Lecturer/Assistant Professor
School of Political Science and International Studies
University of Queensland
Michael A. Gavin
Past teaching
University of Queensland
Foundations in Politics, Policy and International Relations
Semester 2 2024
This course introduces students to the key ideas, issues, and modes of critical thought for study in political science and international studies. We provide the foundational content necessary for the study of governance and public policy, international relations, development, and peace and conflict studies through seminar discussions and individual and group projects. Topics to be examined include the problems of war, the economy, the rise of populism, inequality, and other pressing global and local problems using a variety of lenses drawn from international relations, governance and public policy, and peace and conflict studies.
Semester 2 2024
This course introduces students to the process of designing a research project, focusing in particular on common approaches to data collection and analysis in social science research. Students will develop an understanding of the relative merits of contrasting methodologies, and skills in identifying methodological rigour and ethical design. In this course, students will learn about developing research questions, locating them within a theoretical framework, identifying the most appropriate methodological designs and methods to answer them and consider the ethical implications of their research. At the end of the course, students should be able to develop a research project suitable for Masters level.
Washington University in St. Louis
Politics, Risk, and Banking Crises
Spring 2019
How does politics govern banking sector risk? The first phase of the course begins with an introduction to banking sector risk and why banks are susceptible to periodic crises. The second phase of the course looks at how private agents and states approach the problem of governing bank risk. The third phase of the course will introduce students to various types of bank risk, including liquidity risk, credit risk, foreign exchange rate risk, settlement risk, and systemic risk, and show how crises ranging from the Latin American debt crises, the emerging market crises of the 1990s, and the global financial crisis are manifestations of these risks gone sour.
The International Political Economy of Finance
Spring 2019
This course introduces students to the politics of the international monetary system. The first phase of the course will review the major theoretical approaches to international monetary relations. The second phase will review four key political problems in the international political economy of finance: capital mobility, exchange rate regimes, international capital flows, and international banking. The final phase will look at how international governance arrangements have evolved in response to these problems in the post-WWII era.
Carleton University
Introduction to Research Methods in Political Science
Fall 2017 & Summer 2018
This course introduces the basic tenets of empirical research design in political science. The first half of the course introduces students to the fundamental building blocks of the scientific approach to political science research. The second half of the course introduces a few common research designs and will relate each to the building blocks established in the first half of the course.