Bachelor of Arts in Homeland Security and Emergency Management

In this foundational course, students explore the principles necessary for achieving personal and career success. GEN 101 serves as a road map, guiding students as they begin their academic journey. Through self-discovery, surveying available resources, connecting with UAGC groups, and engaging with Career Services, students learn the essential skills of planning and goal setting. Students apply their personal strengths, skills, and lifelong learning strategies to develop essential career competencies. By making these meaningful connections students gain a deeper understanding of how their education relates to their desired career path.  Congratulations on embarking on this college journey filled with growth, exploration, and endless possibilities! This course is not available for non-degree seeking students and is not available as an elective.

This course offers an overview of digital fluency as it applies to personal, academic, financial, and professional success. Students will analyze the impact of digital technology on personal, social, and diversity issues and will develop digital skills that will assist in achieving academic, personal, and career goals. An overview of digital media is introduced with practical strategies for application in personal and professional life.

Learn and use key, practical skills that are applicable at home, at work, and in all UAGC courses! As UAGC students progress in their academic journey, strategies for personal, professional, and academic success continue to develop. This introductory course takes a two-pronged approach to setting students on a path to success. It merges fundamental informational literacy concepts with essential resources and skills that prepare students for college and career. Students learn how to identify, locate, evaluate, apply, and acknowledge information obtained through UAGC Library databases and internet search engines. By applying the research process, students sharpen critical thinking skills and learn to use information ethically. The final project is a practical and relevant opportunity for students to apply their learning in personally, professionally, and academically meaningful ways.

This course is designed to aid students in understanding the dynamics of interpersonal relationships. Verbal and nonverbal communication patterns among people in personal, social, academic, and professional settings will be examined, within and between cultures, including both face-to-face and technologically mediated channels.  The nature of these interactions will be evaluated using contemporary communication theory. The course will enable students to identify their interpersonal communication skills and behaviors and to more critically evaluate their own oral communication and that of others. The primary goals of the course are to improve the quality of students’ communication in their personal and professional relationships, to enhance students’ experience and. confidence with oral communication, and increase awareness of the importance of interpersonal communication that is inclusive and equitable.

This course is designed to expand students’ appreciation of film and knowledge of how films are made. Through analysis of storytelling in a visual medium, students will examine the ways in which movies are shot, develop characters, evoke emotion, depict physical reality, reflect society, and have the power to influence it. Though the focus of the course is film itself, students will gain deeper intercultural fluency while growing their skills in critical thinking, written communication, and visual analysis.

ENG 121 is designed to introduce students to the standards of writing in both academic and professional settings. The class will operate by first introducing, and then allowing students to practice, several written communication skills. Throughout, we will work to understand writing as a process, one that is strengthened through critical thinking, deepened by research, and built on a foundation of professional standards. Students will articulate a sense of their own skills and goals, and engage in collaborative conversations with peers and their instructor so as to be able to express their ideas more effectively. During the course, students will use the writing process to scrutinize their own perspectives while challenging them to embrace a wider conversation.

In this course, students will develop and expand their research and writing skills to communicate ideas in informed, ethical, and persuasive written documents intended for a range of audiences across a range of situations and contexts. Students will receive instruction and practice in synthesis and analysis, bolstering their written communication skills with a thorough understanding of academic research while honing critical thinking skills and effective work habits. Through writing well-structured, logical, and effective academic essays, students will explore tools and develop topics in a way that is meaningful to academic and professional lives. Prerequisite: Successful completion of ENG 121 or equivalent with a grade of “C-” or better.

This course examines and evaluates theories and arguments concerning ethics and moral reasoning from a philosophical perspective. By engaging with historical and contemporary sources, students will analyze theories about the meaning, nature, and justification of ethical concepts; determine and assess how different forms of moral reasoning apply to contemporary moral issues; become more reflective and informed about their own moral beliefs; and develop their capacity for critical practical reasoning.

This course is a study of correct and incorrect reasoning involved in everyday activities. The fundamentals of language and argument, deductive and inductive reasoning and other aspects of practical reasoning are examined. 

This course introduces students to the interdisciplinary field of social sciences and some of the disciplines that comprise this field, including anthropology, psychology, economics, sociology, political science, and history. In this course, students will learn important social science concepts and theoretical approaches, along with the research methods that social scientists use to study human behavior. They will also learn how research and findings from the social sciences can be applied broadly throughout society. Throughout the course and through a summative assignment, students will examine how social factors shape social behavior and some of the consequences of current social problems.

