Ⅰ. Course list

Notes: The above information is subject to minor adjustments. Please refer to the actual courses offered.

Ⅱ. Course Description

1. American Politics and Diplomacy

As the world’s only superpower, the United States has had profound impact not only on international peace and prosperity, but also on China’s internal development and external relations. As such, it is imperative that Chinese college students have working knowledge of the American political system and its foreign policymaking process. This course aims to provide students with that essential knowledge. The first part of the course introduces students to the fundamentals of the U.S. political system, including its constitutional structure, Congress, presidency, presidential and congressional elections, and political parties. The second part discusses how the president, Congress, and societal factors interact with each other in foreign policymaking.

2. Selected Readings of International Relations

This course is guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. By taking this course, students will acquire knowledge and skills while cultivating integrity and wisdom. Besides, students will understand and practice the core values of Chinese socialism, and learn to combine personal fulfillment with social and national development. The selected readings of international relations in this course are intended to provide students with an understanding of the diversity of approaches to the study of international relations and an appreciation of the key concepts and frameworks as well as the information of the latest development in this field. These readings will better enable students to understand a subject that is not only complex, exciting, full of controversy and debate, but also a matter of great importance in the contemporary world, which will definitely lay a solid foundation for the further study or research in this discipline. This course is to review the classic works in the studies of international relations. It mainly includes the following topics which will be further illustrated by related articles, namely, the international system, international security, international institution, international system stability and so on.

3. Environmental Political Economy

The ability of states and societies to protect our environment is a fundamental challenge to politics. There are many pathways which have been proposed by political economists. This module examines alternative ideological approaches by which states and societies could steer environmental governance, including sustainable development, Marxist approaches, radical de-growth strategies and free-market environmentalism. The module also considers the challenges of managing scarce environmental resources among competing ends, but also among competing states, groups, and classes.

4. Translation Practice in Diplomacy and Foreign Affairs

This course is designed for students in Diplomacy in order to best combine the studies and understanding of knowledge and theories in International Relations and Diplomacy with English language learning and application. The course will focus on improving and enhancing knowledge and practical capabilities of translation with in-class lecturing and after-class exercises and practices. The content of the course will be mainly divided into three parts: 1. understanding and translations of academic literature, 2. translation of diplomatic documents, and 3. translation of China-related documents (Chinese-English). Students will be assessed through after-class assignments and a final exam.

5. East Asian Politics and Foreign Policies

This module examines the post-war political evolution and foreign relations of five East Asian countries: Mongolia, Vietnam, North Korea, South Korea, and Japan. It focuses on two central questions. First, what have been the political trajectories of these countries since the end of World War II, and what have been the critical junctures in their political journeys? Second, how have their relations with China evolved to become what they are today? To broaden students' understanding of East Asian politics, this module highlights Mongolia, Vietnam, and North Korea—countries often overlooked in discussions of East Asian politics and regional relations. Additionally, it explores the post-war political development of South Korea and Japan, emphasizing the facilitating role played by the United States in these processes, in contrast to the previous focus on domestic factors in both countries.

6. UN Peace Operations and Sustainable Development: Theory and Practice

This course aims to provide the students an overview of the most prominent international organization in global governance, the United Nations. This course will first introduce the establishment and development of the United Nations and explain the principal organs and structure of the UN system. After establishing a foundational and structural understanding of the United Nations, this course will then discuss UN’s role and influence in different issue areas, including international peace and security, sustainable development and poverty eradication, humanitarian assistance and human rights protection, which are three pillars of the United Nations. This course will also discuss the role of UN in regional governance, paying attention to the interaction between the UN and (sub-)regional organizations such as European Union, ASEAN, and African Union. At last, this course will discuss China’s participation in the UN system and examine the current challenges and future direction of the UN as an international bureaucracy.

7. Global Governance for Peace and Security

Students of this module will investigate the dynamic trends shaping the global governance of peace in the changing world order. Drawing on mainstream International Relations and critical peace studies, students will examine the evolution and the recent crisis in the global governance of peace and security. The module will use a variety of real-world examples, case studies, short films, databases, speeches, and policy briefings to critically examine the recent state of global governance architecture. The module aims to cultivate critical skills to understand the ideological underpinnings of the current global governance of peace, its impact on norms and practices of peacebuilding and peacekeeping on the ground, as well as alternative forms of mitigating conflict that are gaining ground.

8. Principles of Political Science

This course is designed to introduce core concepts, master thinkers and masterpieces in political theory, encouraging students to explore classical thoughts on power, political culture, ideology, political socialization, nation-state, government, political leadership, democracy, political modernization, etc. With thorough reading and in-depth discussion, the students are encouraged to form their own academic personality.

Generally, this course is guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. By taking this course, students will acquire knowledge and skills while cultivating integrity and wisdom. Besides, students will understand and practice the core values of Chinese socialism, and learn to combine personal fulfillment with social and national development.

