CANZPS Courses

Spring 2020

INAF-309: Australian / New Zealand Tutorial Independent Study

  • Faculty: Alan Tidwell

INAF-318: National Identities and Interests in Settler Societies

  • Time: Tuesdays 5:00-7:30 pm
  • Faculty: Gregory Brown

This course surveys the origins and projection of national values and state institutions of settler societies, especially the United States, Australia, and Canada. Students will explore how people in these countries have defined their national identity, the relative salience of those identities compared to other beliefs, and the consequences of different conceptions of nationhood for defining interests at home and abroad. Key questions include: What is the role of myth in nation building? How do elites and institutions mold a sense of community? How do migration and sub-national identities shape efforts to define national interests? And how does national identity affect foreign policy making and practice. Comparison with the settlement and nation building experiences in Israel, New Zealand, South Africa, Latin America, and elsewhere will provide additional insight into how political traditions—transplanted over time through migration and enduring social, economic, and cultural ties—affect contemporary domestic and foreign policies.

INAF-386: Pacific Islands in the 21st Century

  • Time: Mondays 5-7:30 pm
  • Faculty: Emil Friberg

Pacific Island Countries (PICs), which span the central and southern Pacific, today reflect the interaction of early settlements established across the Pacific through migration that were followed by the legacy of colonialism, both European and American. As independent countries, they now face multiple challenges from increasingly globalized trade and migration, emergent and often conflicting economic and military interests of world powers, and environmental threats from global warming. The course will cover the political and economic issues the island nations face, including migration, remittances, donor interventions and assistance, trade and climate change. The course also covers the political and security impact of regional powers (Australia, China, New Zealand, and the United States) and international organizations (Asian Development Bank, IMF and the World Bank). Over the course of the semester, students will develop a detailed portfolio for one Pacific Island Country that will cover its history, challenges, and prospects, and deploy development economics concepts in its analysis. Course material is drawn from academic articles, government reports, and the news media.

INAF-390: The Australian American Alliance

  • Time: Wednesdays 5-7:30 p.m.
  • Faculty: Alan Tidwell

This course examines the history, evolution and contemporary challenges in the Australian-American relationship. In broad terms, both Australia and the U.S. share a language, many cultural forms and traits, and a deep commitment to democratic ideals. Today, both share many common interests and challenges. Both have deep interests in Asia, which today drive their deep strategic relationship embodied in the ANZUS Treaty. This course focuses on the evolution of the Australian-American relationship from shared cultural and political ideals through to the evolution of the strategic alliance formed in the aftermath of World War II and deepened in the ensuing years.