http://international-studies.as.miami.edu

Dept. Code:  INS

Degree Programs

The Department of International Studies offers an interdisciplinary social science program leading to the MA degree. The MA program offers advanced students the opportunity to study issues such as globalization, democratic governance, comparative and international political economy, post-Cold War conflicts and security threats, and new forms of civil society mobilization in world politics. To organize the study of these debates in the social sciences, the Department offers three fields of specialization:

  • International Relations: international relations theory; globalization; social movements beyond the nation-state; security studies; peace and conflict studies; international law and organization; international political economy; foreign policy analysis, global public health, and related fields.
  • Comparative Politics: theory and methods of comparative analysis; authoritarian and democratic political regimes; democratic governance and citizenship, comparative political economy; contentious politics and social movements; civil-military relations; and appropriate courses on selected regions, such as the European Union, Latin America, or the Post-Soviet countries.
  • International and Comparative Political Economy: the politics and institutions regulating the global trade, investment, and financial regimes; comparative international development; the politics and economics of international environmental regimes; democracy, partisan politics, and global governance, the domestic and international distributive impacts of globalization; and international economic theory.

Masters Program in International Studies

INS 601. IR Theory. 3 Credit Hours.

Introduces students to key historic events, themes, concepts, and theories that have animated the practice and scholarship of international relations.
Components: LEC.
Grading: GRD.
Typically Offered: Spring.

INS 603. Dissertation Proposal. 3 Credit Hours.

INS 603 Research Design: A writing course designed to assist Master's students in the preparation of their graduation requirements: publishable papers or MA thesis.
Components: SEM.
Grading: GRD.
Typically Offered: Fall & Spring.

INS 604. Int Rel Topics II. 3 Credit Hours.

Selected topics in International Relations Theory. Subtitles describing the topics to be offered will be shown in parentheses in the printed class schedule, following the title.
Components: SEM.
Grading: GRD.
Typically Offered: Offered by Announcement Only.

INS 605. Int Relations Topics. 3 Credit Hours.

Selected topics in International Relations Theory. Subtitles describing the topics to be offered will be shown in parentheses in the printed class schedule, following the title.
Components: LEC.
Grading: GRD.
Typically Offered: Offered by Announcement Only.

INS 606. Issues in International Studies. 3 Credit Hours.

Analysis of current issues of international importance.
Components: LEC.
Grading: GRD.
Typically Offered: Offered by Announcement Only.

INS 607. International Economic System Topics II. 3 Credit Hours.

Selected topics in International Economics. Subtitles describing the topics to be offered will be shown in parentheses in the printed class schedule, following the title.
Components: LEC.
Grading: GRD.
Typically Offered: Offered by Announcement Only.

INS 608. Intl Econ Topics. 3 Credit Hours.

Content varies by semester and is indicated in parentheses following course number and title in Class Schedule.
Components: SEM.
Grading: GRD.
Typically Offered: Offered by Announcement Only.

INS 609. Globalization and Human Rights. 3 Credit Hours.

The integration of markets has many concerned for the political and economic rights of the common citizen. This course examines The effect of globalization on the human rights standards throughout the world.
Components: LEC.
Grading: GRD.
Typically Offered: Offered by Announcement Only.

INS 611. International Relations Methodology II. 3 Credit Hours.

Introduces graduate students to issues of research design and research methods in International Relations. The course will focus on three main methodological approaches in political science: qualitative case study, quantitative research and formal modeling. Apart from examining the principles guiding the choice of methods (and the trade offs involved in that choice), the course will examine how these methods have been applied to the study of three major sub-fields of international relations: international political economy, security studies, and international environmental regimes. It also aims to provide the students with basic knowledge on how to apply these methods to their own research.
Components: LEC.
Grading: GRD.
Typically Offered: Spring.

INS 613. Transnational Social Movemen. 3 Credit Hours.

Focuses on global civic activism and contentious politics, with particular attention to transnational non-state actors - NGOs, social movements, environmental protection, and the emergence of a global civil society.
Components: LEC.
Grading: GRD.
Typically Offered: Offered by Announcement Only.

INS 614. Comparative Political Regimes. 3 Credit Hours.