Specifically, this course is designed to help students develop 1) a good command of mainstream, seminal and historic political science theories as power, constitutionalism, democracy, legitimacy, among many others; familiarity with master scholars in political science and philosophy and their respective theories. 2) robust ability to apply political science theories to real-life political issues and problems; formation of individual theoretical preference, and development of academic character. 3) positive attitudes toward the nature of public policy making and reforming.

9. Contemporary Chinese Foreign Policies

This course is guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. By taking this course, students will acquire knowledge and skills while cultivating integrity and wisdom. Besides, students will understand and practice the core values of Chinese socialism, and learn to combine personal fulfillment with social and national development. This course introduces the evolution of China’s foreign relations since the starting of the People’s Republic of China. To better understand the development of China’s foreign relations, this course firstly dates back to the ancient model and modern model of China’s foreign relations. The main content includes two dimensions of China’s foreign relations, namely, the evolution of new China’s foreign relations from 1949 to the current days, and some frontier studies of China’s foreign relations, such as China’s periphery diplomacy, China’s multilateral diplomacy, China’s foreign assistance, One Belt One Road Initiative, Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy and so on. Through the study of the course, students can get the basic knowledge of China’s foreign policy and China’s relations with some big powers.

10. Chinese Government and Politics

This course introduces students to institutions, reform processes and major events in Chinese political life since 1949, with special focus on the reform era since 1978. In particular, it will walk students through the economic and political development in China—their causes, patterns, consequences, and implications—in a broader context of comprehensive political, economic, and cultural transition. The course will apply concepts and theories in comparative politics in analyzing Chinese politics. By taking this class, students are expected to gain substantial knowledge about topics in contemporary Chinese politics and acquire some basic ability to apply such knowledge to understand and analyze historical and current affairs concerning China.

11. Research Design and Academic Writing

Any academic research consists of two parts: first, how to conduct the research, and second, how to transform research findings into academic outcomes. The former pertains to research methods, and the latter to academic writing. This course aims to enhance students' abilities in both areas, enabling them not only to understand the research results of others but also to conduct independent research and write research papers. To achieve these goals, the course will cover key elements of social science research, including research questions, research design, theory building, logical reasoning, data collection and analysis, literature review, and academic writing.

12. Research Methods in Political Science

As an essential course for advanced undergraduate students in Political Science, this course delves into the methodological tools used in political research. Students will gain exposure to a range of research techniques and analytical frameworks that underpin the study of political phenomena.

The course covers both qualitative and quantitative methods in political science research, including statistical analysis, comparative studies, survey research, case studies, content analysis, internet methods, and so on. Throughout the course, students will be expected to critically examine the strengths and weaknesses of each approach, and understand the ethical considerations inherent in political research.

Emphasizing hands-on experience, students will be asked to design and execute their own research projects based on a topic of their choice within the field of Political Science. These projects will allow students to apply learned methodologies in a practical setting, synthesizing their knowledge and skills acquired over their years of study. This course is well-suited for students aiming for careers in academia, policy analysis, government, NGOs, international organizations, and other fields where strong research skills are needed.

13. Contemporary Chinese Foreign Policy

This course mainly explores the nature and evolution of contemporary Chinese diplomacy. Essentially and as a whole, the People's Republic of China has always pursued an independent foreign policy of peace. Since the founding of New China, with changes in the international situation and landscape as well as China's continuous rise, China's foreign policy has undergone specific and profound adjustments. From 1950 to 1978, Chinese diplomacy experienced policy shifts from "leaning to one side", to "two intermediate zones", and then to "one line, one vast area". In the 1980s, Deng Xiaoping put forward the thesis that "peace and development are the two major themes of the world." Since then, China has focused on economic development and pursued a non-aligned foreign policy. Since the 21st century, as China's economic strength and international influence have grown, China has actively participated in international affairs and successively put forward new concepts such as the Belt and Road Initiative, the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, the Global Civilization Initiative, and the Global Governance Initiative. This course aims to help students understand the above historical evolution of China's foreign policy and thereby grasp the underlying logic of Chinese diplomacy.

14. Theories of International Relations

This course primarily teaches the mainstream paradigms of international relations theory, focusing on the intellectual origins, evolution, and latest developments of theoretical schools such as Realism, Liberalism, Constructivism, and the English School. It highlights representative theories, leading figures, main arguments, and core literature within each school, emphasizing a triadic way of thinking that integrates "theory," "strategy," and "policy." The course uses theory to analyze strategy, strategy to guide policy, and policy to reflect on theory. It systematically reflects on the accumulated experiential wisdom from classic cases in the historical process of international relations, aiming to understand and explain major and pressing issues such as the evolution of international structures, changes in international order, and adjustments in great power relations in recent years. Ultimately, the course helps students train their theoretical thinking, form theoretical preferences, and cultivate a theoretical mindset.