top of page
Mark I. Vail

I teach a variety of courses on a wide range of topics, including comparative political economy, social and economic policy in advanced industrial countries, European politics, qualitative methods, intellectual history, industrial relations and labor politics, and political development. Although I focus primarily on West European countries, I have also taught courses that deal with policy and political economy across the advanced industrial world, including the United States.

I ask my students to meet the highest intellectual standards. I view myself as a mentor to students, whom I encourage to strive for levels of intellectual sophistication and engagement that they didn't think were possible. In this context, I have directed and served as a reader for dozens of honors theses, doctoral dissertations, and independent-study projects for both graduate and undergraduate students. I work to involve students in my research and often collaborate with students on their research projects and on my own.

Following is a selection of the courses that I have taught recently, along with their respective levels and links to their syllabi:

The Political and Economic Development of Western Europe (advanced undergraduate)

Comparative Political and Economic Development (advanced undergraduate)

Comparative and International Political Economy (intermediate undergraduate)

Qualitative Methods (graduate)

European Governments (intermediate undergraduate)

Comparative and International Political Economy (graduate) (co-taught)

The Comparative Political Economy of the Welfare State (advanced undergraduate)

Introduction to Comparative Politics (introductory undergraduate)

Below are the titles of selected independent-study projects and undergraduate honors theses that I have directed:

"The Forever War: An Analytical Critique of U.S. Policy in Afghanistan" (2019-2020)

"Legitimate Radicals: The United Kingdom Independence Party and the Alternative für Deutschland’" (2017-2018)

"Comparative Employment Regulation in Europe" (2016-2017)

"Policy Responses to Financial Crisis in Less Developed Countries" (2016)

"The Mobilization of Human-Rights Discourse in Turkey" (2015-2016)

"Right-Wing Populism in France and Hungary" (2015)

"The Politics of Class as Depicted by 20th-Century Writers" (2013)

"Constructing Muslim Integration Policy in Spain Following the Madrid Terrorist Attack" (2011)

"Public Housing, Urban Development, and the Potential for Progress in American Cities" (2009)

"Post-Fordist Industrial Relations in Germany and the US: A Regulation School Approach" (2008)

bottom of page