Literature concerned with the transition from authoritarianism to democracy in various parts of the world.
Components: SEM.
Grading: GRD.
Typically Offered: Offered by Announcement Only.

INS 616. National Security. 3 Credit Hours.

The central issues concerning European security since World War II, with emphasis on the period since the end of the cold war.
Components: LEC.
Grading: GRD.
Typically Offered: Offered by Announcement Only.

INS 617. National Security and Foreign Policy. 3 Credit Hours.

Explores alternative conceptualizations of "security" and the new challenges to U.S. national security that have emerged in the Post-Cold War era.
Components: LEC.
Grading: GRD.
Typically Offered: Summer.

INS 618. Regional Topics II. 3 Credit Hours.

Selected topics in International Business. Subtitles describing the topics to be offered will be shown in parentheses in the printed class schedule, following the title.
Components: LEC.
Grading: GRD.
Typically Offered: Offered by Announcement Only.

INS 619. Internship. 1-3 Credit Hours.

A research paper is required for this course. The student works with a selected faculty member who determines the length and scope of the project. The Student is responsible for finding the internship position.
Components: THI.
Grading: GRD.
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, & Summer.

INS 620. International Migration and the Health Care System. 3 Credit Hours.

Critical aspects of development globally: the migration-development nexus. The centrality this issue has in current debates on development. Research and policy-making approaches to different aspects of this nexus. Several countries and regions are covered throughout the semester. Development of research skills through systematic participation in specific projects.
Components: LEC.
Grading: GRD.
Typically Offered: Fall & Spring.

INS 621. International Development Theory I. 3 Credit Hours.

A synthesis of major theories of international development, institutional architecture, and practice of international development. Focus on key international development polices such as trade, macroeconomic finance, and equity. Considers narrow conceptions of modernity, growth, progress, wellbeing, and culture toward broader conceptions of freedom and/or sustainable development.
Components: LEC.
Grading: GRD.
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, & Summer.

INS 622. Advanced Seminar in International Economics. 3 Credit Hours.

This is a seminar in International Economics at the graduate level. The first part consists of a rigorous but nontechnical presentation of international trade theory, followed by a discussion of the main arguments for protection and their validity. The third part of the course analyzes the process of globalization; its meaning, measurement and effects. A final brief section is devoted to the determination of exchange rates and the international monetary system.
Components: LEC.
Grading: GRD.
Typically Offered: Offered by Announcement Only.

INS 627. Negotiation and Bargaining. 3 Credit Hours.

Examines the nature of diplomatic negotiation through readings and discussion of international negotiation and through the case method, selecting several cases of high-level policy issues in which the United States has been a principal actor.
Components: LEC.
Grading: GRD.
Typically Offered: Spring.

INS 628. International Peace and Conflict Resolution. 3 Credit Hours.

The major sources of conflict, and what resources are available for making and keeping the peace? This class introduces students to the most fundamental concerns of the field of International Relations (IR), and especially of its sub-field IPCR.
Components: LEC.
Grading: GRD.
Typically Offered: Offered by Announcement Only.

INS 629. International Cooperation. 3 Credit Hours.

INS 629 International Cooperation: The role, function, and impact on states of international governmental and non-governmental organizations in critical areas like cooperation, peace and security, human rights, and economic development.
Components: LEC.
Grading: GRD.
Typically Offered: Offered by Announcement Only.

INS 630. Advanced Seminar in Comparative Studies. 3 Credit Hours.

Seminar topic varies by semester and is indicated in parentheses following course number and title in Class Schedule.
Components: SEM.
Grading: GRD.
Typically Offered: Fall.

INS 637. Comparative Political Economy. 3 Credit Hours.

Compares how domestic politics and macroeconomic policies interact with globalization. Case studies include welfare states in the U.S. and Europe, East Asian development, post communist transitions and market restructuring in Latin America and Africa.
Components: SEM.
Grading: GRD.
Typically Offered: Fall.

INS 638. U.S.-Latin American Relations. 3 Credit Hours.

Political, economic and strategic aspects of U.S.-Latin American relations; the historical experience and contemporary issues, including the influence of extra-regional parties such as Europe and China.
Components: SEM.
Grading: GRD.
Typically Offered: Fall.

