Masaki Kakizaki

Course Objectives and Learning Goals: This course introduces undergraduates to the research methods political scientists use to answer questions about politics. We will focus on how political scientists marshal evidence to accumulate knowledge about political phenomena, and how we study politics scientifically. First, we will examine essentials of Political Science research such as the overview of the discipline, research processes, theories and hypotheses, and variables. Second, we will learn about a variety of research methods including quantitative, qualitative, and interpretive strategies. Third, we will investigate how systematically we can describe, summarize, and explain data. Lastly, we will conclude the course by discussing ethical issues and evaluation criteria in Political Science. Overall, this course is designed to provide students with the research skills necessary to comprehend and conduct independent research on political phenomena.

Course Objectives and Learning Goals: This course is an introduction to the politics of the Middle East. Although the Middle East is one of the most important regions for energy, security, and stability of the world, many of us do not know much about the history and contemporary politics of this region. I will set out the historical context of the modern Middle East, highlight some of the most significant events in the region, and introduce a variety of actors, groups, and ideologies that are defining the political and economic orientations of the Middle East. Upon the completion of the semester, therefore, students are expected to acquire historical background knowledge about general political trends in the region and build analytical tools to answer the following questions:

Guenter Lewy’s The Armenian Massacres in Ottoman Turkey: A Disputed Genocide has unleashed debate in the United States as well as in different countries such as Canada, France, Germany, and Turkey. In the United States, Lewy’s articles expressing skepticism about historiographies constructed by both Armenian and Turkish historians about the Armenian genocide appeared in Middle East Quarterly and Commentary; in subsequent issues, these journals published several letters to the editors from readers, mostly Armenians, who objected to Lewy’s thesis. Among the letters in Commentary, perhaps the most antagonistic criticism was presented by Peter Balakian, a poet, professor of English, and author of The Burning Tigris: The Armenian Genocide and America’s Response. Subsequently, Balakian asked Chronicle of Higher Education to investigate the process of publishing Lewy’s book, as well as the forthcoming book of prominent Ottoman historian Justin McCarthy. Chronicle reporter Jennifer Howard’s...

Turkish politics experienced a major political realignment in 2002, when the Justice and Development Party came to power. This essay investigates the levels of trust in political institutions at this turning point of Turkish political life and by using the 2001 World Values Survey assesses the relative impacts of religion, economics, and political performance on that trust. Empirical results show that Turkish citizens lost a great deal of confidence in political institutions during the 1990s. Statistical analysis indicates that people’s evaluation of political performance has the largest impact on political confidence, whereas religiosity has the least impact.

This article examines how Turkish citizens participated in protests against the Iraq War and why civil society organizations were able to mobilize tens of thousands of people across the country despite the institutional weakness of the Turkish peace movement. The Iraq War case is important in that its scale and level of protest mobilization were unprecedented based on any other anti-war protests in Turkey. Using content analysis of newspaper reports of anti-Iraq War protest events, this article maps the patterns and forms of protest against the Iraq War and argues for the importance of global networks, coalitions among organizations, and political context for protest mobilization.

Guenter Lewy's The Armenian Massacres in Ottoman Turkey: A Disputed Genocide has unleashed debate in the United States as well as in different countries such as Canada, France, Germany, and Turkey. In the United States, Lewy's articles expressing skepticism about ...