The Research Track with Thesis is intended for students who plan to pursue a research-oriented career in academia or other settings in which critical analytical skills are necessary. The student’s original research project is at the core of this MA specialization.
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Head of Program
The project includes the following steps:
- Select an advisor from the Reichman University Lauder School of Government’s permanent faculty at the end of the first semester
- Design a research plan together with your advisor
- Submit a thesis proposal at the end of the first year (to be approved by the advisor)
- Submit the thesis at the end of the fourth semester and defend it
What Will You Study?
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Core Courses
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The research methods course is intended to provide students with skills essential to conduct basic empirical analyses. The course will focus on quantitative and qualitative research methods. It will survey the core research methods known in the field, and attempt to evaluate the way in which these methods can assist scholars to develop a valid and reliable research design. The course is divided into four main parts: research design, data collection, data analysis, and presentation of research. Throughout the semester, students will also learn and use a statistical package, SPSS.
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Prof. Abraham Diskin
The course will deal with models of decision making deriving from game theory. We shall discuss, among other issues, the following subjects: basic terminology; facing “states of nature”; cooperative and non-cooperative games; common-interest situations versus total-conflict situations; pure strategies and mixed strategies; solutions of the bargaining problem; “normative” behavior against “real-life” behavior.
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Prof. Alberto Spektorowski
This course is a survey of ancient and modern Western political thought that have shaped our common political language. We will situate each theorist in the particular historical periods in which they lived and analyze the various answers that they sought to offer to the permanent questions of the relationship between the individual (how should we live as good and happy people) and statecraft (how should we live together). In doing so, we shall consider questions of human nature, the place of virtue in political life, and the nature of justice, freedom, obligation, and community. Students will be able to develop their critical and analytical skills through writing, in-class discussions and participation in Socratic dialogue debates as they acquire a deeper understanding of thinkers' approach to social and political questions.
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Prof. Asif Efrat
The purpose of the seminar is to guide students through the process of launching their Master's thesis projects and writing research proposals. The seminar will provide advice, structure, and feedback that will assist the students in the crucial stage of framing their projects and establishing a research plan. This will be done in several steps: identifying the research topic; writing a literature review; devising a theoretical argument; choosing a methodology and building a research design. The final assignment is a class presentation of the draft research proposal.
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Dr. Amnon Cavari
This course provides an introduction to the theory, methods, and practice of multivariate analysis. The course will not dwell on statistical theory. But, we will concentrate on: The importance of evaluating empirical relationships between variables as a component of the theory-testing process; the utility of regression analysis for doing so; the nature of the basic regression model and several extensions to the model.
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Dr. Hani Zubida
One of the most important tasks of the MA program is the training of the students toward scholarly research. Students should be able to assess the state of the scholarly literature, identify interesting questions, form strategies for answering them, locate suitable methodological tools which will enable them to conduct the research, and finally understand how to write the results in an academic fashion. Although in almost every course these questions are addressed indirectly, in this course they will become the center of attention. We will analyze these issues in multiple contexts and variety of political theories. We will try to uncover the various paths to political analysis by focusing on empirical methods, both qualitative and quantitative, and extend these to various political schools of thought. All that will be done using various examples from Israeli politics, comparative politics and other subfields of political science. The aim of the class is to address the importance and centrality of the various approaches to political inquiry. We will discuss various types of empirical evidence: historical, quantitative and more. We will also explore the various methodologies commonly used in political research, such as survey research, experiments, statistical analysis, case studies and more.
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Dr. Ely Karmon
This seminar is offered by the Reichman University faculty and leading practitioners on a variety of topics relevant to students’ specialization in the area of political marketing and decision making, terrorism and homeland security studies, diplomacy and conflict analysis, and public policy and administration.
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Dr. Niva Golan-Nadir
The course offers an opportunity for advanced masters students to experience the practice of qualitative research. The aim of the course is to provide the students with basic knowledge of qualitative methodology and the quality criteria employed to review research based on qualitative methodology. During the semester we will address the nature of qualitative research in the context of political science, with plentiful opportunities to discuss the implications of the choices made by various studies in designing, implementing and reporting on the findings. Practically, the course goal is to help students to develop skills to collect and analyze qualitative data, and consequently design a qualitative research study. The course combines frontal learning with a practical application that will allow the student a hands-on experience in applying the material taught.
