PSIR 502 | Course Introduction and Application Information - Political Science and International Relations (With Thesis)

Course Name

Theories of International Relations

Code	Semester	Theory (hour/week)	Application/Lab (hour/week)	Local Credits	ECTS
PSIR 502	Spring	3	0	3	7.5

Prerequisites	None
Course Language	English
Course Type	Required
Course Level	Second Cycle
Mode of Delivery	-
Teaching Methods and Techniques of the Course	-
National Occupation Classification	-
Course Coordinator	-
Course Lecturer(s)	Dr. Öğr. Üyesi Umut Can Adısönmez
Assistant(s)	Araş. Gör. Nil DİKMENGİL

Course Objectives

This course will help the students to both develop their critical thinking on main themes of IR such as conflict, security, power, self-determination, integration and globalization from different theoretical perspectives and apply various mainstream and critical theories of International Relations to real-world cases.

Learning Outcomes

#	Content	PC Sub	* Contribution Level
#	Content	PC Sub	1	2	3	4	5
1	Can discuss the goal and importance of theory and theoretical researches.
2	Can explain the main assumptions, problematics, epistemological, ontological and methodological foundations and their solutions of those problematics with examples.
3	Can compare different theories in regard to the issues mentioned in article two.
4	Can analyze historical and contemporary events and problems by using theories of international relations
5	Can comment on the future of international relations and emerging trends in the framework of discussed theoretical approaches.

Course Description

This graduate seminar surveys the main theoretical and analytical approaches encountered in the study of international relations.

Course Category	Core Courses	X
	Major Area Courses
	Supportive Courses
	Media and Management Skills Courses
	Transferable Skill Courses

Week	Subjects	Related Preparation	Learning Outcome
1	Introduction
2	What is IR Theory and why do we need it?	Smith, S. (2016). "Introduction: Diversity and Disciplinarity in International Relations Theory", in Dunne et al. (Eds.), International Relations Theories, Ch. 1, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Smith, S. (1995). "The Self-Images of a Discipline: A Genealogy of International Relations Theory", in K. Booth & S. Smith (Eds.)., International Relations Theory Today (pp.1-19), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Singer, J. D. (1961). “The Level-of-Analysis Problem in International Relations,” World Politics, 14 (1), pp. 77-92.
3	Classical and Structural Realism	Carr, E.H. (2000). The Twenty Years’ Crisis. An Introduction to the Study of International Relations. London: Palgrave Macmillan, Ch. 1-6. Morgenthau, H. J. (1945) “The Evil of Politics and the Ethics of Evil’, Ethics, 56 (1), pp. 1-18. Guzzini, S. (2004), “The Enduring Dilemmas of Realism”, European Journal of International Relations, 10 (4), pp. 533-568. Waltz, K. N. (1990), “Realist Thought and Neorealist Theory”, Journal of International Affairs, 44 (1), pp. 21-37.
4	Liberalism(s)	Wilson, P. (2003). “What is Idealism?” in The International Theory of Leonard Woolf: A Study in Twentieth-Century Idealism. London: Palgrave Macmillan, Ch. 2. Keohane, R. (2004), http://www.uctv.tv/shows/Theory-and-International-Institutions-with-Robert-O-Keohane-Conversations-with-History-8991 Doyle, M. (1983). "Kant, Liberal Legacies, and Foreign Affairs, Part I," Philosophy and Public Affairs, 12 (3), pp. 205-235. Owen, J. (1994). "How Liberalism Produces Democratic Peace," International Security, 19 (2), pp. 87-125. Oneal, J., Russett, B., & Berbaum, M. (2003). “Causes of Peace: Democracy, Interdependence, and International Organizations, 1885-1992”. International Studies Quarterly, 47 (3), 371-393.
5	Constructivism	Wendt, A. (1992). “Anarchy is what states make of it: the social construction of power politics,” International Organization, 46 (2), pp. 391‐425. Wendt, A. (1999). Social Theory of International Politics, Cambridge: Cambridge University, pp. 92‐192 Hurd, I. (1999). “Legitimacy and Authority in International Politics,” International Organization, 53 (2), pp. 379‐408.
6	Marxism and Critical Theory	Linklater, A. (2005). “Marxism” in Burchill, S. (Ed.), Theories of International Relations. London: Palgrave, Ch. 5. Linklater, A. (1986). “Realism, Marxism and Critical International Theory.” Review of International Studies, 12 (4), pp. 301–312. Cox, R. W. (1983). “Gramsci, Hegemony and IR”, Millennium, 12 (2), pp. 162-175.
7	Midterm
8	The English School	Buzan, B. (2001). "The English School: An Underexploited Resource in IR", Review of International Studies, 27 (3), pp. 471-88. Bull, H. (1971). “Order vs. Justice in International Society”, Political Studies, 19 (3), pp. 269-83.
9	Poststructuralism	Foucault, M. (1980) “Truth and Power”. in Gordon. C. (Ed.). Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings 1972-1977, New York: Harvester Wheatsheaf, pp. 109-133. Der Derian, J. (2000). ‘Virtuous War / Virtual Theory,’ International Affairs, 76 (4), pp. 771-788. Dillon, M. and Guerrero, L. L. (2008). “Biopolitics of Security in the 21st Century: an Introduction”, Review of International Studies, 34 (2), pp. 265-292.
10	Postcolonialism	Said, E. (2003) Orientalism, London: Penguin, pp. 1-49. Darby, P., & Paolini, A. J. (1994). “Bridging International Relations and Postcolonialism”. Alternatives: Global, Local, Political, 19 (3), 371–397. Seth, S. (2011). “Postcolonial Theory and the Critique of International Relations”. Millennium, 40 (1), pp. 167-183.
11	New Approaches in IR and the Transforming Definition of Security	Tickner, A. (1997). “You just don’t understand: troubled engagements between feminist and IR theorists”, International Studies Quarterly, 41 (4), pp. 611-632. Kinnvall, C. (2004). “Globalization and Religious Nationalism: Self, Identity, and the Search for Ontological Security”. Political Psychology, 25 (5), pp. 741-767. Rumelili, B. & Adisonmez, U. C. (2020). “Uluslararası İlişkilerde Kimlik-Güvenlik İlişkisine Dair Yeni bir Paradigma: Ontolojik Güvenlik Teorisi” Uluslararası İlişkiler Dergisi, 17 (66), pp. 23-39. Lukes, S. (2005). “Power and the Battle for Hearts and Minds”, Millennium, 33 (3), pp. 477-493. Buzan, B. (1984). “Peace, Power, and Security: Contending Concepts in the Study of International Relations”. Journal of Peace Research, 21 (2), pp. 109-125. Stein, J. G. (2013). “Threat perception in international relations”. in L. Huddy, D. O. Sears, & J. S. Levy (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of political psychology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 364–394. Adisonmez, U. C. (2016). “What is the Human Security Approach and How the Phenomenon Contributed to the International Security Agenda: Canadian and Japanese Paradigms”. Security Strategies Journal, 12 (24), pp. 1-28.
12	Project Presentations
13	Project Presentations
14	Project Presentations
15	General overview of the course
16	Final Exam

