Courses offered by CDDRL and FSI faculty
Abbas Milani
Censorship, Borges tells us, is the mother of metaphors. The Islamic regime in Iran censors all aethetic production in the country. But Iranian dissident artists, from film-makers and fiction writers to composers in a thriving under-ground musical scene, have cleverly found ways to fight these draconian measures. They have developed an impressive body of work that is as sophisticated in style as it is rich in its discourse of democracy and dissent. The purpose of the seminar is to understand the aesthetic tropes of dissent in Iran, and the social and theological roots of rules of censorship. Masterpieces of post-revolutionary film, fiction, and music will be discussed in the context of tumultuous history of dissent in Islamic Iran.
James Fearon
The development of nuclear weapons and policies. How existing nuclear powers have managed their relations with each other. How nuclear war has been avoided so far and whether it can be avoided in the future.
Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law (INTNLREL 114D, IPS 230, POLISCI 114D/314D)
Francis Fukuyama
Links among the establishment of democracy, economic growth, and the rule of law. How democratic, economically developed states arise. How the rule of law can be established where it has been historically absent. Variations in how such systems function and the consequences of institutional forms and choices. How democratic systems have arisen in different parts of the world. Available policy instruments used in international democracy, rule of law, and development promotion efforts.
Marcel Fafchamps and Melanie Morten
This is a two-part course bridging macro and micro development research. The first part focuses on dynamic models of growth and development, with a focus on migration; technological change; the functioning of financial markets; and barriers to agricultural productivity in less developed countries. The second part focuses on non-market and market allocation processes, the institutions that support them, and their role in the development process. Prerequisites: 202 or 202N, 270.
Martin Carnoy
Case material considers development problems in the U.S. and abroad. Discussion sections on economic aspects of educational development.
Stephen Stedman and Roz Naylor
The course will provide a broad overview of key policy issues concerning agricultural development and food security, and will assess how global governance is addressing the problem of food security. At the same time the course will provide an overview of the field of international security, and examine how governments and international institutions are beginning to include food in discussions of security.
Zephyr Frank, Roz Naylor, and Mikael Wolfe
Interdisciplinary approaches to understanding human-environment interactions with a focus on economics, policy, culture, history, and the role of the state. Prerequisite: ECON 1.
Introduction to Comparative and International Education (EDUC 202)
Martin Carnoy
Contemporary theoretical debates about educational change and development, and the international dimension of issues in education. Emphasis is on the development of students' abilities to make cross-national and historical comparisons of educational phenomena.
James Fearon
How and why do civil wars start, drag on, and end? What does focus of post-Cold War U.S. foreign policy on countries torn apart by civil war tell us about contemporary international relations? We consider these and related questions, with the conflict in Syria as our main case study.
Various Lecturers; Moderated by Kathryn Stoner
Presentations of techniques and applications of international policy analysis by students, faculty, and guests, including policy analysis practitioners.
Martin Carnoy
The landscape of schooling in the U.S. is dynamic and replete with ideologies, myths, and beliefs. Organizational theory, leadership theory, and empirical research are lenses through which students will develop a deeper and broader understanding of the similarities and differences among private schools, parochial schools, traditional K ¿ 12 schools, charter schools, and alternative schools. Students will connect theory and research to practice by visiting and learning about two or more schools of their choosing.
Bruce Cain
Policymakers in the United States, whether elected or unelected, operate in a governmental system where politics pervades nearly every element of their daily activity. This course provides students with both the theory and real-world examples they need to understand and evaluate the impact of politics, political institutions, and the political process on policymaking. Readings will include selections from the public policy, political science, legal, and economics literatures.
Various lecturers; Moderated by: Larry Diamond
This one-unit seminar will present speakers relevant in a variety ofnways to how various forms of information technology are being used tondefend human rights, improve governance, deepen democracy, empower thenpoor, promote economic development, protect the environment, enhancenpublic health, and pursue a variety of other social goods.
Stephen Krasner
How and when can external actors (others states, aid agencies, NGOs?) promote institutional change in weak and badly governed states?
Erik Jensen
The State-Building and Rule of Law Seminar is centrally concerned with bridging theory and practice. The seminar introduces the key theories relevant to state-building generally and strengthening the rule of law in particular. This course explores the multidisciplinary nature of development -- through readings, lectures, guest lectures, and seminar discussions -- and asks how lawyers fit in and contribute to the process. Essentially, in a given context, what is the relationship of law to political, social, and economic change? This course will employ case studies as a way to analyze rule-of-law practice within development theory. The set of developing countries considered within the scope of this workshop is broad. It includes, among others, states engaged in post-conflict reconstruction, e.g., Cambodia, Timor Leste, Rwanda, Iraq, Sierra Leone; states still in conflict, e.g., Afghanistan, Somalia; the poorest states of the world that may not fall neatly into the categories of conflict or post-conflict, e.g., Nepal, Haiti; least developed states that are not marked by high levels of violent conflict at all, e.g., Bhutan; and more developed states at critical stages of transition, e.g., Tunisia, Georgia, Hungary. Grading is based on participation, a presentation of research or a proposal, and, in consultation with the professor, a research paper (for R credit) or an in-depth research proposal either of which could be the basis for future field research. CONSENT APPLICATION: The seminar is open by consent to up to twelve (12) JD, SPILS, and LLM students, and graduate students from other departments within Stanford University. To apply for this course, students must complete and e-mail the Consent Application Form available on the SLS Registrar's Office website (see Registration) to the instructor. See Consent Application Form for submission deadline.
Brian Kenneth Coyne, Larry Diamond, James Fishkin, and Lauren Hirshberg
This course provides an overview of the challenges and aspirations facing ideals of democracy. It deals both with competing visions of what democracy might be, and their actual realization not only in the US but around the world. It will begin with the debate over the American founding and move eventually to the ¿third wave¿ of democratization around the world in the late 20th century as well as its more recent retrenchment. The problems of democratic reform are continuing and recurrent around the world. Democratic institutions are subject to a living dialogue and we intend to engage the students in these debates¿at the level of democratic theory and at the level of specific institutional designs.