Y109 Syllabus (Fall Semester, 2013)

Introduction to International Relations

Instructor: W.R. Thompson
348 Woodburn Hall
wthompso@indiana.edu
Office hours: M 1-3 and by appt.
Associate Instructor: Chisda Magid
____ Woodburn Hall
nmagid@umail.iu.edu
Office Hours: T 10:30-12:30 and by appt.
As the title suggests, this course is an introduction to international relations. It assumes no
specific background and that the modal student is in his/her first or second year. The main
objective is to improve ones literacy about international politics - a skill that is useful for both
further academic analysis of international relations and for interpreting (surviving) the world
around you. Almost any weeks topics could be expanded into a course of its own. The mission
is not to try and shoehorn in 15 weeks worth of material each week but to give you enough
information to make sense of what the various topics (conflict, international political economy,
international organizations, and so on) are about. Hopefully, many of you will take other courses
in international relations in the future that will go into some of these topics in greater depth.
This course will meet twice a week in a large lecture format. Classes do not meet on Sept 2
(Labor Day), Oct 23, and Nov 25-30 (Thanksgiving).
Required Text:
Charles W. Kegley, Jr. and Gregory A. Raymond, The Global Future: A Brief Introduction to
World Politics, 5th ed. (2014) please see below for ways to reduce the cost.
Other course requirements:
1.

