Culture, Democracy, International Affairs through the lens of Area Studies

Jointly offered by three universities (the University of Warsaw, the University of Milan and the Charles University, Prague), this course in a partnership with scholars who focuses on area studies. The course aims to provide students with an inter-disciplinary and comparative understanding of different regions of the world and of current problems affecting them. It draws on the diverse multidisciplinary expertise of three European universities, but focuses especially on cultural, International Relations and historical perspectives. The course will equip students with the conceptual and terminological tools to analyse events and dynamics of a global nature, while at the same time drawing upon a series of very concrete case studies. It is structured around 12 lessons. Some of the classes will be joint taught with the professors from Global South.

The course is part of the educational programme "Framework for Area Studies" within the framework of the 4 EU + Alliance.

Level: BA/MA

Place Available: 60 (20 for Erasmus and 40 for OGUN)

Topic to be covered:

1. The Role of Area Studies in Social Sciences (4 March 2024)

2. Genealogy of Area Studies (11 March 2024)

3. Area and Region- Main Terms in Area Studies (18 March 2024)

4. Sources/methods- Historical, anthropological, Sociological, International Relations, Comparative Politics (25 March 2024)

5. Europe as an Area/Region in World Politics (08 April 2024)

6. Latin American as a Region/Area: Postcolonial Perspectives (15 April 2024)

7. North America as a Region/Area (22 April 2024)

8. Indo-Pacific v/s Asia-Pacific (29 April 2024)

9. Greater Middle East: Region and Sub-Regions (06 May 2024)

10. Sub-Saharan Africa as a Region/Area (13 May 2024)

11. Democracy and Authoritarianism: A Cross-Regional Perspective (20 May 2024)

12. Exam (27 May 2024)

Readings:

Beissinger, M.R. (2020). Disciplinarity, interdisciplinarity and the plurality of Area Studies: A view from the social sciences. In The Rebirth of Area Studies: Challenges for History, Politics and International Relations in the 21st Century (pp. 129–150). London,: I.B. Tauris. Retrieved March 3, 2022

Brecher, M. (1963). International Relations and Asian Studies: The Subordinate State System of Southern Asia. World Politics, 15(2), 213-235

Morgenthau, H. (1952). Area studies and the study of International Relations. International Social Science Bulletin, 4

Duroselle, J. (1952). Area Studies: Problem of Methods. International Social Science Bulletin, 4

Hodgett, S. (2020). Twenty-first-century Area Studies: Blurring genres, evolutionary thought and the production of theory. In The Rebirth of Area Studies: Challenges for History, Politics and International Relations in the 21st Century (pp. 19–52). London,: I.B. Tauris. Retrieved March 3, 2022

Kubik, J. (2020). How to think about ‘area’ in Area Studies?. In The Rebirth of Area Studies: Challenges for History, Politics and International Relations in the 21st Century (pp. 53–90). London,: I.B. Tauris. Retrieved March 3, 2022

Sil, R. (2020). The survival and adaptation of area studies. In D. Berg-SchlosserB. Badie, & L. Morlino The SAGE handbook of political science (Vol. 3, pp. 255-271). SAGE Publications Ltd

Learning outcomes:

As a result of participating in the course, students will acquire an understanding of what area studies are, how they emerged and developed, and how this discipline helps us to understand current global and regional dynamics. They will be able to understand the nature and long-term causes and consequences of problems affecting different regions of the world. They will be equipped with conceptual and terminological tools to study current events and dynamics of a global nature.

Assessment Methods:

- Class Attendance (Students must attend 10 out of 12 sessions)

- Final Test (basis of final grade)