Teaching program

Course booklet for winter semester 2008-2009

Schedule for summer semester 2009

Structure of the Curriculum

The Master's degree requirements are as follows:

1. Seminars are of three types: core courses, special options courses, and special skills courses
2. A written Master's thesis
3. An oral presentation of the Master's thesis
4. An internship of at least eight weeks

Graduate Courses

The following Core Courses (MCC) are offered:
- Introduction to Globalization (MCC I)
- International Economics (MCC II)
- Governance of the World Market: Institutions, Instruments, and Experiences (MCC III)
- Theories of International Political Economy (MCC IV)
- Europe Role in the Globalization Process (MCC V)

Special options courses (MSOC) are offered in the following fields:

- (MSOC 1) Advanced Theories of International Political Economy
- (MSOC 2) Advanced International Economics
- (MSOC 3) The Impact of Globalization on National and Local Governments
- (MSOC 4) European Integration
- (MSOC 5) Global Environmental Politics
- (MSOC 6) Migration and Global Labor Markets
- (MSOC 7) The Politics of Development and North-South Relations
- (MSOC 8) Gender and Globalization
- (MSOC 9) Issues of Global Governance
- (MSOC 10) Cultural Aspects of Globalization

Special skills courses primarily focus on language proficiency, writing research papers, writing a research proposal, presentation techniques, PC and Internet skills, and empirical research methods in the social sciences.

The Master's Core Courses (MCC)

MCC I: Introduction to Globalization

This core course of the M.A. program Global Political Economy introduces you to the discourses on globalization by dealing with the following questions:
(1) What is globalization? Does the term globalization describe a qualitatively or just a quantitatively new phase of capitalist development?
(2) What are the driving forces behind globalization? Is globalization a product of technological progress, of laws of capitalist development, or of political decisions? What roles do nation states play in bringing globalization about?
(3) What is the impact of globalization? Does globalization lead to shifts in the balance of power between business and state, capital and labor, between the sexes, between "natives" and "migrants", and between "North" and "South"?
(4) Is globalization governable? Can globalization be ignored? Can communities make use of globalization? Or can the rules governing globalization be changed?
Requirement: Students will discuss in small groups the opposing views to the respective questions and will present them afterward in class. In addition, students are asked to answer questions on the required reading (six per student).

MCC II: Introduction to International Economics

This core course will introduce macroeconomic analysis of open economies: the structure of the balance of payments, factors influencing the various segments of the balance of payments, traditional and new approaches to balance of payment adjustments; the pros and cons of various exchange rate regimes, analysis (of the failure) of past exchange rate regimes; partial equilibrium analysis of exchange rates such as purchasing power parity (PPP) and uncovered interest parity (UIP); opportunities and limits of monetary and fiscal policies in open economies; economic theories of currency speculation; proposals for exchange rate stabilization; economic theory of currency integration, the example of the European Monetary System. Requirement: final written exam

MCC III: Governance of the World Markets: Institutions, Instruments, and Experiences

This core course traces the efforts to politically regulate the world markets. It introduces the major institutions and actors of world market governance. The central question will be: What are the preconditions for global governance? It will examine the following historical events: the British gold standard, monetary crisis in the interwar period, the fixed exchange rate regime of Bretton Woods, the failure of the International Trade Organization and the establishment of the GATT, the closing of the "gold window" and the move toward flexible exchange rates, UNCTAD and the "New Economic Order", the failure of global Keynesianism, the Latin American debt crisis and its management, the ozone regime, multilateralism and regional free trade areas, moving from GATT to the WTO, the IMF and the Asian crisis. In addition, the course will introduce two theories: the theory of hegemonic stability and the theory of international regimes.
Requirements: oral presentation and a research paper

MCC IV: Theories of International Political Economy

This core course will introduce the manifold theoretical approaches, issues, and methods of the field of International Political Economy: neorealism, regime theory, dependency theory, world system theory, and regulation theory as well as approaches from a gender theoretical and constructivist perspective. The lecture will thereby highlight the importance of theory and will give guidance in the handling of theories. In addition, students will learn a critical approach to texts by writing summaries of journal articles and a book review.
Requirements: four summaries of journal articles and one book review

MCC V: Europe's Role in the Globalization Process

With a special focus on Germany, this seminar will analyse the contribution of European integration to globalization. It will look at Europe's ambivalent role as a project in competition to globalization and as a major force of globalization:
- Genesis of Western European economic integration
- Instruments of integration
- Flexible exchange rates and European monetary integration
- Transatlantic cooperation and conflicts
- Foreign economic policy instruments of Germany
- Multi-level economic policy-making
- The politics of the EU in international economic organizations
- EU enlargement
- Theories of economic integration
In addition, the course will address the issues of how to develop a research question and how to devise a research design.
Requirements: oral presentation, research proposal, and research paper on the basis of the presentation and the proposal.