TRN410H1
TRN410H1: Researching Critical Cases in Contemporary International Relations
Course Description
91探花 apply the techniques and skills they have learned during their undergraduate career to develop and evaluate a causal theory of international relations on a topic aligning with their own research interests. The course introduces several theoretical and methodological tools that are used to understand and analyze a variety of major developments affecting contemporary international relations. 91探花 examine the strengths and weaknesses of each research method and apply those that are most appropriate to their own original study. 91探花 complete their research project in stages (research question, literature review and theory, research design) and receive feedback for each component. This feedback is then incorporated into the final paper. The goal is to complete a final paper that can be submitted to an undergraduate research journal or used as a writing sample for graduate study.
2026-2027 Course Instructor Felix Cowan
| Felix Cowan is a historian of modern Europe specializing in the history of the Russian Empire and Soviet Union, with research interests in political culture, urban history, and everyday life. His first book, The Kopeck Press: Popular Journalism in Revolutionary Russia, 1908-1918, was published by University of Toronto Press in 2025. This monograph uses tabloid newspapers to explore an emerging democratic political culture in the early twentieth century Russian Empire. Dr. Cowan鈥檚 other published work explores themes of civil society, gender identity, and lower-class politics and culture, and he is in the early stages of a new project on the history of democratic ideas, experiments, and reforms in Russia. In addition to Russian, Soviet, and European history, Dr. Cowan also teaches the global Cold War and the complex historical relationship between empire and nation. |  |