Electives (4 Credits)
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Mr. Harel Halevi
The Arabic course for international students is designed for English-speaking students worldwide. It will be conducted in English, and its content will include the fundamentals of reading and writing in Arabic, the development of basic-level speaking skills in Spoken Arabic (Palestinian dialect), the connections between Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and its various spoken dialects, and acquaintance with Arab culture. The course will adopt a communicative approach, with emphasis on current events, as they find expression in everyday life in Arab society and within the realm of countries and organizations in the Arab world, particularly in the Middle East. Students in the course will learn to communicate at a basic level with an Arabic speaker, and, through "the lens of study of Arabic language and Arab culture," will learn how to view processes taking place in Arab society and the Arab world in an informed and multidimensional manner.
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Itzhak Levanon
Egypt has for centuries been one of the world's central civilization: a country characterized by social tolerance, at the avant-garde of Middle East culture, which also occupies a critically important geostrategic position in the region. This course will examine the political, social, and security challenges Egypt has had to deal with since becoming a modern state. The course will look at the decision-making process of its different rulers, focusing on the nuances between the theoretical and the practical. The course is designed around three central pillars: a look at the country's history, its ideological undercurrents, and expectations for the future. It will look at the causes of the country's social problems and look at the deterioration of the security situation that has led to an emergence of extremism. In addition, it will address what needs to be done to restore stability and efficient government. The lecturer will bring his own first-hand testimony, as an eyewitness to the Egyptian Revolution in 2011 that led to the downfall of The President. The purpose of the course is to provide students with the tools to be able to look at the current developments in the country, conduct a self-analysis and answer one seeming endless question: Whither Egypt?
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Dr. Amichai Magen
This course invites MA students to explore the foundational ideas, institutions, and debates relating to political freedom and responsibility in the 21st century. "Liberty and Responsibility" is the motto of Reichman University, but what does it actually mean to be a free and responsible citizen? What distinguishes between closed order and open order societies? And how should young leaders safeguard freedom and guard against old and new threats to liberal democracy? This course engages with these critical issues, which are essential for both national and international leadership. The course is broadly divided into three parts. In the first third of the semester we will examine key ideas about political freedom, such Benjamin Constant's famous distinction between ancient and modern liberty, and Isiah Berlin's equally famous two concepts of freedom - negative and positive. In the second part of the course we will explore the main characteristics of free and authoritarian societies and political systems. In this context we will talk about whether the state is an instrument of freedom or oppression, about nationalism and cosmopolitanism, equality, legitimacy, trust, democracy, rights, and the rule of law. Finally, in the last part of the semester, we will discuss new threats to human freedom, such as populism, identity politics, surveillance capitalism, and unaligned Artificial Intelligence. Throughout the course we will develop critical thinking, analytical, and debate skills.
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Prof. Yitzhak Reiter
Jerusalem is a city holy to the world’s three monotheistic religions and lies at the heart of the national and religious narratives of both Israelis and Palestinians. As such, Jerusalem is one of the most sensitive and complex issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As a contested city it is a symbol of the Arab-Israeli conflict that was rendered into a regional issue of a religious war between Islam and Judaism.
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Dr. Shaul Shay
Along the history, there are many examples of "Strategic surprises" (Pearl Harbor, the 1973 war, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the 9\11 attacks). The course deals with the question what are the reasons that Intelligence services and decision makers failed to prevent "Strategic surprises". The course examines the different aspects of strategic surprise and what should be done to cope with the challenges.
The course has three main parts:
- Theoretical background.
- The strategic surprise of the 1973 war.
- The case study of the 9\11 attacks.
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Dr. David Movshovitz
The course goal is to introduce cyber-security to managers and decision-makers. In the course we will learn the main concepts of cyber-security, discuss the cyberspace technology fundamentals, and the usage of cryptography to ensure data confidentiality and data integrity in the cyberspace.
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Prof. Assaf Moghadam
This research seminar examines a broad variety of topics relevant to the understanding of contemporary international terrorism, while preparing MA students to write advanced research papers. Students will also present their research topics to the class. The first part of the course offers a historical sketch of international terrorism from the French Revolution onwards. The second part examines the main theoretical approaches for analyzing terrorism. Part three of the course will consist of discussions of some of the most critical policy-relevant topics related to terrorism and counterterrorism, including state-sponsored and homegrown terrorism; the foreign fighter phenomenon; the terror-crime nexus; cyberterrorism; targeted killings; deterrence; and the evolution of the global jihadi threat.
Three Courses from the Following (6 Credits)
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Prof. Gilad Hirschberger
Political psychology is an interdisciplinary field that attempts to explain political behavior using psychological principles. This course is an introduction to the field of political psychology, in which both general psychological principles and those pertaining to political behavior will be taught. Topics covered include psychological processes that guide intra-group processes (conformity, groupthink, de-individuation), inter-group processes (outgroup derogation, stereotypes, prejudice, discrimination), nationalism, political extremism, and social protest.