Register for Statecraft simulation at www.statecraftsim.com. Hit create account

Your code is simY109. You will be assigned to a country based on an online attitudinal
test. Playing the game will cost $30 at the time of registration.
2. Purchase a response clicker.
Textbooks are a racket but most students become very anxious if they dont have access to them.
The publishers of your text do offer various ways to reduce costs. Enter Cengage in google, hit
Higher Education and enter Kegley and Raymond in the appropriate box and then hit the full
citation for Kegley and Raymond (5th edition) when it appears. For instance, you can purchase a
hardback version at reduced price or a digital version at about half the hard copy price. You can
also rent the text. The inevitable question is whether there is much material in the fifth edition
that is not in the much cheaper (on Amazon.com for instance) third or fourth edition. My guess is
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that the overlap is at least 90% but I cannot guarantee that using earlier editions will avoid
problems. Caveat emptor.
Student Assessments:
There will be 3 exams. The first two (midterms 1 and 2) will cover material from the previous
five weeks only (lectures, textbook assignments) and will stress understanding of the most
significant concepts and theories. These two midterm exams will be held on October 2 and
November 20 respectively. The third will be a cumulative final taken between 5 PM and 7 PM on
Wednesday of the final exam week (December 18). The final is given in the same room that the
Monday and Wednesday lectures are given. Each of the first two exams is worth 200 points.
The final is also worth 200 points. You will be provided a review sheet prior to each of the three
exams (on Sept. 25, Nov. 13, and Dec 18) that suggests rather strong clues as to what will be on
the exam. There will be in class review sessions on Sept 40, Nov. 18, and Dec 11. The midterms are multiple choice. The final exam has two parts: an in-class multiple choice exam and a
take-home essay. Failure to complete both parts of the final exam at the designated time will no
longer receive an incomplete grade, as required by university rules.
In addition, there will be 11 quizzes of varying length, held on Mondays as scheduled. Most of
the quiz questions will be about the Kegley and Raymond text assignments and will be taken from
the sample quizzes that can be found online (use the cengage online procedures outlined above.
You will want the tutorial quizzes on the left hand side of the page (organized by chapter) and be
sure to select the correct chapter first. Some questions on the quizzes will be based on the
assigned reading in the CQ reader for that week as well. You will also find a world map found on
the inside cover page of the Kegley and Raymond text. As part of the Monday quizzes, you will
be expected to locate two countries the identity of which will be announced on the Wednesday
prior to the quiz. Students are welcome and strongly encouraged to prepare for the quizzes by
practicing with the online quizzes. If you have no problems with the online quizzes, there should
be few problems with the in-class quizzes which will be a selected subset of what you find on
online (plus the two countries). One of the reasons for these exams is to encourage you to keep
up with the course, as opposed to waiting until the very end to cram for a final so that you can
then try to forget everything while focusing on holiday shopping/celebrating. In addition, some
minimal level of geographical orientation is rather critical for making sense of world politics. If
you need to miss a midterm or quiz and have a legitimate excuse, it may be possible to reschedule but when that may occur will depend on what is convenient for all concerned. Nor are
you guaranteed the same or even similar exams/quizzes. But you cannot expect to retake quizzes
or midterms if you have not registered with your AI prior to the quiz or midterm in question.
You are allowed to miss one quiz without excuse or to drop one with a low score. That is, your
quiz total will be based on your ten best quiz scores. If you take all 11 quizzes on schedule, the
eleventh score will constitute extra credit. But you cannot take a makeup quiz for extra credit if
you did not make appropriate arrangements prior to missing it.
The course grade will be based on the points accumulated in the two midterm exams (400 points),
the final (200 points), the 10-11 quizzes based primarily on Kegley and Raymond (150 points), the
simulation (150 points the details are complicated, see the schedules at the end of the syllabus),
and 100 points for very brief exercises involving clickers in class (if you are not there, no points
can be earned). An A will require 900-1000 points, a B 800-899, C 700-799, and a D 600-699.
Pluses and minuses will also be awarded. A plus grade requires points in the upper quarter of the
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100 point intervals (eg, an A+ is 975-1000). A minus is based on point accumulation in the lower
quarter of the 100 point interval (eg, an A- is 900-925). This course is designed to be fairly easy
to earn an average grade and, therefore, better than average grades (higher than, say 750) should
be easily within everyones capacity as long as you dont fall asleep for half the semester or
decide to go to Cancun or Las Vegas for several weeks during the semester. Feel free to go after
the course is over. Otherwise, you need to take the scheduled exams as scheduled unless you
should expire, become ill, have your reserve/national guard unit called up to leave the country,
have a university sanctioned excuse (athletic contests, disability arrangements) or have some sort
of religious holiday conflict. In all three cases, you should make alternative arrangements before
the scheduled time. Let me repeat: if you do not make arrangements to take an exam prior to the
exam time (assuming your excuse falls within the parameters described above), forget about
taking it later when it suits your convenience. On the other hand, use common sense if you
become ill and stay in bed if appropriate. We do not want your viruses. High fevers etc. are
perfectly good excuses to skip class. Just try to make arrangements if it also involves missing
something with points involved.
Note as well that some 40% of the grade is based on showing up regularly and staying reasonably
alert. You need to figure out how important these points are to you and to act accordingly.
Obviously, the structural incentives are designed to encourage you to show up regularly on the
premise that even the most resistant will expand their knowledge base.
If any student will require assistance or academic accommodations for a disability, please contact
me after class, during my office hours, or by individual appointment. You must have established
your eligibility for disability support services through the Office of Disability Services for Students
in Wells Library W302, 812-855-7578. The link to Campus Disability Services is as follows:
http://studentaffairs.iub.edu/dss/faculty/faculty-resources/.
Academic Integrity: As a student at IU, you are expected to adhere to the standards and
policies detailed in the Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, and Conduct (Code). When you
submit a paper with your name on it or take an exam in this course, you are signifying that the
work contained therein is all yours, unless otherwise cited, referenced, or explained. Any ideas or
materials taken from another source for either written or oral use must be fully acknowledged. If
you are unsure about the expectations for completing an assignment or taking a test or exam, be
sure to seek clarification beforehand. All suspected violations of the Code will be handled
according to University policies. Sanctions for academic misconduct may include a failing grade
on the assignment, reduction in your final grade, a failing grade in the course, among other
possibilities, and must include a report to the Dean of Students.
Grades will be entered online as they are earned. Be sure to stay alert to what is being recorded
in your name. Mistakes happen. It is easier to correct them shortly after they occur than long
afterwards. Grievances about grades earned need to be discussed initially with your AI. If that
proves unsatisfying, then see the instructor.
Note as well that the syllabus will be on Oncourse. Lecture slides will also be placed on Oncourse.
Review sheets and geography assignments will not be placed on Oncourse. You have to come to
class for those items. There is also a communication channel on Oncourse for messages to
the instructor. I do not monitor these messages and they make response difficult. If you
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need to contact me or an AI, use regular email addresses only.

