Government and National Security Courses

This course provides an introduction to the study of national security and the national security process.  It introduces students to the instruments of national power and how those instruments are used to support and achieve national interests and objectives.  The course introduces the key actors, processes, and issues associated with national security.  Students will have a better understanding of the complexities and challenges associated with security policy in a world characterized by globalization.  Prerequisite: ENG140  Offered Fall, Spring

 

Students learn how terrorism has been used as a political tool throughout history, and how terrorism has influenced the course of world events.  Emphasis is on the political dimension of terrorism. This is a writing intensive course. Prerequisites: ENG142, POL101  Offered Fall

Intelligence analysis is said to be the function of developing meaning from incomplete information. This course is a study of the relationships between intelligence and security and will consist of three primary elements. First, a history of how U.S. intelligence has evolved will be provided. This segment will include an assessment of some of our most spectacular strategic intelligence failures such as Pearl Harbor, Korea, 9/11/01, and why they occurred. A second element will include how intelligence requirements such as collection, collation, analysis, and dissemination all fit together. There will be an emphasis on the importance of interpretation of current events to forecast future actions. Thirdly, there will be an assessment and discussion about how the intelligence community is currently put together and what can be done to make it better. Students will develop their intelligence analysis skills through application problems and scenarios.

 

This course is the capstone course for senior students in the fields of homeland security and international security.  It places a concentration of effort on working together to solve contemporary problems within those two fields.  The work can be either academic research or field exercise related.  Prerequisite: NSS Major, Senior Standing