An examination of questions and issues in the practice of political engagement and advocacy. Guest lecturers drawn from political, civic engagement, and advocacy arenas will visit class and participate in discussions.

An examination of important issues, methodologies and tools of civic leadership in relation to human services, especially at the state and local level.

An exploration of the major questions and issues facing the U.S. health care system as well as the formulation and implementation of health policy.

An examination of the concept of U.S. homeland and national security, threats, and major vulnerabilities in the context of recent history.

An examination of issues of energy and environmental sustainability through an investigation of policy-making in energy, climate change, and sustainable development.

An examination of international relations and foreign policy challenges in critical regions.

Examines the role of intelligence in supporting U.S. security strategy and policy. Students will learn how the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) is structured and organized, and will explore how intelligence is deployed to support the warfighter, diplomats, and senior-level decisionmakers. The course emphasizes the development of critical thinking and analytic skills, as well as professional writing and oral presentation abilities that are necessary for successful work in national security organizations. The course will feature guest lecturers from real-world practitioners to supplement course readings.

An examination of questions and issues in the practice of contemporary diplomacy and policy-making. Guest lecturers drawn from Washington policy-making and foreign service communities will visit class and participate in discussion.

An examination of political, social, and environmental aspects of the global economy in the context of power competition and technological change.

An exploration of the critical roles scientific knowledge and technological innovation play in the formation and implementation of foreign policy issues, including energy and climate change, public health, space and innovation, and economic development.

This course will prepare students for careers in technology innovation in three segments. First, students will ground themselves in the basics of strategic theory and how to make a strategy at any level of analysis. Second, from a practitioner's perspective, students will explore the U.S. innovation ecosystem in the context of world affairs across industry, academia, government, and venture. By doing so they can also examine potential career paths in building technology power to improve international security. Third, students will gain practical experience from studying cases in innovation power and build their own tech strategy as a capstone experience. Through all three phases of the class, artificial intelligence will be used as the base case and the most important general purpose technology of our day thus gaining an appreciation for AI itself on one hand, and how it is but one example of how technology can impact the destiny of nations on the other.

An examination of questions and issues of global health and water security. Expert practitioners will also visit class and participate in discussions.