This course introduces students to the field of security studies, which encompassses a wide range of international issues, ideas and theories.  The primary focus of the course relates to larger developments of international security, especially since the end of the Cold War. Students will gain an understanding of the structures, systems, and interrelationships among nations, the development of the distinctive features of at least one international security organization, and the cultural differences between them. Finally, students will gain an appreciation of international sustainability and human security concepts. The course will serve as a foundation for more in-depth studies in the field and provide students with the skills to succeed in advanced level studies in the area. 

Students have the opportunity to develop individualized studies with their mentor in Public Affairs (PAFF). Please contact your mentor/advisor for more details.

Homeland security in the United States became a national priority and a major concern of the American public following the events that transpired on September 11, 2001.  Since that time, significant resources have gone into the prevention of terrorist attacks and the preparation of the U.S. government for life in a vulnerable environment.  Substantial new laws were passed and new legislation continues to be proposed to combat threats and secure the country.  Today, with the rise of foreign and domestic violent extremists, as well as affiliated threats from lone wolf terrorists around the world, legislative and executive leaders are struggling to identify the best response, while courts sort out the legality of their efforts. But homeland security is about more than terrorism. In fact, the vast majority of our daily activities, from trade to travel, touch on homeland security in much more profound ways than terrorism has. In this course, we will focus on the foundations of both homeland security and terrorism in order to develop a more complete understanding of the importance of the changes that have taken place in the last decade. Emphasis will be placed on “friction points” in the homeland security enterprise, such as the tradeoff between security and liberty, border security and economic vitality, and surveillance and privacy, as well as the legal and policy changes that have been undertaken to effectuate new policies and practices of the Executive Branch to promote homeland security.

This course introduces students to the organization, management and influence of public bureaucracies at the federal, state and local levels of government. Topics to be covered include: values and ethics in public service, policy analysis and evaluation, organization theory, decision making, public personnel systems, public unionism and collective bargaining, leadership, communication, theories of budgeting, ecology of public administration and productivity in the public sector. This course was previously CHS-262164.

This study is designed to introduce students to substantive public policy issues that shape contemporary public sector debates and decision-making in the U.S. Grounded in multiple theoretical approaches and analytic models, the study develops students’ potential to describe, formulate, implement and evaluate public policy. Further, the study will provide students with the opportunity to appreciate the complex organizational and institutional environments in which public policy operates via exploring several policy areas such as criminal justice, health and welfare, civil rights, and homeland security. This course was previously CHS-262204 Introduction to Public Policy.

The content of this course will vary by term and section. Students may repeat this course for credit as long as the topic differs. Please refer to the Term Guide for course topic offerings.

Students have the opportunity to develop individualized studies with their mentor in Public Affairs (PAFF). Please contact your mentor/advisor for more details.

Students will be exposed to a wide range of careers associated with the field of security studies. Students will explore academic and professional expectations for jobs in areas such as homeland security, national security and intelligence, international humanitarian aid (human security), cybersecurity, and corporate security. Students will research how their own academic background and/or prior learning fit into the academic expectations and skills needed for long-term future learning associated with these careers. Students will use their new knowledge to build personal and professional goals. This course is aligned with the Security Studies Foundation #1: Broad Security Studies Perspectives.

Global climate change has been identified as one of the biggest security threats of the 21st century that result in natural disasters, water scarcity, food insecurity, infrastructure risks, and changing migration patterns.   These consequences have political and economic ramifications that threaten the security of individuals and nation states, and are rising to the top of government initiatives and concerns worldwide.   This course provides students with an opportunity to examine how the environment and its security is an important part of national and global security, and how global climate change is affecting the security of individuals, nation-states and, generally, the world.

This course examines the roles and responsibilities of law enforcement and other agencies in managing terrorism, disasters, and homeland security to ensure public safety. Students will have the opportunity to develop an understanding of the changing role of law enforcement in managing mass disasters and terrorism, the impact of disaster and terrorist events on human populations, the control of consequences and perspectives on homeland security. This course was previously CHS-264844 Terrorism and Homeland Security.

This course examines theories of human behavior and social systems as they relate to conflict at the interpersonal, community, and international levels. The course provides a solid foundation of academic thinking about the role of conflict in violent and peaceful social change. At the end of the course, students should be able to think systematically and critically about conflict, and engage in practical application of conflict analysis techniques to a complex social conflict.

Students will examine the history of the U.S. Intelligence Community and role it plays in assisting U.S. policymakers to craft national security policy for the United States. This will include examining the philosophy of U.S. intelligence support and how it differs from other countries, as well as important U.S. congressional oversight and ethical issues in intelligence. Students will compare intelligence problems in strategic intelligence, learn to identify appropriate analytic tools for strategic challenges, and critique strategic intelligence cases using analytic tools commonly used within the Intelligence Community. It is strongly recommended that students have taken PAFF 1005 Intro to Security Studies before enrolling for this course.

This study involves the analysis and evaluation of public policy in the United States. Topics include the nature of the cycle of policy creation, implementation and evaluation, the role of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches in the creation of policy, the nature of policy formation, the importance of legislative or judicial intent, the character of bureaucratic decision-making, problems of jurisdiction, questions of personnel development, issues of oversight, the role of policy consumers and advocates, the impact of lobbying and interest groups, the nature of policy evaluation, the importance of policy analysis. Prerequisites: Familiarity with Research Methods in the social sciences or history and/or at least one introductory course in American Government.