In this course, learners deepen their understanding of the importance of natural resources to mankind. Students explore physical, biological, and ecological principles, examine how human alterations affect the environment, and reflect on the controversies surrounding various approaches to addressing environmental problems and the steps some communities have taken to address these challenges.

In this course, students will explore a wide range of Algebra topics. Topics will include study of linear equations, linear relationships, slope, polynomials, and functions, including graphing relations and solving systems of equations. Emphasis will be placed on developing an awareness of historical and current uses of algebra in real life settings, in various careers, and in solving important societal problems.

The capstone serves as an opportunity to reflect upon, integrate, and showcase learning achievement. Through discussions and course-embedded assessments, students will demonstrate a mastery of essential general education competencies as they relate to their personal and professional lives and provide evidence of growth through application of competency related skills to real-world situations. A minimum grade of “C-“ is required to meet course requirements. Prerequisite: 75 completed credits or permission of the student’s college or dean.

This course is a broad overview of homeland security in the United States. Areas of study include the organizational structure of the Department of Homeland Security as well as the principals, foundations, and doctrines surrounding homeland security. Students examine both historical and current issues related to the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, current policies of the Department, and potential career paths within the department.

HSM201 Homeland Security Missions and Current Issues takes a broad approach to examining the scope of threats to the safety and security of the United States, both natural and man-made, as well as current issues through the lens of the mission and various goals of the Department of Homeland Security.

This course is an introduction to the field of political science. It explores the political theories that have shaped modern governments and compares how governments are organized, focusing on their legislatures, executives, and judicial systems. It examines international relations theories and analyzes how power is distributed in the modern world.

This course provides a foundation of classical ethical theories and explores the ethical framework and critical decision–making models likely to be used in Homeland Security and Emergency Management environments.  Students will be challenged to analyze the ethical considerations for emergency response, civil rights, local government powers, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, weapons of mass destruction, domestic and international anti-terrorism efforts. Students will also examine important civil and human rights concerns generated by security needs and assess how to balance the need for security with personal privacy, cybersecurity, and commerce.

This course will introduce students to constitutional rights and issues as they apply to the work of police departments and other law enforcement organizations at the federal, state, and local level. The course will focus on the Bill of Rights, particularly the First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, as well as the Fourteenth Amendment. The course examines the application of these rights in the enforcement, investigation, and adjudication of crime.

This course examines quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods and associated data interpretation within the context of research, policy and practice within the social sciences. This course also examines the relationship between research, policy and/or theory. Students will examine types of data, measurement scales, hypotheses, sampling, probability, and varied research designs for research in the social sciences and related disciplines.

This course will provide students with the skills to develop a comprehensive plan for risk analysis, threat assessment, staffing an emergency operations center, coordinating with supporting agencies, and the creation of a continuing testing program. Analysis of historical incidents as well as realistic scenarios are used to teach students how to plan for natural disasters as well as terrorism and other emergencies at the federal, state and local levels. This course is designed to provide students with the ability to evaluate an emergency incident, determine its scope, understand the function of the first responders, learn the communication procedures necessary to alert the appropriate agencies, and understand how first responders are dispatched. Students will create a recovery plan for response to large scale incidents.

This course explores disaster mitigation and recovery. Students will explore hazard mitigation and disaster recovery as distinct phases of emergency management and as intertwined processes. The course will also highlight distinctions between the two emergency management phases at both the national and local levels.
 

This course examines modern terrorism including specifics on the typologies and anatomy of terrorist operations. Emphasis is on the present and future of terrorism and the challenges facing the homeland security communities combating it. Students in this course also analyze counterterrorism policies, strategies, and operations. The course includes an overview of the intelligence community and the intelligence cycle within the context of homeland security and counterterrorism efforts.
 

This course explores human and organizational reactions to disaster. Students will explore human behavior during disasters as well as some of the psychological impacts of disasters on people. The course will also address how organizations maintain continuity of operations during disasters.

This course provides for analysis of some of the major types of security. Students will explore the concept of human security, including facets and applications. Students will also examine some environmental threats and challenges associated with environmental security. Cybersecurity threats and vulnerabilities will also be analyzed with a particular focus on critical infrastructure systems.

In this final course students will demonstrate their mastery of program outcomes in Homeland Security & Emergency Management creating an original research and analysis report using the draft and research developed in the Research and Analysis Course. Prerequisite: Successful completion of the General Education Capstone course.