Reading Schedule (rough approximation of flow of course). Try to read the Kegley and Raymond
assignments prior to the Monday class at which time you will be quizzed on them.
Week
beginning
Aug 26
Sept 2
Sept 9
Sept 16
Sept 23
Sept 30
Oct 7
Oct 14
Oct 21

Oct 28
Nov 4
Nov 11
Nov 18
Dec 2
Dec 9
Dec 16

Recommended Reading and Test Schedule

No reading assigned
Kegley and Raymond, Chapter 1: Analyzing World Politics
QUIZ 1 on ch 1 on Sept 2
Kegley and Raymond, Chapter 3: Great Power Politics in Historical Perspective ;
QUIZ 2 on ch 3 on Sept 9
Kegley and Raymond, Chapter 2: Theories of World Politics;
QUIZ 3 on ch 2 on Sept 16
Kegley and Raymond, Chapter 4: Foreign Policy Decision Making;
Quiz 4 on ch 3 on Sept 23
Midterm review Sept 30 and first midterm on Oct 2.
Kegley and Raymond, Chapter 7: Patterns of Armed Conflict
QUIZ 5 on ch 7 on Oct 7
Kegley and Raymond, Chapter 8: Military Power and the Use of Force
QUIZ 6 on ch 8 on Oct 14
Kegley and Raymond, Chapter 5: Global and Regional International
Organizations and Chapter 6: Nongovernmental Organizations, Multinational
Corporations and Other Nonstate Actors
QUIZ 7 on chs 5 and 6 on Oct 21; NO CLASS ON Oct 23
Kegley and Raymond, Chapter 9: International Law and Human Rights
QUIZ 8 on ch 9 on Oct 28
Kegley and Raymond, Chapter 10: The Globalization of Trade and Finance
QUIZ 9 on ch 10 on Nov 4
Kegley and Raymond, Chapter 11: The Global South in a World of Powers and
International Human Rights;
QUIZ 10 on ch 11 on Nov 11
Midterm review on Nov 18; 2nd midterm on Nov 20
Kegley and Raymond, Chapter 12:Global Ecological Trends and the
Transformation of World Politics;
QUIZ 11 on ch 12 on Dec 2
No additional reading assigned
Final review on Dec 7.
Final (5-7 PM) in usual classroom on Dec 18 (Wednesday)

Statecraft Grading Schedule

Participation in the simulation is worth 10 percent of your grade or 100 points allocated in the
following way:
1. 2 quizzes (one each in turn 0 and turn 1) with 15 multiple choice questions each to test
your understanding of the game manual. Each quiz is worth 1.5% of your grade.
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2. All participants are required to post a memo of at least 300 words before the start of each
turn that summarizes their planning for the game. These memos are worth 7% (70 points)
of your grade based on the following schedule:
Number of Memos Missed
Grade
Zero
100% (A)
One
85% (B)
Two
60% (D)
Three or more
0% (F)
Performance in the simulation is worth 5 percent of your grade or 50 points allocated in the
following way:
Performance Grade (and
Share of
Points
associated %)
5% of grade
O to 5
F
0%
6 to 10
F
1%
11 to 14
F
2%
15 to 17
D
3.25%
18 to 19
C
3.6%
20 to 23
C
3.75%
24 to 25
C
3.9%
26 to 27
B
4.1%
28 to 31
B
4.25%
32 to 33
B+
4.4%
34 to 35
A4.6%
36 to 39
A
4.75%
40 to 44
A+
5% plus 1% XC
45 to 49
A+
5% plus 2% XC
50 and above A+
5% plus 3% XC
Note: These scores are predicated on default values established by the game developers who have
found that most country teams earn 20-35 points on average in a simulation.