Go to daily reading assigments
Last revised 9/16/2010
Links: Live Piracy Map (2010)
Are today's pirates in any way related to the pirates of the past? Is the increasing use of mercenaries a good thing for world peace? Do missionaries (both religious missionaries and secular nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)) threaten the sovereignty of countries?
We'll explore these and other questions, focusing in particular on how pirates, mercenaries and missionaries fit into the international system and its rules. We'll also explore their histories and their relationship to the concept of sovereignty. These groups also help us understand how today's rules evolved over the past several hundred years. They are still active today, and we'll take a look at contemporary pirates, mercenaries, and missionaries to get an understanding of how the international system and its rules continue to evolve.
We will also be learning the process of writing a major research paper. You'll be expected to come up with a question or puzzle relating to the theme of the course to a subject that is of interest to you, and to develop a strategy for answering that question.
Required texts:
Purchasing the texts:
Important: These books are available at Buffalo Street Books (the last and only independent bookstore in Ithaca, located in the Dewitt Mall, entrance on Buffalo St between Cayuga and Tioga).
They can all be ordered, by telephone (607-273-8246), or preferably, by email (buffalostreetbooks@hotmail.com):
Other required readings:
Readings listed as "Required" are mandatory and serve as background for class discussions. The readings are of varying complexities; some are quite difficult. If you have any questions on the readings, please ask in class, stop by my office, or e-mail me. I would suggest that you take notes on the readings as you do them, including questions about the reading or things that are unclear. The amount of reading is generally small enough that you should have time to carefully read and take notes on the readings before each class.
I expect you to do the readings and be prepared for each class. If I perceive a pattern of neglect in this area, I reserve the right to unilaterally drop you from the class.
I may also hold unscheduled "pop" quizzes on the readings.
If you do not understand the readings after we discuss them in class, please see me immediately. Some of the readings are very challenging, and I expect you to speak with me if anything is not clear.
What does "doing the readings" mean?
It doesn't mean just sitting down and mechanically going through the articles; that's a sure way to make even an interesting article boring.
Reading is an active and interactive process between the reader and the text. If you're really reading a text you are also reacting to it. I've included a wide range of texts in order to provoke a wide range of responses from readers.
Reading should be a reflective process. To really understand an article deeply it is usually necessary to read it and think about it, and then read it again, and think about it, and discuss it with others, write about it and read it yet again. I've found that even after many readings, when I read a text in order to explain it to someone else I get new perspectives on the author's arguments and assumptions, on the text's strengths and weaknesses.
So when I say "do the readings," I mean "engage yourself with the ideas of the text." I understand that some of the texts are quite complex and that not all of them are entertaining. But struggle is part of the reading experience. If something's not clear, if it's confusing, talk about it with others outside of class, and/or bring it up in class. As I mentioned above, taking notes on a text while you read it or re-read it is also a very good way to engage the text and to make sure you understand it.
Course objectives
This course has the following objectives as part of the overall Politics Departmental goals:
The goal of the course is to get us to think critically about the notion of sovereignty, and the ways in which nonstate actors such as pirates, mercenaries, religious missionaries and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) impact that principle. The written assignments are meant to be an integral part of this process. But so too are class participation and the readings themselves.
Class participation will count for 20 percent of the grade. Learning is an active process; if you think about the things you've learned the best, they're usually things that you haven't sat back passively and "absorbed," but rather things that you learned by actively taking part and practicing. I therefore expect each of you to be active participants in your learning. To be an effective participant also means having done the readings and being prepared to take part in discussions. All of these will go into your class participation grade, which includes:
Written Assignments will count for the remaining 80
percent of the grade.
- The grade is reduced by 1/3 of a grade for each day an assignment is late
(for example from A to A-).
- To pass the course you must hand in all of the written assignments, including
those that are ungraded.
You cannot pass the course unless you have handed in
all written assignments.
Meaning of grades:
A = excellent: intense effort and remarkable achievement.
B = good: good effort and pretty good understanding
C = okay: barely adequate amount of effort or effort that is somewhat
misfocused or mistargeted
D = inadequate effort or mistargeted effort
F = little or no effort or complete misunderstanding of expectations
If you get below a C, you should immediately come to see me so we can discuss your paper or exam.
If you have any questions about the class, the readings, the discussions, or anything else, I will be more than happy to meet with you either during office hours (Tu 12-1 and Th 10:45-12) or at some other time. To schedule another time please see me after class, or contact me by or phone (607-274-1103).