This course will be held in Cluj and Sibiu, Romania, with a focus on history and contemporary politics in Eastern Europe. The course begins with historical background, followed by an exploration of post-communist political dynamics. It covers the transition from one-party rule, debates about EU and NATO membership, energy security, and the threat of Russian aggression. Discussions will be complemented by meetings with local policy experts and guest academics. Students will also receive language instruction twice a week. The course includes excursions to the Romanian capital, Bucharest, and a trip to the Danube Delta.

This course revisits classical theories of separation of powers and asks what the separation of powers means today. We examine what is means to classify institutions as independent and what mechanisms can be put in place to secure such independence over the long term. The judiciary will be the primary focus, but attention is also paid to the administrative state (and the attendant normative debate whether certain forms of exercising power by independent agencies is legitimate or not). We also study how in countries where a process of autocratization has been reversed, the independence of the judiciary and other institutions can be restored.

Equal parts art, programming, and statistical reasoning, data visualization is critical for anyone who seeks to analyze data. Data analysis skills have become essential for those pursuing careers in policy evaluation, business consulting, and research in fields like public health, social science, or education. This course introduces students to the powerful R programming language and the basics of creating data-analysis graphics in R.