Course Notes/Textbooks

No particular course book, but students are advised to acquire the below book in order to track the weekly discussions:

Tim Dunne, Milja Kurki ve Steve Smith (Eds.) (2016). International Relations Theories: Discipline and Diversity, 3^rd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

*All course readings are available at the University Library and as open sources.

Suggested Readings/Materials

Moran M. Mandelbaum (2019). The Nation/State Fantasy: From Gellner to Lacan. Palgrace Macmillan.

Brent Steele (2008) Ontological Security in Intrernational Relations: Self-Identitiy and the IR State. Routledge.

Semester Activities	Number	Weighting	LO 1	LO 2	LO 3	LO 4	LO 5
Participation	1	20
Laboratory / Application
Field Work
Quizzes / Studio Critiques
Portfolio
Homework / Assignments
Presentation / Jury	1	20
Project
Seminar / Workshop
Oral Exams
Midterm	1	20
Final Exam	1	40
Total

Weighting of Semester Activities on the Final Grade	3	60
Weighting of End-of-Semester Activities on the Final Grade	1	40
Total

Semester Activities	Number	Duration (Hours)	Workload
Theoretical Course Hours (Including exam week: 16 x total hours)	16	3	48
Laboratory / Application Hours (Including exam week: '.16.' x total hours)	16		0
Study Hours Out of Class	16	7	112
Field Work			0
Quizzes / Studio Critiques			0
Portfolio			0
Homework / Assignments			0
Presentation / Jury	1	15	15
Project			0
Seminar / Workshop			0
Oral Exam			0
Midterms	1	20	20
Final Exam	1	30	30
		Total	225

#	PC Sub	Program Competencies/Outcomes	* Contribution Level
#	PC Sub	Program Competencies/Outcomes	1	2	3	4	5
1	To be able to improve theoretical and conceptual proficiencies on Political Science and International Relations and use them competently.		-	-	-	X	-
2	To be able to evaluate critically the relationships between various factors in the field of Political Science and International Relations such as structures, actors, institutions and culture.		-	-	X	-	-
3	To be able to determine and question the theoretical and empirical gaps in Political Science and International Relations literature.		-	-	-	-	-
4	To be able to identify the political and cultural conditions that generate discrimination mechanisms based on race, ethnicity, gender and religion at national and international levels.		-	-	-	-	-
5	To be able to gather and analyze data by using scientific research methods.		-	-	X	-	-
6	To be able to analyze and evaluate the historical continuity and changes observed in the relations between the actors and institutions of national and international politics.		-	-	X	-	-
7	To be able to present individual research and contemporary developments in Political Science and International Relations in written, oral, and visual forms.		-	-	-	-	-
8	To be able to take responsibility in generating solutions to the problems that arise in relation to the politics in daily life.		-	-	-	-	-
9	To be able to determine the institutional and political instruments for conflict resolution in domestic and international politics.		-	-	-	X	-
10	To be able to prepare a thesis/term project about Political Science and International Relations based on scientific criteria.		-	-	-	-	-
11	To be able to follow new research and developments in Political Science and International Relations and participate the debates in academic meetings through a foreign language.		-	-	-	-	-
12	To be able to have ethical, social and scientific values in the stages throughout the processes of gathering, interpreting, disseminating and implementing data relevant to Political Science and International Relations.		-	-	-	-	-

PSIR 502 | Course Introduction and Application Information

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