This study provides a descriptive analysis of how public administrators manage municipal government. Using examples from the United States, it explores six dimensions of public administration: legal aspects of public management, human resources management, budgeting and public finance, the political dimensions of intergovernmental relations, and ethical considerations. As well as theory, students integrate such practical issues as economic development, housing, culture and recreation, public safety, transportation and waste disposal.

The content of this course will vary by term and section. Students may repeat this course for credit as long as the topic differs. Please refer to the Term Guide for course topic offerings.

Students have the opportunity to develop individualized studies with their mentor in Public Affairs (PAFF). Please contact your mentor/advisor for more details.

This course provides students the opportunity to study the multidimensional nature of security from a global perspective. Human, environmental, national, transnational, and trans-cultural (ethnic, sectarian, and religious) aspects of security and how they impact each other throughout the world will be examined. Topics such as the role of the military; causes and consequences of national and transnational conflict; organized crime; human trafficking; diplomatic agreements; the influence of science and technology on climate, energy supplies, the production and access to food, and other threats to human security will be included. Organizing frameworks for this study might include a specific focus on justice as a prerequisite for security, international relations theory, and/or other approaches.

This course focuses on international terrorism since 9/11/01 and explores the social, political, and economic origins and intentions of groups such as Al-Qaeda, its affiliates, and recent permutations. Case studies of key international terror attacks are presented to better understand capabilities, including signature complex, multi-level attacks, lone wolf attacks inspired by social media, and large-scale conflicts overseas. Students will explore U.S. counterterrorism efforts overseas, and counterterrorism collaboration with foreign governments and multinational organizations. Finally, students will evaluate the effectiveness of international counterterrorism strategies since 9/11 and recommend ways to address possible future scenarios. The course is designed as a capstone course; therefore, it is strongly suggested that students have completed one of the following: PAFF 2005 Intro to Homeland Security, SOCI 3065 Perspectives on Terrorism, PAFF 3005 Terrorism and Homeland Security, or have prior experience working in counterterrorism.

This course examines the theory and practice of obtaining and allocating resources among competing priorities in the public sector, and the relationships among budgeting and other aspects of public finance such as accounting, auditing, management analysis, and program evaluation. This course was previously CHS-263524 Public Finance and Budgeting.

The student will prepare a proposal for the senior project and engage in educational planning. The senior project facilitates the integration and reflection of knowledge acquired from university learning which is aimed at creating an original culminating work. Educational planning includes the preparation of a rationale essay articulating how the program of study for the bachelor's degree meets the student's educational and career goals. For the senior project proposal, the student will pose a question to be addressed under the guidance of the ESC mentor. The student and mentor will discuss the focus and design of the research question to be developed. The student will identify the appropriate resources needed to address the question and submit the proposal to the mentor. The thesis, based on the proposal submitted for this study, will be carried out the following semester. This course will be used as part of the Educational Planning credit. Prerequisites: As part of a capstone course, students should enroll in Senior Project Proposal during their final year of study. All lower level concentration courses should be complete, as well as at least two advanced level concentration courses or their equivalent.

This course provides an integrated review of the core courses of a student’s Public Affairs degree program. It is designed to allow the student to combine and apply fundamental principles learned in Ethics, Legal Environment, Public Finance, and key Public Administration functions such as Human Resources, Planning, Policy-making and Public Policy Analysis. Students will have the opportunity to apply supplemental skills and knowledge gained from studies in research methods, communication, information management and quantitative literacy in order to demonstrate professional competency in the field of Public Administration. This course should be taken in the student's last term of enrollment. The student must have attained learning in all of the Public Affairs program guidelines prior to taking this course. Students should possess an advanced competency in formal, college level analytical writing, be able to examine facts and problems, analyze issues, research remedies, apply theoretical concepts, examine alternatives, and formulate and communicate solutions.

Public sector professionals face a host of challenging issues everyday as they seek to effectively deliver services amidst new and emerging trends in U.S. society. Despite the multi-layered demands placed on the public sector, questions of the legal responsibility of government and the values that anchor or define public administrators’ duties persist. This study is designed to examine the underlying legal structure of the U.S. government and its ethical implications for public administration.  Accordingly, the study will consider the formation and implementation of public policy within the nation's constitutional framework and explore how legal and ethical issues have affected decision-making in the public sector.

The student will complete the senior project thesis as planned in the proposal phase of this study. The project provides an opportunity to conduct an in-depth examination of a topic of interest related to the study program that emerged from the student’s earlier course work, and in this regard will complete educational planning by focusing on the mastery of academic skills, college level writing and presentation, and independent research and critical thinking. The student will be expected to produce a major research paper that meets the standards established during the proposal stage and prepare the final drafts of the rationale essay. This course will be used as part of the Educational Planning credit. Prerequisites: Successful completion of the Senior Project Proposal

The international capstone course is an opportunity for students to integrate, apply and showcase the skills and knowledge gained in their study program. It consists of a culminating group project applied to real-world social issues and problems. Students are challenged to creatively apply their competencies to a social issue that they find important, combining research, analytical, and application approaches and tactics to address it.

Students have the opportunity to develop individualized studies with their mentor in Public Affairs (PAFF). Please contact your mentor/advisor for more details.