Security Studies Certificate

Introduction

The following information may help those who are considering a certificate in Security Studies. The program was created to address increasingly important issues relating to both national security and human security.  We take a very broad approach to the concept of security, so that it includes not only defense issues but also issues of migration, human rights, international ethics, pandemics, conflict resolution, climate change, and environmental degradation. 

Requirements

The Certificate in Security Studies consists of the following program of seven courses.

Three core courses
     • POSC 170—International Relations Theory 
     •POSC 280—US Foreign Policy since 1945 
     •POSC 281—US National Security Policy

Three elective courses
     •Depending on the student’s interests, the three electives would include courses that respectively deal with US national security and strategy; with concerns of another country or region (for example, a course that focused on EU security matters); or with transnational issues (for example, a course about the proliferation of nuclear weapons). 
     •The set of three electives could include a for-credit, site-based, independent study project pursued under the guidance of a Dickinson faculty member. Such an opportunity  might  arise for those students who were pursuing an internship at the U.S. Peace Keeping Institute or the U.S. Army War College (both located in Carlisle); or who were participating in the Washington Semester Program.

A senior seminar to serve as the capstone experience 
     •While we imagine that the seminar would most often be one of the senior seminars offered by the International Studies Department (International Studies 401), we do not rule out the possibility that a student might take a relevant seminar offered in another department.

Each semester the Office of the Registrar will designate which courses can serve as electives and senior seminars for the Security Studies program.

To date, most of the students who have pursued the Security Studies Certificate have come from Political Science or International Studies.  But we actively encourage students from other departments and disciplines to investigate the Security Studies Certificate.  Indeed, some of the most interesting combinations of interest and coursework may come from students who are pursuing majors in other social sciences (East Asian Studies, INBM, etc.) in the humanities (Religion, English, etc.) or in sciences (Biology, Physics, etc.).

Students interested in Security Studies Certificate should contact Professor Douglas Stuart, the Director of the Certificate program.