INS 642. Drug-Trafficking in the Americas. 3 Credit Hours.

The political economy of the U.S.-Latin American drug trade in the 20th Century along with the dynamics of the U.S.-led war on drugs through the first years of the Twenty First Century.
Components: SEM.
Grading: GRD.
Typically Offered: Fall.

INS 646. Politics and Ideology in Latin America. 3 Credit Hours.

The roles played by both "class" and the "new social movements" in the emergence of new modes of political representation.
Components: LEC.
Grading: GRD.
Typically Offered: Offered by Announcement Only.

INS 647. Latin American Thought. 3 Credit Hours.

The evolution of Latin American thought through political and intellectual history; the classical writings of the main "pensadores", and a comparative analysis of contemporary ideological trends.
Components: LEC.
Grading: GRD.
Typically Offered: Spring.

INS 648. Brazil in Transition. 3 Credit Hours.

The social, economic, cultural transformations shaping Brazilian politics. In addition to visiting Rio de Janeiro and Salvador, there will be seminars with Brazilian academics and social and political activists.
Components: SEM.
Grading: GRD.
Typically Offered: Offered by Announcement Only.

INS 649. European-Latin American Relations. 3 Credit Hours.

This course deals primarily with five main themes: shared history between Europe and Latin America; mutual transfer of ideas (ideologies and political thought), perceptions (images and stereotypes), people (voluntary and slavery), and goods (trade and investment); foreign policies of main European states and the European Community toward Latin America; an analysis of some specific country cases (Spain, especially) and issues (regional integration, among them); and how the above have affected inter-American relations and the hegemonic role of the United States.
Components: LEC.
Grading: GRD.
Typically Offered: Offered by Announcement Only.

INS 653. The European Union. 3 Credit Hours.

The European Union's history, institutions, policies and contemporary issues.
Components: LEC.
Grading: GRD.
Typically Offered: Fall & Spring.

INS 654. European Union and the World. 3 Credit Hours.

The European Union's development, its main institutions and policies followed by an analysis of the main features of the European Union's external relations.
Components: LEC.
Grading: GRD.
Typically Offered: Spring.

INS 655. Post-Soviet Topics. 3 Credit Hours.

Subtitles describing the topics to be offered will be shown in parentheses in the printed class schedule, following the course number and title.
Components: LEC.
Grading: GRD.
Typically Offered: Spring.

INS 656. Special Topics. 3 Credit Hours.

Content varies by semester and is indicated in parentheses following course number and title in Class Schedule.
Components: LEC.
Grading: GRD.
Typically Offered: Offered by Announcement Only.

INS 657. U.S. Foreign Policy. 3 Credit Hours.

The leading approaches to the analysis of American foreign policy. Particular emphasis will be placed on the post-Cold War period and the new challenges to U.S. foreign policy of the 21st century.
Components: LEC.
Grading: GRD.
Typically Offered: Spring.

INS 658. Culture, Civilization and Religion in International Relations. 3 Credit Hours.

International Relations (IR) theories have traditionally neglected ideational factors such as identity, religion, and culture: unlike states, they were "non-territorial"
Components: LEC.
Grading: GRD.
Typically Offered: Fall & Spring.

INS 659. IR in a Constructed World. 3 Credit Hours.

The collapse of the Soviet Union, the end of the Cold war and the end of world bipolarity left wanting the main International Relations (IR) perspectives. The course will examine these epochal changes to show that unlike traditional assumptions IR are not inevitable consequences of human nature or other essential, material characteristics such as structure as the primary independent variable. Responding to these changes constructivism, the newest IR approach regards states as actors and agents, existing within a world of their "own making." IR are social rather than material, not given by nature and material factors and hence, capable of being transformed by human practice. There are many forms of constructivism, some compatible with positivism and rationalism of the mainstream IR approaches, others more radical in their critique of IR discipline. Forms of constructivism differ in how they see the relationship between actors and structures, the mechanism of how the world is "constructed" (e.g., ideas, norms, language). Constructivism opens new research avenues.
Components: LEC.
Grading: GRD.
Typically Offered: Fall & Spring.

