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01:790:102 · Political Science · School 01 — New Brunswick School of Arts and Sciences
Introduction to International Relations is Rutgers Political Science's survey of the theories and concepts used to explain international politics, starting with major paradigms and war, then moving through institutions, foreign policy, trade and finance, and ending with law, human rights, environmental politics, and other contemporary global issues.
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SIRS · 1,470 responses · 2014–2025
Spring 2027
4 open in snapshot · 2 instructors
When it meets
C/D, College Avenue
Checked-in sections · current seat counts are unavailable.
MW 3:50 PM · College Avenue · 1 section · 1 open
AI-generated overview
Higher means more demanding · AI summary
6 units · topic sequence may vary by instructor
The syllabus begins by teaching international relations as a way of reasoning, not just a list of current events. Early weeks introduce the major theoretical frames and historical background that let students ask why states behave as they do under recurring conditions.
The first substantive block of the course looks at international security, war, and strategic behavior. The schedule pairs textbook chapters on conflict with game-theory material, so students learn to think about war as a problem of incentives, uncertainty, and institutional limits rather than as raw chaos.
After the core conflict material, the course turns to international institutions and then to foreign policy. This is the bridge between system-level theories and decision-making: how rules, organizations, and domestic choices interact when states try to pursue their interests.
The syllabus does not stop at interstate war. It explicitly includes civil war and terrorism, which broadens the course from state-versus-state rivalry into conflicts where sovereignty, insurgency, and political violence become harder to classify and explain.
The second half of the semester moves into trade, financial relations, and monetary relations. This section matters because it teaches that international politics is not only about military conflict; it is also about how interdependence, markets, and institutions distribute leverage and vulnerability.
The course closes with international law, human rights, environmental politics, and future challenges. By the end, students should be able to connect the early theories to newer issue areas instead of assuming that war-and-peace concepts exhaust what international relations studies.
Public Rutgers discussion usually portrays Intro to International Relations as an accessible entry point into political science when students keep the core definitions and theories straight. The common warning is not that the material is impossibly hard, but that it becomes slippery if you never practice applying the frameworks to concrete world events and paper prompts.
The course treats theory as a tool for explanation: each paradigm highlights some causes and downplays others so students can reason systematically about recurring global patterns.
Security and conflict anchor the first half of the syllabus, yet the course is equally interested in how economics, law, and institutions shape international outcomes.
A recurring lesson is that treaties, organizations, and policy choices do not float above politics; they alter what actors expect, fear, and gain from cooperation.
Human rights, environmental politics, and future challenges are not add-ons so much as tests of whether the core theories still explain new global pressures.
Common pitfall
Instead
For every paradigm, write the actors it foregrounds, the main assumption it makes, and one current or historical example it helps explain.
Common pitfall
Instead
Keep asking how security, institutions, trade, law, and rights are all being analyzed through the same explanatory toolkit.
Common pitfall
Instead
Use early readings and quiz notes to build a list of concepts and cases you could reuse in the writing assignment.
Common pitfall
Instead
Whenever you bring up an event, finish the sentence: this case matters because it illustrates how this theory expects actors to behave.
4 open · C/D, College Avenue
| Section | Status | Instructor | Meeting | Campus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0116391 | Open | Harrison | Tuesday 10:20 AM-11:40 AM at CDL 110; Friday 10:20 AM-11:40 AM at CDL 110; Tuesday 2:00 PM-3:20 PM at HCK 127CDL 110HCK 127 | C/D |
| 0216392 | Open | Harrison | Tuesday 10:20 AM-11:40 AM at CDL 110; Friday 10:20 AM-11:40 AM at CDL 110; Wednesday 10:20 AM-11:40 AM at HCK 113CDL 110HCK 113 | C/D |
| 0316393 | Open | Harrison | Tuesday 10:20 AM-11:40 AM at CDL 110; Friday 10:20 AM-11:40 AM at CDL 110; Wednesday 12:10 PM-1:30 PM at HCK 118CDL 110HCK 118 | C/D |
| 1216394 | Open | Amy J. Higer | Monday 3:50 PM-5:10 PM at MU 208; Wednesday 3:50 PM-5:10 PM at MU 208MU 208 | College Avenue |
Historical student surveys
Teaching
4.08
Course quality
4.04
Response rate
47.0%
Coverage
41 offerings · 2014–2025
| Instructor | Offerings | Teaching | Quality |
|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Kenwick | 6 | 4.72 | 4.58 |
| Amy J. Higer | 6 | 4.22 | 4.17 |
| Chen | 6 | 3.35 | 3.33 |
| Andrey Tomashevskiy | 5 | 4.06 | 4.06 |
| James Fraser | 1 | 4.70 | 4.60 |
| Harrison Richard Ewan | 1 | 4.70 | 4.60 |
Catalog and planning context
Credits
3
Current campuses
C/D, College Avenue
Current availability
4 open of 4
Catalog terms
Fall, Spring, Summer
Core codes
GVT, SCL, SOEHS
Loaded terms
6
No prerequisite note appears in the checked-in Rutgers catalog snapshots.
No direct degree-list membership appears in the checked-in requirement index.