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International Security Studies

Concentration Requirements:

  • Please select a minimum of four courses (12 credits total) from the list below, including two INTAF courses.
  • Please note that this list will be reviewed and updated periodically. However, students should always check LionPATH to determine the availability of these courses in any given semester and review any mandatory prerequisites prior to enrolling.
  • Please note that enrollment in any course listed below is not guaranteed, especially when the course is outside of INTAF.
  • Classes included on the list below are approved to use as electives for this concentration. Any course that is not listed below must go through a formal review process. To begin this review process, please complete this form.
    • Courses that are not approved electives from the below list will NOT count towards your concentration unless you obtain approval through the review process.

SIA Elective Courses (please select at least two courses from the following list):

  • INTAF 505 – Strategy, Conflict, Peace (3 credits)
  • INTAF 508 – Domestic Influences on Foreign Policy (3 credits)
  • INTAF 810 – Energy, International Security, and the Global Economy (3 credits)
  • INTAF 812 – The Role of Intelligence in International Relations (3 credits)
  • INTAF 814 – U.S. Policy in the Middle East (3 credits)
  • INTAF 815 – Dynamics of International Economic Order: Law, Politics, and Power (3 credits)
  • INTAF 816 – War and Peace (3 credits)
  • INTAF 817 – Weapons of Mass Destruction and International Security (3 credits)
  • INTAF 818 – U.S. National Security (3 credits)
  • INTAF 819 – Grand Strategies of Established and Rising Powers (3 credits)
  • INTAF 897 – Special Topics: Global Migration: Threat, Opportunity or
    Necessity? (3 credits)
  • INTAF 897 – Special Topics: US-Latin American Relations: Cooperation and Conflict (3 credits)

Penn State Law Elective Courses (requires instructor and SIA faculty director approval prior to enrolling):

  • EXPR 647 – National Security Law II (Leadership is Crisis Simulation) (3 credits)
  • LWPER 947 – National Security Law I (Foundations) (3 credits)
  • ULWR 905 – The Military, Law, and National Security Seminar (2 credits)

Penn State Graduate Elective Courses:

  • AGBIO 520 – Agricultural Biosecurity: Protecting a Key Infrastructure (3 credits)
  • NUCE 544 – Global Nuclear Security Policies (3 credits)
  • PLSC 567 – Terrorism (3 credits)
  • PLSC 569 – Counterterrorism (3 credits)
  • PLSC 571 – Psychology of Terrorism (3 credits)

Penn State 400-Level Elective Courses (please select no more than three courses from the following list):

  • NUCE 441 – Nuclear Security Threat Analysis and Assessments (3 credits)
  • PLSC 414 – Dictators and Their Demise (3 credits)
  • PLSC 439 – Psychology of Terrorism (3 credits)
  • SOC 425 – Social Conflict (3 credits)
  • SRA 421 – The Intelligence Environment (3 credits)
  • SRA 433 – Deception and Counterdeception (3 credits)
  • SRA 450 – Cyber-Crime and Cyber-Warfare (3 credits)

All World Campus courses, including any that appear as elective class options on this list, require enrollment permission from the SIA faculty director prior to registering for the class. Please contact the SIA academic adviser for more information.