New Undergraduate Courses

Thursday, 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Instructor: Brian Rathbun / Darius Ornston

What is a "successful society"? What makes a society “successful?” How do we identify, measure, and assess “success?” What data do we need and what data should we collect? And what data are we able to collect and compare? The answers to these questions are surprisingly complex and differ across the social sciences, political theory, philosophy, and law. This course invites students to engage with theories and ideals about societies while doing a deep dive into cross-national and sub-national data, exploring the trade-offs of different societal outcomes. Students will grapple with questions about health, crime, security, creativity, inequality, belonging, solidarity, and institutions.

Tutorials: TBD

Tuesday, 11:00 am - 1:00 pm

Instructors: Aaron Gluck-Thaler / Sverrir Steinnson

This course interrogates how the digital turn – social media, algorithms, monitoring, digital disruption in business models, security, militaries, and more - is shifting social, political, and economic life. Drawing together expertise in both public policy and digital technologies, the course combines the study of technical capacities and future trajectories of digital change with analyses of political institutions, labour markets, social relations, political segmentation, and changing areas of public and private concern. The course will grapple with the implications of digital and algorithmic disruptions for ethics, leadership, our everyday institutions and public policy making.

Tutorials

• Tuesday, 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
• Tuesday, 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
• Wednesday, 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
• Wednesday, 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm

Wednesday, 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Instructor: Moussa Blimpo

This course will explore and understand the daily lives, struggles, and resilience of people living in poverty. By delving into the tough decisions and trade-offs the poor face—often matters of life and death—we aim to shed light on how better policies and approaches can be designed to address global poverty effectively. While external solutions to poverty often dominate the conversation, we will uncover the remarkable, innovative strategies that people in poverty develop to navigate their circumstances. Surviving on meager resources requires extraordinary decision-making and adaptability. Understanding these decisions and trade-offs is a crucial starting point in the fight against poverty. Throughout the course, we will explore questions such as: How do the poor organize their social and economic lives? Why are larger families more common among the poor? How do they prepare for emergencies and old age with limited resources? By the end of the course, students will gain deep insights into the lives of the poor, understanding how seemingly irrational choices often make perfect sense in their context. While our analysis will entail an economic perspective, we will embrace a broad, interdisciplinary approach to foster rich discussions. No prior knowledge of economics is required.

Pre-requisites: PCJ260Y1/ (PCJ260H1, PCJ261H1)

Notes: 

This course is not restricted to students in the Peace, Conflict and Justice Program and is open to all Faculty of Arts and Science students in 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th year.

Thursday, 11:00 am - 1:00 pm

Instructor: TBA

As late as the 1980s, large parts of India and China were impoverished as the world was just beginning to look toward the “Asian Tigers” like Singapore or Taiwan for glimpses of possible transformations in global capitalism.  By the turn of the 21st century, geo-economic balance seemed to have shifted definitively toward Asia as a whole as some kind of equilibrium of the earth that had been disrupted by European empires from the 16th to the 19th centuries. In 2025, the discourse on technology, economy, and politics almost completely presumes that 21st century is an Asian century.  How did the world get here? What is the role of colonialism, technology, and the cultures of Asian communities in all of this? And where do debates on international trade, whether framed as the “Washington” or “Beijing” consensus leave us in an age of populist nationalisms and artificial intelligence? And most importantly, even if it is an “Asian Century,” will it save the planet from an almost certain destruction from humans’ carbon overload?  In addressing these questions, this interdisciplinary course welcomes undergraduate students to a reading and writing intensive exploration of the technology, politics, and culture of Asian development in 20th century and the 21st.

Wednesday, 11:00 am- 1:00 pm

Instructor: Lynette Ong

This course traces the domestic roots of China’s global expansion. The end of “bide your time, hide your strength” era signals a more confident China and an expansionist stance. Intense domestic competition and excess supply have pushed state-owned and private enterprises alike to seek cheaper manufacturing base and consumer markets overseas. However, increased presence of Chinese capital and people have been met with open arms, but also cynicism, and even resistance. This course will examine the rise of Global China, traces the domestic roots of its rise, the implications for its relations with host countries as well as state-society relations in host countries from Asia to elsewhere.

Pre-requisites: 14.0 credits, including 1.0 200-level CAS credit and 1.0 300-level CAS credit

Monday, 11:00 am - 1:00 pm

Instructor: Ron Levi

This course will examine antisemitism and responses to it. Our substantive focus will be on claims of antisemitism, challenges to them, and the evidence that is marshalled in these situations across an array of social fields and institutions. In considering concerns over antisemitism and proposed solutions for either addressing it or mitigating its effects, we will engage with a range of materials including social science research, legal texts, analyses, official and non-governmental documents, and journalistic accounts. Through these readings, students will acquire an understanding of issues in the definition, experience, and responses to antisemitism today. While oriented to contemporary antisemitism, we will pay some attention to historical events and longstanding legacies as elements of current political, legal, and social disputes, especially those generated by high-profile events. This discussion-based seminar requires students to complete all assigned readings before class and to engage in collective discussions weekly.

Pre-requisites: PCJ360H1, PCJ362H1