? Also indicate whether the course will be primarily taught by
full-time or adjunct faculty, or by a combination of the two types of instructor.
For a description of the processes already in place, please see above at IV.
Administration of the assessment project is overseen by the Department’s Curriculum Committee.
Syllabi for all courses taught in the Department are collected and made available for review by
new, incoming instructors. All new instructors will be required to meet with members of the
Curriculum Committee whose research and teaching are within their subfield in advance of the
semester when a PLAS course will be taught. At these meetings, the interdisciplinary, pedagogic,
and cultural goals of PLAS will be spelled out in detail so that new teachers may incorporate
those requirements into their syllabi. Before syllabi are sent to Reprogrpahics for mass
production several weeks in advance of the semester, new instructors will be asked to submit
them to the Department Curriculum Committee for vetting and approval.
The course is taught by a combination of full-time and adjunct faculty.
VI. Syllabus
Please attach a sample syllabus (or set of syllabi, for courses on variable topics or courses that will be taught in
variable formats).
Some resources to guide syllabus construction:

The Provost's page outlining guidelines for syllabi:
http://qcpages.qc.cuny.edu/provost/Cur_stud/Syllabus expectations.htm

Sample syllabi for W courses, from Writing Across the Curriculum:
http://qcpages.qc.cuny.edu/writing/wsyllabi.htm

Goals for Student Writing at Queens College:
http://qcpages.qc.cuny.edu/writing/Goals.htm

Harvard’s Bok Center for Teaching and Learning, suggestions for syllabus planning:
http://isites.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k1985&pageid=icb.page29695

Lehman College’s Gen Ed Syllabi Project:
http://www.lehman.edu/lehman/programs/generaledu/gened_syllabi_project.html
Submit this completed form and a sample syllabus (or set of syllabi) by email to Eva Fernández
(eva.fernandez@qc.cuny.edu), Director, Center for Teaching and Learning.
January 2008
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