D.Y. (Yavuz) Tuyloglu, PhD

International Relations Theories (and Practice) · UCG2SS14

Bachelor course · 5 ECTS · Coordinator and lecturer

This course introduces students to the discipline of International Relations and its main theoretical traditions: realism, liberalism, constructivism, Marxism, feminism and postcolonialism. Each theory is taught through cases that show it at work, from the rise of China to women's participation in the civil war in El Salvador. One question runs through the whole course: how does each theory make sense of the global energy transition? In seminars, students put theory into practice through debates, text analysis and student-led sessions. They also learn to read popular culture through IR. In groups, they use tools of visual literacy to analyze a film, TV series or novel through a theoretical lens and present their work in a multimodal presentation. The course concludes with an exam.

International Politics · UCG2SS15

Bachelor course · 5 ECTS · Coordinator and lecturer

This course examines the events, actors and debates that have shaped international politics over the past two decades. Topics include the decline of US hegemony, rising powers and US–China rivalry, humanitarian intervention and genocide, history and memory in international politics, the environment and climate justice, the geopolitics of energy, and technology. Drawing on concepts from Political Science, International Relations, International Law and Memory Studies, the course helps students move beyond current affairs to understand how the world order works. It is highly interactive and builds practical skills. In small groups, students record a podcast episode for the UCG Podcasts channel (listen on Spotify). Individually, they write a policy brief advising a decision-maker on a current international problem.

Bachelor Thesis Supervision: International Relations of the Energy Transition

For much of the past century, control over oil and gas shaped global power. The shift to renewable energy is changing this, but how, and for whom, is still contested. Will the transition decentralize energy production and ease rivalry between states? Or will dependence shift to critical minerals, clean-technology manufacturing and control over grids and standards? Theses under this theme use International Relations theory to explain how the energy transition is reshaping power, conflict and cooperation among states. That includes great powers and petrostates, but also middle powers and small states, which have fewer resources and less room to maneuver. Possible topics include:

• how well IR theories explain the energy transition, and where their limits lie
• critical mineral supply chains
• resource nationalism and green industrial policy
• fossil-fuel exporters in a decarbonizing world
• cross-border electricity grids and energy partnerships
• how middle powers such as Turkey, Indonesia and Brazil balance energy security, alignment and industrial strategy

Single-case and comparative case studies are especially welcome.