CRISIS: SEMINARS

Seminars are offered to students to train them in the skills and provide the background information they will need to be effective in CRISIS. The first ones were introduced in 1992, and have been supplemented with additional topics as needs changed.

Each seminar has a written syllabus enabling any staff member to cover it. The current list, (year the seminar was introduced is noted in parentheses) includes:

Scenario Seminar-- Discussion of the issues impacting the scenario; new each year.

International Law and Institutions-- Basis for, authority of, and topics addressed by international law. International institutions ranging from the United Nations, to NGO's to international organizations to which students might belong. (1992)

Introduction to Diplomacy-- Focuses on diplomatic techniques, including negotiation, and strategic gaming. Required for participants who wish to play a head of state or foreign minister.(1992)

How to Wage War-- Addresses the roles of the various forms of coercive power (land, air, sea, strategic, special forces) and how to conduct war within CRISIS. Required for participants who wish to play a defense minister or military commander. (1992)

How to Run an Economy-- Basics of macroeconomics and how to operate an economy within CRISIS. Required for participants who wish to play a finance minister. (1992)

US Foreign Policy-- Goals and methods of US Foreign Policy, role of the State Department, American role in the global community. (1998)

Nuclear Proliferation-- Development and role of strategic forces, non-proliferation policy. (2003)

Nationalism and Ethnicity-- Role of ethnicity in international affairs and its impact on nationalism. (2004)

Failed States-- What constitutes a "failed state," what causes this result, what can be done about it. (2006)

Disease and Society-- Impact of disease on domestic and international politics with reference to HIV, malaria, avian flu, and polio. (2006)

Torture: Moral, Legal and Psychological Factors in the Age of Terror-- The Milgram experiment and Stanford Prison Studies on who becomes a torturer, morality of the use of torture, legal mechanisms to control it. (future)

Effects of Nuclear Weapons-- Technical discussion of what happens when a nuclear weapon is detonated. (future)

Domestic Factors in Foreign Policy-- Interaction between foreign policy and domestic politics, role of foreign policy in presidential campaigns. (future)