It’s no surprise that current events regularly lead us to update our syllabi. That doesn’t mean we can’t make “surprise” an important feature of our courses.
Our syllabi should be full of surprises
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Recent Posts
Failed National Military Strategy Analogies
by Anonymous US National Security expert, as part of a new series of posts providing insights into the policy-making process Sir:Per your request at the 0500 stand-up, I have compiled the full set...
Does IR really have a “culture problem?”
Is it a mistake to push back on a senior scholar (whose work you admire) right before ISA? Maybe. Is it overkill to post twice in one week? Probably (sorry Duck superiors). But I had to say...
Citation Conversation Continued
My post on citation got far more engagement than nearly all of the things I have posted over the years, so I thought I would return to the scene of the crime/post. While many academics agreed whole...
More Recent Posts
I CAN HAS IR THEORY?
I'm presenting PTJ's and my "End of IR Theory" paper at Berkeley next week. Here's a sneak peak at some of the lecture slides.Unfortunately, my LOLspeak is rusty.
(Political) Scientists
Fellow Duck Brian Rathbun has a new piece in International Studies Quarterly comparing international relations scholars' paradigmatic preferences to their political preferences, based on TRIP survey data:Are international relations scholars objective observers of political events, or do our...
A Return to Summer?
The meme of the summer meets the graphic du jour:
A New Media Caucus at the ISA?
Should there be a blogging (or, perhaps, "New Media") caucus at the International Studies Association (ISA)?Despite being in the ISA-NE hierarchy and having served in various positions for the International Political Sociology (IPS) section, I've never paid that much attention to the internal...
The Diffusion of Oil Income Transparency
This is a guest post by Jeff Colgan, an assistant professor in the School of International Service at American University.Policy responses to the resource curse are diffusing in the international community. In August, the U.S. enacted rules that could reduce corruption, promote political...
Thursday Morning Linkage
Do a google image search for "nerd duck public domain";Charli's image comes up pretty quickly. Not sure what that means.Colin Kahl defends the Obama Administration's Middle-East foreign-policy record on CNN.Juan Cole does something similar at his blog. Han Xudong argues that trade ties will...
Slow boring…
Shorter LGM response(s) to Connor Freidersdorf: "Weber."Of course, that doesn't resolve the debate. It merely puts it on the correct footing.
God and Man at Kale
Governor Romney's Nutrition Czar-DesignateA small part of my portfolio at the Duck is wading into the shallow end of the conservative pool of ideas, and in that spirit I bring to you the latest contretemps over Imam Obama and his jihad against loyal, God- and YHWH-fearing Americans.If I were to...
Urban Violence Web Seminar
Especially considering that I recently criticized the human security community for failing to pay enough attention to urban violence, I'm delighted to hear of this upcoming web seminar on the topic at Harvard's Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research. These are open to the public but...
Wednesday Morning Linkage
The civil war continues in Syra. As does the one in Mali. Two posts at Political Violence @ a Glance. First, Ron Hassner compares "blasphemy and political violence" in 2006 and 2012. Second, Steve Saideman discusses the New York Times graphic on future border changes.Glenn Grenwald's take on the...
‘Kangnam Style’s Irony is Missed b/c of the Publicity Wave
<img alt="" galleryimg="no" onload="var downlevelDiv = document.getElementById('ebf10251-da25-4848-80ce-73c0ef653ceb'); downlevelDiv.innerHTML = " ";" src="https://lh5.ggpht.com/-bg7EMQVYiYs/UGAiHha-i9I/AAAAAAAAAWE/8vFAInmqY0A/videodbd98a065f32%25255B6%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" /> yeah, it’s...
Workshop + Monday Morning Linkage = Not Many Links
From Her Majesty's Explorer.My attempts to get Dan Drezner an ignoble have failed.Steve Saideman will be pleased that Sara Silverman has jumped on the voter fraud fraud bandwagon (NSFW). Frank Pasquale describes a less amusing side of the story.Plagiarism in Turkey.The Arabist takes on the...