2024 Faculty Courses Liberal arts and basic science courses Humanities and social science courses
International Relations C
- Academic unit or major
- Humanities and social science courses
- Instructor(s)
- Shinji Kawana
- Class Format
- Lecture (Face-to-face)
- Media-enhanced courses
- -
- Day of week/Period
(Classrooms) - 7-8 Tue / 7-8 Fri
- Class
- -
- Course Code
- LAH.S305
- Number of credits
- 200
- Course offered
- 2024
- Offered quarter
- 1Q
- Syllabus updated
- Mar 14, 2025
- Language
- Japanese
Syllabus
Course overview and goals
This course serves as an introduction to a variety of theories of International Relations (IR). The objective of this course is to help students to interpret and describe IR in terms of different types of theoretical approaches.We will survey some of the key schools of thought, including realism, liberalism, and constructivism. We will cover some of the major empirical applications of these approaches. Through it we try to understand the structure and pluralism of international relations. Its objective is to cultivate relative and problem-solving thinking to understand complex international relations.
Course description and aims
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
1）Understand the major theories of international relations
2）Describe the major similarities and differences between the major IR theories
3）Understand the historical evolution of IR theory over time
Keywords
Realism, Liberalism, Constructivism
Competencies
- Specialist skills
- Intercultural skills
- Communication skills
- Critical thinking skills
- Practical and/or problem-solving skills
Class flow
Lectures and Discussions: This course requires students to take an active role in their own learning.It is essentially important for students to attend all the classes.
Should the number of applicants for this course exceed the limit, a lottery system will be used to determine which students are admitted. Be sure to attend the first class.
Course schedule/Objectives
| Course schedule | Objectives | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 1 | Introductory Remarks | Understand the significance of IR theories to understand modern international politics. |
| Class 2 | International relations in social science | Understand the purpose of international relations as "social science". |
| Class 3 | Range of major theories and methods | Understand the scope of explanation and some methods of validation of IR theory. |
| Class 4 | Realism: state of nature, anarchy and classical reailsm | Understand the logics of realism and the characteristics of early realism. |
| Class 5 | Realism: neorealism | Understand the “structural realism.” and rationalism. |
| Class 6 | Realism: neo-classical realism, realist constructivism | Understand the interaction between international politics and domestic politics. |
| Class 7 | Liberalism: natural harmony | Understand the ideological foundation of liberalism. |
| Class 8 | Liberalism: interdependence and international regimes | Find out the reasons for the success of the liberalism since the 1970s. |
| Class 9 | Liberalism: institutions and neoliberalism | Understand why liberal Institutionalism relies on microeconomic theory. |
| Class 10 | Constructivism: limits of rationalism | Understand why did theory fail to predict the end of the Cold War. |
| Class 11 | Constructivism: intersubjectivity, norms and logic of appropriateness | Understand the non-material factors affect international politics. |
| Class 12 | Structuralism: hierarchy in International Relations | Explore patterns of U.S.-led hierarchy in the security and economic realms. |
| Class 13 | Application: foreign policy decision making | case study (Cuban crisis) |
| Class 14 | final exam |
Study advice (preparation and review)
To enhance effective learning, students are encouraged to spend approximately 100 minutes preparing for class and another 100 minutes reviewing class content afterwards (including assignments) for each class.
They should do so by referring to textbooks and other course material.
Textbook(s)
All materials are provided during class.
Reference books, course materials, etc.
See Japanese information.
Supplemental materials will be distributed.
Evaluation methods and criteria
Reaction Paper 20%
Final exams 80%
Related courses
- LAH.S104 ： International Relations A
- LAH.S204 ： International Relations B
Prerequisites
There are no pre‐requisites for the course.
Contact information (e-mail and phone) Notice : Please replace from ”[at]” to ”@”(half-width character).
shinji.kawana[at]ila.titech.ac.jp
Office hours
Contact by e-mail in advance to schedule an appointment.