International Relations Theory

IR 335 is where you stop just describing what states do and start asking *why* — building the theoretical toolkit (realism, liberalism, constructivism, and the critical traditions that push back on them) that lets you argue about world politics rather than just narrate it. Expect to read dense theory weekly, debate competing frameworks in class, and write essays that apply a chosen lens to a real case, with a midterm, a final, and a project carrying the grade. It's a required gateway for the upper-level IR electives, where you'll be expected to already know which paradigm you're working within and what its blind spots are.