Belgium Study Abroad 2009

Don't forget: email me (dmgibler (at) bama.ua.edu) if you are interested in the Belgium study abroad program for 2009.

Copies of Tests 1 and 2

For interested students: test #1 and test #2 are now available. Note that these are test questions only. The answers might not match your myBama accounts because of differences across test versions (e.g., you may have taken test 1-C, but the link goes to test 1-A).

Random News (Africa Edition)

Have you heard yet about the riots in Nigeria? Some interesting comparisons between news coverage of the riots and the terrorism in Mumbai.

Sending "messengers of death" to the DRC?

Class Notes -- Chapter 16 (structural theories of war)

Here are the notes for today's class.

Random Things Political

Ballot design for dummies: lizard people?

For BdM fans, there is a documentary about him running on the history channel. The next Nostradamus? Hmmm. Next showing, Saturday, December 6th.

Class Notes -- Chapter 15 (alliances)

Here are the notes for today's class.

Class Notes -- Chapter 13 (IPE)

Here are the notes from today's class.

Revised Class Schedule

Here is the revised class schedule for the few remaining weeks of class:

Tuesday, November 18th-- Chapter 14
Thursday, November 20th-- Chapter 13
Tuesday, November 25th-- Chapter 13 (continued)
Tuesday. December 2nd-- Chapter 15
Thursday, December 4th-- Chapter 16

Class Notes -- Chapter 14 (Intl Law and Organizations)

Here are the notes for today's class.

Two Posts on Writing (and some funnies...)

Most irritating phrases in the English language, thanks to Oxford (and the Monkey Cage), here.

What are the possible benefits of writing well? Do you know who Watson and Crick are? How about Avery, MacLeod and McCarty? Take a look at the discussion on writing here.

Other funnies-- Obama must give up his Blackberry, and Sarkozy stops Putin in his tracks.

Politics and the Media

Since today is election day, I thought it'd be nice to take a look at who would be covering the election all day. There are actually quite a few interesting recent analyses about how the US media covers politics, but below are two that caught my eye:

First, here is a link to an analysis of country coverage by the New York Times (thanks to Marginal Revolution). And here is an analysis of the major network polls. Does this ordering make sense? Why might there be bias, even in polling?

Class Notes -- Chapter 12 (Domestic Institutions and National Performance)

Here are the notes for today's class.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words...

from Dani Rodrik's blog... the credit crisis in one picture.

Class Notes -- Chapter 11 (Perceptions and Deterrence)

Here are the notes for today's class.

World War II Posters

Here is a link to some amazing World War II posters. Notice the rhetoric being used but also to how many facets of life the war is supposed to affect...

Random News of the Day

A recent study of college students and where they should vote has some interesting implications regarding local voting rules:

Thus, in the extreme, the “rules” might even depend on when you showed up in the registrar’s office and whom you spoke to.

Andrew Gelman has more on ideologies among the US electorate. Notice how different the House and Senate are from general public opinion. Why do you think this is the case?

Do you want to know how much professors get to study stuff like the above? An all too true comic about academic salaries versus athletics salaries is here.

Class Notes -- Chapter 10 (Perceptions)

Here are the notes for today's class.

Study Abroad Opportunity in Belgium

Here is a link to a study abroad opportunity in Brussels, Belgium. Brussels is of course the seat to most of the European Union institutions and also the headquarters for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Interested students should contact me at dmgibler (@) bama.ua.edu and also visit this website, which describes the program.

Random Post of the Day

It's an election year, so more stuff about the US elections:

Here is a map of the world's vote for US President. What's the rationale for these "voters"? And from InsideHigherEd.com, here is a report of an interesting study:

Students get more liberal while they’re in college — but a new study suggests that their peers, not professors, seem to be the reason why, according to the Associated Press. The study, by the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles, finds evidence to back up the assertion that many students adopt more liberal positions on many issues from their freshman to their junior year. But the researchers attribute the shifts more to students’ exposure to left-leaning peer groups than to the views of their professors, the wire service reports.

Class Notes -- Chapter 9 (preferences)

Here are the notes for today's class.