Check out our Spring Courses!
Learn more about our exciting slate of Spring courses. Whether you’re interested in exploring our local Gulf communities, or you want to explore topics through a global lens, we’ve got an offering to pique your interests and meet your goals!
IDS 4911 | CIVIC SCHOLARS: Introduction to Undergraduate Research
M W F Period 6
Instructor: Dr. Teresa Cornacchione
This course provides firsthand, supervised research in Interdisciplinary Social Sciences. The Graham Center Civic Scholars program provides undergraduate students with an entry-level opportunity to design an original research project addressing a social science question. Students may explore a domestic or global topic and are provided with instruction on crafting an appropriate research question, conducting an academic literature review, designing a methodological approach, and presenting in an academic setting. Students are required to present their research at an end-of-semester symposium in April. This course is departmentally controlled. Applications are open October 12 – October 28. Learn more at this link.
IDS 2214 | Our Home in the Gulf
Section: 24719
T Period 6, R Periods 6-7
Instructor: Becca Burton
This course explores the environmental, social, cultural, and economic challenges facing the Gulf region, and is a requirement to earn the Gulf Scholars Medallion. Students will engage in design thinking methodology to explore solutions that address these complex issues. Through guest speakers, readings, discussions, case studies, and project-based learning, participants will strengthen their collaborative skills and gain insights into potential career pathways in non-profits, government, academia, and the private sector. By fostering empathy and understanding community needs, students will be equipped to make a meaningful impact on the Gulf and contribute to its sustainable and equitable future. Learn about our previous Gulf Scholar Medallion recipients. This course meets Quest 2 Requirements. Learn more about other Gulf Scholars courses being taught this spring.
IDS 4930/POS4931/AMH 3931 | Reviving Democracy: Florida & the Gulf South, 1860s-Pressent
Sections 22123, 27744, 27656
T Periods 4, R Period 4-5
Instructor: Dr. Kevin Bird
In this course, students will learn essential parts of the late nineteenth and twentieth-century backstory of Gulf South citizens’ struggle for democracy and civil rights. Students will engage in primary and secondary source readings focusing on Florida and their choice of the contiguous coastal states of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Readings and online and in-person discussions and instruction will address aspects of the Black Freedom Struggle and counter movements and delineate how citizen-led movements in the Gulf South paved the way for the two largest extensions of democracy in American History, i.e., Reconstruction and the post-WW II Civil Rights Movement. Students will learn how broad-based movements form and develop over time with a special focus on coastal regions.
This course is designed to introduce students to key themes, interpretations, events, and primary and secondary sources related to significant social movements in the Gulf South. This course will be cross-listed with History and Political Science.
IDS 4930/POS4931 | Comparative Gulf Studies
Sections 27596, 27771
T Period 5-6, R Periods 6
Instructor: Dr. Onursal Erol
Advanced study of selected topics. Content varies from term to term.
Explore two regions of unparalleled global significance in this innovative interdisciplinary course on the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Mexico – the only two gulfs in the world that are routinely referred to simply as “the Gulf” – without the geographical designation – as if their significance goes without saying. In this course, we will both capitalize on and interrogate this distinction, unveiling fascinating intersections between these pivotal regions. We will delve into the complex interplay of fossil fuel and renewable energy politics from Texas to Qatar, examine Cold War dynamics and revolutions from Cuba to Iran, investigate urban hyper-tourism from Miami to Dubai, and analyze migration politics from Florida to Saudi Arabia. No prerequisites required. Join us to uncover the surprising connections and thought-provoking contrasts that make these regions central to understanding our interconnected planet. This course is cross-listed with Political Science; qualifies as Cat A for either Middle East or Latin America-track International Studies majors (Cat B for all other INS majors); and counts towards the Gulf Studies minor.
IDS 4930/ PUP 3323/WST 4930 | Women in Politics
Sections 22408, 27743, 2768823
M W F Period 4
Instructor: Dr. Teresa Cornacchione
Advanced study of selected topics. Content varies from term to term.