INS 664. International Law. 3 Credit Hours.

How international law affects the conduct of states. Issues include jurisdiction, diplomatic immunity, the use of armed force, peaceful dispute settlement among states, human rights, and the International Criminal Court.
Components: LEC.
Grading: GRD.
Typically Offered: Fall.

INS 665. The World Before European Domination. 3 Credit Hours.

The historical roots of the contemporary international system. Its objective is to question the standard Eurocentric perspective on the rise of the West to a dominant position in the global system.
Components: SEM.
Grading: GRD.
Typically Offered: Spring.

INS 669. Global Issues and Filmmaking: A Transdisciplinary Approach. 3 Credit Hours.

Global issues and filmmaking studied via a transdisciplinary approach. Topical focus varies among health, foreign aid, human security, international development, and global urbanization.
Components: RSC.
Grading: GRD.
Typically Offered: Fall & Spring.

INS 675. MA Capstone Research Paper (CRP). 3 Credit Hours.

A capstone is to synthesize and apply the knowledge that students have acquired through the International Studies MA curriculum-the disciplinary perspectives, theories, and methods learned-to those particular student's interests developed throughout the concentration. Students will be directed in the sequence and stages of research, data presentation and visualization, writing, oral and presentation skills. The major goal is to produce a capstone research paper (CRP) of 25-30 pages (i.e., 6,000-8,000 words) plus tables, figures, maps and other appendices that aims to be a peer reviewed article for an International Studies publication.
Components: SEM.
Grading: GRD.
Typically Offered: Fall.

INS 693. European Security. 3 Credit Hours.

Regional security in Europe, focusing on NATO expansion, EU expansion, Russian foreign policy, and related issues.
Components: LEC.
Grading: GRD.
Typically Offered: Spring.

INS 694. European Topics. 3 Credit Hours.

Subtitles describing the topics to be offered will be shown in parentheses in the printed class schedule, following the course number and title.
Components: LEC.
Grading: GRD.
Typically Offered: Offered by Announcement Only.

INS 699. Readings in International Studies. 1-3 Credit Hours.

Substantive topics vary by semester and is indicated in parentheses following course number and title in Class Schedule.
Components: THI.
Grading: GRD.
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, & Summer.

INS 810. Master's Thesis. 1-6 Credit Hours.

The student working on his/her master's thesis enrolls for credit, in most departments not to exceed six, as determined by his/her advisor. Credit is not awarded until the thesis has been accepted.
Components: THI.
Grading: SUS.
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, & Summer.

INS 820. Research in Residence. 1 Credit Hour.

Used to establish research in residence for the thesis for the master's degree after the student has enrolled for the permissible cumulative total in INS 710 (usually six credits). Credit not granted. May be regarded as full time residence.
Components: THI.
Grading: GRD.
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, & Summer.

INS 825. Continuous Registration--Master's Study. 1 Credit Hour.

To establish residence for non-thesis master's students who are preparing for major examinations. Credit not granted. Regarded as full time residence.
Components: THI.
Grading: GRD.
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, & Summer.

INS 830. Doctoral Dissertation. 1-12 Credit Hours.

A total of 12 hours of INS 730 is required of all candidates for the Ph.D. Not more than 12 dissertation credits may be taken during the Fall or Spring semesters, nor more than six in a summer session.
Components: THI.
Grading: SUS.
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, & Summer.

INS 840. Post-candidacy Doctoral Dissertation. 1-12 Credit Hours.

Required of all candidates for the Ph.D. who have advanced to candidacy. The student will enroll for credit as determined by his/her advisor, but not for less than a total of 12. Not more than 12 hours of INS 740 may be taken in a regular semester, nor more than six in a summer session.
Components: THI.
Grading: SUS.
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, & Summer.

INS 850. Research in Residence. 1 Credit Hour.

Used to establish research in residence for the Ph.D. and D.A., after the student has been enrolled for the permissible cumulative total in appropriate doctoral research. Credit not granted. May be regarded as full-time residence as determined by the Dean of the Graduate School.
Components: THI.
Grading: SUS.
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, & Summer.