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Prof. Abraham Diskin
The course will focus on the formal and informal "rules of the game" in the political system of Israel. We shall examine a number of significant policy decisions that demonstrate change and stability in "the rules of the game". The course will examine the relevance of a number of general theories to the issue of "governance, politics and policy" in Israel.
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Dr. Shavit Matias
The purpose of the course is to investigate the impact of globalization on international relations, and the way in which states and diplomacy are affected. The Course will also investigate the effect globalization has on conflicts, their conducts, management and resolution. Attention will be given to the growing interdependency between states, and the role and importance of international organizations, economic blocs, international dispute settlement mechanisms and international investigating and reporting mechanisms. Throughout the course the growing role of non-state actors, such as international and local NGO, multinational companies, and social movements, will be analyzed, as well as the implications of the new technology age and new media.
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Dr. Terris Lesley
What is the relationship between what a political leader’s personality traits and the actions or policies of the organization s/he represents? Who becomes a leader? Do different organizations or different political systems attract different kinds of leaders? What are the effects of cultural and situational factors on who becomes a leader, on the type of decisions they make, on their world-views and on their politics? What are the ingredients of leadership? Do leaders change? Under what conditions and in what ways? What is the role of leaders in politics? In this course, we will survey various leadership theories trying to answer these questions and others. We will focus on theories of political psychology and on theories of decision-making, connect between leaders' personalities and personal experiences to the actions of their organizations and we will try to draw lines of comparison between various types of leaders and learn their true power in local, regional, national and global politics.
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Dr. Benziman Yuval
The course will review major issues in the field of conflict resolution. Different types of conflicts will be discussed, their definitions and components. We will explore theories explaining how conflicts erupt, ways to manage them, tactics and strategies to resolve them, and more. The course will be taught from a variety of perspectives, including social psychology, sociology, political science and international relations. It will present different models of understanding the field of conflict research, analyzing various levels of dispute: the personal, the communal, and the international. In addition to a theoretical understanding of the conflict resolution discipline, we will discuss specific conflicts, and look at different and competing approaches for understanding, analyzing and resolving them. Students will learn and acquire the ability to have a multi-layer perspective of conflicts, with the aim of acknowledging the complexity of conflicts and the interdisciplinary attitude needed to resolve them.
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Dr. Alisa Rubin Peled
The goal of this course is to provide students with a broad knowledge of the leading theoretical approaches and major issues in the field of international political economy (IPE) in order to develop a deeper understanding of current world affairs. The course begins by defining international political economy and introducing the main theoretical perspectives (mercantilism, liberalism, structuralism, and recent theoretical developments). The course then explores several of the leading issues in IPE, including: international trade, international financial flows and monetary relations, foreign direct investment (FDI) and the role of transnational corporations and the environment. Next, the course explores the political economy of several countries and regions, including Great Britain, the United States, Russia, China and India. Throughout the course, the emphasis will be on applying the theoretical concepts to current IPE issues, including writing (with the intention of publishing) an op-ed, participating in in-class debates and exercises as well as hearing guest speakers on relevant current issues.
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Prof. Boaz Ganor
The first part of the course will start with a brief overview of fundamental terrorism issues - The definition of terrorism, the strategy of modern and post-modern terrorism, the current trends of Global terrorism, etc. The second part of the course will address topics related to counter-terrorism, focusing on the typical dilemmas at the heart of the debate. By drawing on a substantial amount of reading material, the course will present both practical and theoretical perspectives on a range of topics, such as intelligence gathering, targeted killings, international cooperation, and the balance between liberal democratic values and effective counter-terrorism measures.
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Dr. Maoz Rosenthal
The premise of this course is that politics is a competition for desired resources. Political players interested in attaining these resources (roles, budgets and influence) have to dismantle and assemble coalitions constantly: in the party, with voters, the parliament, the cabinet table and the bureaucracy. Political leaders desiring these resources need to be aware of their purposes and to calculate the moves that will optimize their pursuit of the said gals.
What do political purposes include? 1. Design institutions and entrepreneurial activity within them. 2. The establishment of a political party or an alliance multiparty political purposes they wish. 3. Maximizing the votes in the elections. 4. forming a coalition after the elections. 5. Government survival. 6. Policy design and implementation. 7 The dissolution of the coalition and election timing. In this course we will work on these various issues with respect to the theoretical mechanism that explains them, the empirical evidence that relate to them, and would practice these strategic interactions using role plays and class-based simulations.
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- For the entire list of courses please refer to the Student Handbook
- The academic administration of Reichman University reserves the right to make changes to the curriculum.
- Approval of the thesis proposal and an average grade of 80% are required to proceed to the second year of study.