Women represent approximately half of the world’s population, yet they remain underrepresented in government institutions, such as legislatures, party leadership, and national executives. What explains this phenomenon? In this course, students explore how political participation varies by gender, how descriptive representation translates to substantive representation, which electoral laws and systems favor the election of women, and how women behave once in elected office.. This course will take a comparative approach and investigate women and their relationship to politics in the U.S. and globally.. This course is crosslisted with the Departments of Political Science and Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies.
INS 2004 | INTERNATIONAL STUDIES PERSPECTIVES
Section 25974
M W F Period 6
Instructor: Dr. Tim Karis
This course provides a comprehensive introduction to the field of International Studies. Readings and discussions will follow the emergence of the international system and engage with contemporary global problems through an interdisciplinary lens that draws from political science, anthropology, economics, sociology, environmental studies, geography, and other social sciences. Topics include globalization, nationalism, demographics, migration, political and economic change, urbanization and development, religious difference, diplomacy, human-environment interactions, and human rights. The course will pinpoint connections between these themes and give students the analytical tools to understand and address the challenges facing human communities at the global, national, and local levels. Our readings and lectures will cover all regions of the world. In addition, we will spend time thinking about the academic terrain of International Studies—its development, trajectories, and key features—and about how to make the most an INS major at UF
INS 4930 | SENIOR RESEARCH SEMINAR IN INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
Instructor: Dr. Alex Panayotov, Section 20898, M Periods 7-9
Instructor: Dr. Onursal Erol, Section 20899, R Periods 8-10
This course offers seniors in the International Studies major the opportunity to examine current debates and theoretical trends in the field, conduct guided research on a topic and region of their choice, and write an original research paper. Each week, our readings and discussions will address both 1) research and writing strategies to guide your project, and 2) issues and concepts of contemporary relevance to international studies scholars, including debates about globalization and the nation-state, global political movements, citizenship and rights, the environment and social justice, political-economic change, migration and refugees, urbanization, power and resistance, gender and development, and humanitarianism. We will use the readings not only to extract insight and information, but also to serve as models for the presentation of research findings. The seminar covers all regions of the world and draws on scholarship from a variety of disciplines in the social sciences.
IDS 4930/ANT 4930/ASH 3931 | HUMAN RIGHTS IN ASIA
Sections 25973, 23073, 27655
M W F Period 7 Instructor: Dr. Tim Karis
Advanced study of selected topics. Content varies from term to term.
Since the end of World War II, the framework of human rights has dominated international discourse about social justice. This class critically investigates and applies the framework of human rights with reference to Asian countries and cultures, analyzing the tensions related to the application of universalist ideals onto culturally diverse localities. We will begin with the origins of different national and global standards of human rights, including perspectives from relevant Asian belief systems. Next, we look to Asia’s 20th century history of political violence, identifying how basic rights can become eroded and how societies continue to memorialize past atrocities and seek justice and accountability. Finally, we will examine the contemporary experiences of ethnic minorities in Asia facing legal obstacles and persecution, both at home and as workers abroad. The class draws upon case studies from Cambodia, Japan, China, Taiwan, Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia, Jordan, and elsewhere. This course is cross listed with History and Anthropology.
IDS 4930 | African Agency in the Global System
Instructor: Ambassador Alex Laskaris
Time & Period TBA
This course examines Africa’s role in the international system through the lens of African agency—the ability of African states, leaders, and societies to shape their own political and diplomatic outcomes despite external pressures. Moving beyond narratives of “Africa Rising” and “Africa Collapsing,” students will explore how Africans have navigated a global order shaped largely by outside powers, from the colonial era to contemporary great-power competition. Through historical and modern case studies, the course examines how African actors have leveraged political, diplomatic, military, economic, informational, and religious strategies to advance their interests. Students will develop an understanding of Africa’s place in global governance. By engaging with African and external authors and sources, students will also learn to critically evaluate differing perspectives, analytical approaches, and biases in reporting and scholarship on Africa.
IDS 4930 | Diplomacy and International Challenges
Instructor: Ambassador Alex Laskaris
Time & Period TBA
This seminar explores the practice and process of diplomacy as a key part of international relations and foreign policy. Class sessions examine the practical aspects of diplomatic work such as political and economic tradecraft, reporting, negotiation, intercultural work, consular affairs, and public diplomacy. Students explore diplomatic challenges through oral histories, biographies, role-playing exercises, and case studies.