400

PSC 401 Public Policy Analysis

Studies the formulation, implementation and evaluation of public policies.

Credit Hours: 4
(SS) (W)

Prerequisites

PSC 270

PSC 403 U.S. National Security Policy

Examines the process and substance of U.S. national security policy, including institutional settings and specific policy problems.

Credit Hours: 4
(IG) (SS) (W)

Prerequisites

PSC 270

PSC 405 Congress and Legislative Politics

This course will examine the U.S. Congress and uses the 50 state legislatures as a basis of comparison. We will organize our discussion of Congress and legislative politics around three primary topics: representation, organization and power.
Credit Hours: 4

Prerequisites

PSC 270

PSC 410 International Law

Concentrates on public international law, examining the legal and political framework by which international legal instruments are created, litigated and enforced across national boundaries. Makes limited reference to private international law.

Credit Hours: 4
(IG) (SS) (W)

Prerequisites

PSC 270

PSC 412 Comparative Judicial Politics

This course examines courts from a comparative perspective and the variations in role, autonomy, power and accountability of courts and judges in both democratic and authoritarian regimes. Theories of judicial behavior and the impact of institutional arrangements contribute to the growing power of courts and the judicialization of politics that has occurred around the world. The course will give particular attention to the fundamental role of courts across societies including those of common, civil, Chinese and Islamic law.

Credit Hours: 4
(IG) (NW) (SS)

Prerequisites

PSC 270

PSC 413 Topics in Government and World Affairs

Involves selected topics in political science. Content varies; may be repeated for credit if subject matter is not repeated.

Credit Hours: 2-4
(SS)

Prerequisites

PSC 270

PSC 426 Public Opinion

Examines public opinion from a variety of perspectives, providing students with the ability to be intelligent consumers of public opinion research and effective users of public opinion research tools. This course explores public opinion's effects on contemporary society and politics.

Credit Hours: 4
(SS)

Prerequisites

PSC 270

PSC 430 Politics of Identity

Examines the roles identities like nationality, gender, ethnicity, race, religion, class, culture and species have played historically and contemporaneously in domestic and international politics. The course addresses these topics both through canonical theories and through case studies that span the globe. We explore various understandings of these identities ranging from those that assume them to be fixed and primordial to those that view them as socially constructed and contestable.

Credit Hours: 4
(IG) (NW) (SS)

Prerequisites

PSC 270

PSC 444 The Political Economy of Africa

Examines the political and economic problems and opportunities facing the continent of Africa; the African colonial experience and its impact on modern African development; and how the continent has struggled with political and economic trends over the past 40 years.

Credit Hours: 4
(IG) (NW) (SS) (W)

Prerequisites

PSC 270

PSC 446 International Organization

This course examines the role of international organizations in facilitating cooperation between states to achieve commonly held goals such as peace and prosperity. The course introduces competing theories of international organization and their applications to international organizations spanning fields such as security, trade, the environment and human rights. The course also is designed to help students develop analytical writing skills and research methods for the study of international organization.

Credit Hours: 4
(IG) (NW) (SS) (W)

Prerequisites

PSC 270

PSC 450 Independent Study

Involves guided readings, research and criticism. Independent studies must be under the direction of a full-time PSC professor. Subject matter must be determined through student-faculty consultation.

Credit Hours: 1-4
(SS)

Prerequisites

12 hours of political science, a minimum 3.0 GPA in the major and PSC 270. Maximum of 4 credit hours and it does not fulfill the 400 level research intensive requirement.

PSC 451 Senior Thesis

Involves a major research paper planned and written with possible publication in mind.  A senior thesis must be written under the direction of any full-time PSC professor.  Subject matter must be determined through student-faculty consultation.

Credit Hours: 4
(SS)

Prerequisites

PSC 270 and senior standing with a minimum 3.25 GPA.

PSC 455 NGOs and Global Civil Society

This course offers an overview of how nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and other non-state actors in the international arena communicate, organize and advocate on behalf of individuals and interests that are overlooked by states, or run counter to national interests. The course will focus on how issues are framed and campaigns are waged by NGOs and advocacy networks in order to compel states or intergovernmental institutions to change behavior or policies.

Credit Hours: 4
(IG) (SS)

Prerequisites

PSC 270

PSC 480 Political Psychology

An analysis of psychological perspectives of personality, information processing, and decision making as it applies to mass and elite political behavior.

Credit Hours: 4
(SS)

Prerequisites

PSC 270