CoursesPolicy Task Force on U.S.-China Relations
PPE 4903

Policy Task Force on U.S.-China Relations

More than forty years after the normalization of relations between the United States and China, the relationship faces new and fundamental challenges with global implications. Designed as a policy task force, taught in coordination with a similar course to be taught at Tsinghua University in Beijing, this course will introduce students to the most pressing issues in U.S.-China relations –– including security, trade, climate, tech competition, and human rights. Each student will be required to complete a policy paper on some aspect of U.S.-China relations.

At the end of the course, students will travel to China to meet in-person with their Chinese counterparts at Tsinghua University, and to present their policy papers and recommendations to relevant interested Chinese audiences in Beijing and Shanghai. Travel to China will take place Wednesday, May 14 – Sunday, May 25, 2025.

Students are invited to deliberate on and formulate recommendations for U.S. policy towards China. Each student will be required to complete a policy paper on some aspect of U.S.-China relations. At the end of the course, students will travel to China to meet in-person with their Chinese counterparts at Tsinghua University, and to present their policy papers and recommendations to relevant interested audiences in Beijing and Shanghai.

Instructor: Neysun Mahboubi

Related Content

Other Courses of Interest

COGS 4001

The Cognitive Science of Conversation

Instructor(s)

  • Nora Bradford

Semester

Spring 2027

What makes a conversation “good”? How do we achieve the feeling of being “on the same page” with an interlocutor? This course explores the neurological and cognitive underpinnings of effective communication, equipping students with the scientific knowledge necessary to foster constructive dialogue. 

 

Learn More
BENF 2240

The Crisis of Expertise

Instructor(s)

  • Tal Arbel

Semester

Spring 2027

In recent years, there has been intensive talk about a “crisis of expertise” unfolding in liberal-democratic societies. Along with suspicion toward established facts and institutional findings, techno-scientific experts – academic researchers, medical doctors, engineers, public health specialists – are widely seen as detached elites whose impartiality is questionable, and motivations can no longer be trusted. This concerning shift in public attitudes, the argument goes, has boosted the popularity of unverified and unregulated sources of knowledge (traditional healing practices, the wellness industry, social media influencers, self-tracking), and given rise to a dangerous “do your own research” (DYOR) culture that impedes our collective ability to distinguish sound advice from misinformation.

Learn More