Electives Program
Overview
Students at NWC are required to take a minimum of four elective courses, two in the fall term and two in the spring term. The two exceptions to this rule are students who are Research Fellows and students taking the elective course, Cultural Literacy for the Arab World. Students taking Cultural Literacy for the Arab World need not take any other electives during that semester and need only take the minimum of two electives in the other semester of the academic year. The elective, Cultural Literacy for the Arab World is a four academic credit-hour course. All other elective courses meet for two hours each week over twelve consecutive weeks. One two-hour class equals two academic credit-hours. Students may take additional electives beyond the minimum requirement in either a for-credit or in an audit status.
Students may take elective courses offered by NWC, ICAF, iCollege, the Center for Technology and National Security Policy (CTNSP), or CISA. The list of elective courses that are available for the academic year is published in the annual NDU Elective Catalog which is electronically updated as required. In addition, NDU hosts an elective Open House for each semester prior to the date that students must submit their elective choices for that semester. Each Open House is designed to provide students with the opportunity to meet with the individual elective Course Directors from all the schools on the Ft McNair campus in order to discuss course content, syllabus, requirements and methods so that students can make an informed electives choice. Due to space limitations, faculty members teaching field studies electives do not participate in the Open House, but will be in their offices to answer questions on field studies electives.
Some elective courses may be tied together, with Part One in the fall semester and Part Two in the spring semester, while in other cases, the same course may be offered in both semesters. Students cannot take the same course twice for credit, and must meet course prerequisites as listed in the NDU Elective Catalog.
A research paper or a tutorial may be substituted for an elective course(s) with prior approval. For more information, see the Research and Writing section of this Handbook.
It is also possible for students to choose their elective courses to pursue an Information Operations (IO) Concentration.
Students are required to submit rank-ordered elective choices per semester since they are not guaranteed their top choices. For example, there could be insufficient enrollment to warrant a course, or too many students choosing specific courses for all students to get their top choices.
Purpose
The Electives Program offers graduate-level seminar settings for courses that:
- provide deeper, more comprehensive analyses of themes and issues raised in the core curriculum
- support the Field Studies program
- take advantage of faculty expertise in areas not covered or briefly treated in the core curriculum
- offer experimental vehicles through which issues can be examined with a small group of interested students and for possible integration into the core curriculum
Requirements
All students, except Research Fellows and students taking Cultural Literacy for the Arab World must complete a minimum of four full-semester courses (minimum of two each term). Except for International Fellows (IFs), who do not participate in field studies, one of those courses must be an elective related to the international field study seminar in which the student will participate. Students may substitute a major research project for writing credit in up to two courses depending upon the length of the paper. Research Fellows are not required to enroll for credit in any elective courses except the elective course in support of their overseas field studies. Research Fellows will meet all the course requirements, including the paper requirement, in the Field Studies elective. Research Fellows may, with permission from their advisors and the NWC Research Director, take other electives in either a for-credit or audit status. All students may take more than the minimum load of elective courses each term and are encouraged to do so to the extent of their academic abilities.Elective Course Schedules
Elective courses are conducted on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons during the fall and spring semesters. Fall semester courses begin in September and conclude in December. Spring courses begin in January and conclude in April. Class periods are 1330-1525 and 1535-1730. To balance the early and late class meetings, the courses that meet early on Tuesday and Wednesday (1330-1525) for the first six sessions will move to the late class period (1535-1730) for the last six sessions and vice versa. Monday electives run beginning at 1330 all term long. The Cultural Literacy for the Arab World elective course meets at fixed times, i.e., it does not switch times midway through the semester on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. A limited number of other elective courses also do not shift times, and are annotated as such in the electives catalog.Elective Course Structure
As in the core curriculum, the elective courses vary in structure and teaching methods. Some course directors lecture extensively, others emphasize seminar discussion, while most use a mix of these two techniques. A number of courses draw on the expertise of nearby government institutions in the Washington area.Tutorial Reading
Students may arrange with an instructor to take a semester-long independent study on a specific topic related to national security. Such a tutorial normally involves extensive reading, a number of meetings (tutorial sessions) with the supervising faculty, and oral and written critical analyses of the readings. A tutorial counts as a full semester (two academic credit-hours) elective course.The Information Operations (IO) Concentration
NWC Students can use their elective classes to pursue the IO Concentration offered by iCollege. The IO Concentration elective courses are not technical "how to" courses for the management and use of information technology, but rather strategic level courses that explore the impact of the information age on national security. International Fellows cannot enroll in the IO Concentration courses because they are taught at the secret classification level.NWC Students can use their elective classes to pursue the IO Concentration offered by iCollege. The IO Concentration elective courses are not technical "how to" courses for the management and use of information technology, but rather strategic level courses that explore the impact of the information age on national security. International Fellows cannot enroll in the IO Concentration courses because they are taught at the secret classification level.
International Fellows
Per NDU policy, International Fellows may not take field studies related electives pertaining to their nation or region of the world. Instead, IFs travel domestically throughout the academic year and are required to participate in a minimum number of IF domestic trips as well as to take the American Identity course in the summer preceding their academic year at NWC.Per NDU policy, International Fellows may not take field studies related electives pertaining to their nation or region of the world. Instead, IFs travel domestically throughout the academic year and are required to participate in a minimum number of IF domestic trips as well as to take the American Identity course in the summer preceding their academic year at NWC. Within the limits of security requirements and the above mentioned stipulation on regional courses, IFs can enroll in any other elective class offered.