Undergraduate Catalog Archives Archive of 2010-2011 Catalog with Spring'11 Updates Colleges Liberal Arts & Social Sciences Minors National Security Studies MinorThe National Security Studies Minor prepares students with diverse majors for careers in homeland security, intelligence collection and analysis, foreign relations, Department of Defense, Department of State, and related areas, or to enter graduate programs that will further prepare them for careers in these areas. These careers might be as diverse as being a diplomat, a cryptologist, an area studies specialist, a linguist, an intelligence analyst, an energy economist, or a policy analyst. The program culminates in a capstone course that integrates student experiences in other courses within the minor into a Crisis Management Exercise (CME, or "wargame"). The CME requires students to play the roles of civilian officials and military officers tasked with addressing the crisis situation at hand in an interagency environment.
Students complete a National Security Studies Minor by completing eighteen hours in approved courses which must include the capstone course in National Security Affairs. Students must maintain a GPA of 2.5 or better in their minor courses. Of course, eighteen hours is a minimum requirement - students may take additional NSSM courses as their schedules and other requirements permit. Students must also take at least one course from the "Contemporary Security Environment" list, and one course from those included under "National Security Policies and Institutions". Students must take a total of three courses from these two categories. The remainder of the hours requirement can be satisfied by choosing electives from the NSSM courses listed here. Students with very specific interests may petition the director to have a course in another department/program substituted as an elective course for the NSSM. A student may not use more than six hours of work in the NSS Minor to satisfy requirements for a major field.
Following the sophomore year, students are also encouraged to apply for internships with the State Department, Department of Defense, National Security agency, Central Intelligence Agency, and other federal agencies in the attempt to enhance their understanding of various aspects of national security in a non-academic setting.
Capstone Courses (Pick 1)
AFSC 4302. National Security Affairs (Fall)
AFSC 4302. National Security Affairs (Spring)
The Contemporary Security Environment (Pick 1 or 2)
POLS 4395. Energy Politics
POLS 4396. Political Islam
POLS 4394. Ideologies and Political Movements
POLS 3335. Political Terrorism
HIST 3394. War, Globalization, and Terrorism
National Security Policy and Institutions (Pick 1 or 2)
HIST 3312. U.S. Diplomatic History to 1898
HIST 3313. U.S. Diplomatic History since 1898
HIST 3321. U.S. Foreign Policy since 1900
HIST 3322. The Vietnam War
HIST 3323. U.S. Military History to 1898
HIST 3324. U.S. Military History since 1898
HIST 3375. The CIA in the Third World
Applications and Skills (Elective)
POLS 3382. Strategy of Politics (Game Theory and Decision Analysis)
ITEC 2337. Fundamentals of Information Security
ITEC 4355. Enterprise Assessment and Evaluation (with permission of instruction)
AS 300. Leadership
Electives
Additional courses in the categories appearing above may be taken as electives.
Students interested in the National Security Studies Minor should contact:
Gregory R. Weiher , Ph.D.Department of Political ScienceUniversity of Houston 77204-3011gweiher@uh.edu713-743-3924
Catalog Publish Date: August 19, 2010
This Page Last Updated: May 18, 2011
Effective Date of Archive: August 15, 2011
