1.  Gerhard von Glahn and James Larry Taulbee.  Law Among Nations:  An Introduction to Public International Law.  2007

2.  Thomas G. Weiss, et al.  The United Nations and Changing World Politics, 5th ed., 2007

3.  J. Martin Rochester.  Between Peril and Promise:  The Politics of International Law, 2006.

You will also find Arthur W. Biddle and Kenneth M. Holland.  Writer's Guide:  Political Science.  1987 is on reserve at the Library.  This is the primary guide to all writing assignments and Chapter 4 is essential to understanding your term paper assignment.

The format for the class will be lecture and discussion.  While lecturing on topics or points not covered in the reading is unavoidable, you should be prepared to discuss your assigned readings in class.  You are also encouraged to interrupt lectures from time to time with questions, comments, and reasonably relevant digressions.

There are four course requirements, each of which counts one-fourth of your final grade.  The first is that you keep a journal.  Guidelines for your journal can be found in Biddle and Holland, Chapter 2. The journal requirement provides you with a tool to help you learn. You will need to write a reaction to most of the topics covered in class.  This is not to be a statement of what is talked about.  Instead, it is to be a discussion of what you thought about what we talked about.  Writing these essays will give you a better understanding of our topics.  It will provide you with an opportunity to ask questions about things which you do not understand.  It will help prepare you for examinations because you will already have received feedback on your thinking about the various topics discussed.  Journals are to be submitted in an E-mail but not as an attachment.  Due dates for the journal will be announced in class and can be found on my web page for this course.

The next two requirements are a mid-term examination and a comprehensive final examination.  In the examinations, you will be tested over material covered in the lectures, text and class discussions.

The fourth class requirement can be fulfilled either by writing a term paper on an international law and organization topic or by participating in the 33rd Arrowhead Model United Nations as either a delegate or researcher.

For those of you who chose to write an international law and organization term paper, your topic needs to be related to the subject matter of this course.  You will also be expected to present your paper to the class.  For those of you who are Model U.N. researchers, your assignment is described below.  Biddle and Holland advise you on how to approach your paper in Chapter 4, and how to conduct your research in Chapter 7.  As outlined in Chapter 4, you need to take a position and make an argument in favor of that position.  In other words, you need a thesis, an argument in support of that thesis and you need to defend your argument against any counter-arguments that might be out there.  You are free to take any position.  Your paper will be graded on the quality of your argument and your defense of that argument.  In addition to developing your research skills, the paper and its presentation will enhance your critical thinking and communication skills.

Briggs Library has developed three pages to assist you.  There is a page on political science research using electronic sources and doing research in general.  They provide citation guides.  If you feel more comfortable with another style manual, feel free to use it.  However, citation is essential.  Finally, they have developed a page to help you evaluate web pages.  It is required that you annotate the electronic sources cited in your bibliography by including a sentence or two immediately following the citation that explains why the source is a good source. There are links on the course web page to all three of these Briggs Library pages.

For those of you who choose to participate in the MUN, if you are a delegate, your requirements are to represent your assigned country at the Arrowhead Model United Nations.  You are to prepare a resolution for the MUN and present and defend it both in Committee and in the General Assembly.  Your grade for this requirement will be based on my evaluation of your resolution and its presentation and defense.

For those of you who are MUN researchers, You are expected to prepare a background paper on a topic assigned by the head of your country’s delegation.  For this paper, you are expected to follow the guidelines presented in Chapter 4 of Biddle and Holland as described above.  Your grade for this requirement will be based on the evaluation of your paper and on your cooperation with your country team.  You will also be expected to present your paper to the class.

Regular class attendance is strongly recommended, although daily class roll will not be taken and absences need not be excused.  It should be clearly understood that each student is responsible for all materials covered during scheduled class periods, whether in attendance or not.  Materials covered in class will comprise a significant portion of the examinations.

If you are a person with a disability and anticipate needing any type of accommodation in order to participate in this class, please inform me and make the appropriate arrangements with the Office of Disability Services (ODS).  The Office of Disability Services is located in Binnewies 145.  To schedule an appointment call (605) 688-4504 and request to speak with the Coordinator of Disability Services.

Freedom in learning. Students are responsible for learning the content of any course of study in which they are enrolled. Under Board of Regents and University policy, student academic performance shall be evaluated solely on an academic basis and students should be free to take reasoned exception to the data or views offered in any course of study. Students who believe that an academic evaluation is unrelated to academic standards but is related instead to judgment of their personal opinion or conduct should first contact the instructor of the course. If the student remains unsatisfied, the student may contact the department head and/or dean of the college which offers the class to initiate a review of the evaluation.

The following schedule is only tentative.  We may move more quickly than anticipated in some sections and more slowly in others. Announcements about scheduling changes will be made in lectures and you are responsible for finding out about these changes.

 OUTLINE OF TOPICS

Jan. 16-28                    Introduction
                                           Von Glahn, 1-2-10; Rochester, 1-2

Jan. 30-Feb. 11            Sources and Scope of International Law
                                          Von Glahn, 3-4; Rochester, 3

Feb. 13-27                   Personality
                                          Von Glahn, 5-6-7-8-9-12; Weiss, Introduction

February 20                 MUN RESOLUTIONS AND ROUGH DRAFT OF MUN TERM PAPERS DUE

March 6                       MIDTERM EXAMINATION

Mar 2-25                     International Law Making
                                          Von Glahn, 11; Rochester, 6

Mar. 27-Apr. 6            Pluralism
                                          Von Glahn, 16-17; Weiss, 5-6-7; Rochester, 4

April 8                         ILO AND MUN TERM PAPERS DUE

April 8-24                  Conflict
                                          Von Glahn, 20-21-22; Weiss, 1-2-3-4; Rochester, 5

Apr. 27-May 1             Environment and Development
                                          Von Glahn, 13-14-19; Weiss, 8-9-10; Rochester, 7-8-9

May 6                          FINAL EXAMINATION, 2:00-3:40 P.M.