The goal of the Department of Political Science's Pacific Rim Political Economy Initiative is to enhance the quality of degree credit instruction in a much needed area of instruction in the department: political economy, particularly Pacific Rim political economy. Enhancing the quality of instruction in Pacific Rim political economy is beneficial also for other DePaul departments and programs such as Japanese Studies, International Studies and Commerce.

Our department is expanding course offerings in Pacific Rim political economy in response in part to increasing enrollments in political science, which has led to increased numbers of majors to service, and both major and non-major student demand. The demand stems from the increasing strategic relevance of East Asia: the increasing economic and political role of China as well as the relative decline of Japan in this context. The goal of the Pacific Rim Political Economy Initiative is to develop three new courses: Asian Politics, International Political Economy of the Pacific Rim, and Introduction to Political Economy. The Pacific Rim Political Economy Initiative is part of a new curricular core in political economy.

The Initiative complements an existing component in the department in World political economy and European political economy as well as strengths in U.S. urban political economy (via for example the Public Policy Program). The courses developed also serve the Japanese Studies Program.

For more information on this project, contact Kathryn Ibata-Arens at kibataar@depaul.edu

Ibata-Arens is also a faculty member of the Japanese Studies Program. Visit their website at: http://condor.depaul.edu/~nchikama/

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