2013-2014 Catalog - Virginia Wesleyan College

146 POLITICAL SCIENCEPORTFOLIO147355 Women, Power and Politics (4) SExamines women in politics from an internationalperspective while answering the following questions:Why have some countries integrated womenpolitically, while others have not? How do men andwomen differ politically, and how do these differencesaffect the political game? What policy issues dominatewomen’s agendas? How do governments handlewomen’s policy concerns? Prerequisite: junior/seniorstatus or consent. Offered spring of odd-numberedyears.371 Constitutional Law I:The Federal System (4)An introduction to the American constitutionalsystem. Examines the sources and allocation ofpowers among the three branches of the federalgovernment, including the nature and extent of theSupreme Court’s authority and the relationshipbetween the federal and state governments.Prerequisite: junior/senior status or consent. Offeredfall of even-numbered years.372 Constitutional Law II:Substantive Rights (4)An introduction to the protection of civil rightsand civil liberties within the American constitutionalsystem, including equal protection (race, gender andother forms of discrimination), privacy and personalautonomy, freedom of expression and association,and religious freedom. Prerequisite: junior/seniorstatus or consent. Offered spring of odd-numberedyears.373 Conflict Management (4) S,WExamines conflict processes within and betweenorganizations and alternative approaches to conflictmanagement, drawing on the contributions ofseveral disciplines and experience in organization,community, and labor dispute management.Prerequisite: ENG 105 with a grade of C or higher.Identical to MBE 373. Offered each fall.422 Political Science Seminar Abroad (4) SThis course combines theoretical and empiricalanalysis with cultural immersion, by introducingstudents to the major political, economic, social, andforeign policy issues governing international relations.Prerequisite: Consent. Travel course. Offered inWinter Session on demand.440 Seminar: American Foreign Policy (4)Examines American foreign policy formation.Focuses first on the foreign policy process, then oncase studies of specific foreign policy decisions inAmerican history. Provides a framework for informedevaluation of American foreign policy. Prerequisite:junior/senior status or consent. Offered fall of oddnumberedyears.498 Political Science Internship Program (8)Political science majors apply the knowledge andskills learned in their political science classes in a fulltime,semester-long internship. The field experiencemay be in government agencies at the local, state, andfederal levels; law, law enforcement, non-profits,political parties, social service or another setting.Prerequisites: 8 semester hours of political science orconsent. Offered on demand.499 Senior Seminar (4) IRequired of all students wishing to graduate fromVirginia Wesleyan with a major in political science.Team taught by members of the department. Topicvaries each spring. Examples of seminars offered inthe past are Democratization and Development,Politics and the Media, War and Peace in the NuclearAge, Political Development and Changes in LatinAmerica and Asia, and Images of Justice. Open to allstudents. May be repeated as topics vary. Prerequisite:consent. Offered each spring.PORTFOLIODR. LAWRENCE D. HULTGREN, DirectorPORTfolio is a selective four-year program thatallows students to integrate their college educationwith off-campus experiential opportunities. Thepurpose of PORTfolio is to provide a curriculumthrough which students can build the foundation forthe knowledge, attitudes, and skills that are necessaryfor life-long personal satisfaction, professional successand civic responsibility. By dissolving the wallseparating academics from the world outside, itconnects liberal learning with the surroundingcommunity. Each student in the program maintainsand continually updates an electronic portfolio thatdocuments her/his four years at VWC.Students apply and are accepted as new in-comingfreshmen. The program includes at least one speciallydesigned seminar a year, an internship and WinterSession courses for externships and service learning.Completion of the program satisfies VWC’scomputer literacy and oral communicationsrequirement as well as other General Studiesrequirements. The program is taken in addition toone’s major.PORTFOLIO COURSES (PORT)121 Introduction to the PORTfolioProgram: Self and Circumstance (4)A time of self-exploration and discovery involvingclose work with faculty mentors and otherPORTfolio students. Readings, off-campusexplorations, and the development of an electronicportfolio assist students in clarifying their ownreasons for coming to Virginia Wesleyan, theirpurposes while they are here, and the uniqueresources that they bring to the learning process. Inaddition, students discover their connections to theChesapeake Bay environment and the internationalport of Hampton Roads and begin to use theseunique resources to enrich their education.Prerequisite: admission to PORTfolio Program.Taken in the fall of the freshman year.122 Liberal Arts Seminar (4)What are the liberal arts, and why spend fourgood years studying them? In the U.S., the liberal artsare housed institutionally in colleges and theundergraduate programs of universities, so thequestions may be rephrased as: What are colleges?What are they for? How do they try to accomplishtheir goals? These questions are approached in severalways. One is historical. How did colleges in general,and VWC in particular, get to be the way they are?Where do ideas of what it means to be liberallyeducated come from? A second is more philosophical.What does it mean to know something? How wouldyou teach, given different answers to that question?Another is normative. What should colleges ingeneral be doing? What kind of curriculum should wehave at Virginia Wesleyan? Offered each spring.123 Service Learning in Hampton Roads (1)Raises civic consciousness by fostering engagedcitizenship where students perform a week of directcommunity service. Orientation and preparationbefore the direct service, as well as a reflection journal,document student learning. May be repeated forcredit. Identical to INST 123. Offered each WinterSession.124 Service Learning and Issues ofCivic Engagement in Hampton Roads (4)Students are introduced to a community-basedproject and investigate the issue involved throughresearch, reading, and lecture, followed by a week ofdirect community service. Includes reflection,assessment, and consideration of broader contexts.May be repeated for credit. Identical to INST 124.Offered each Winter Session.221 Problem Solving Seminar (2)A course for sophomores participating in thePORTfolio Program. Develops problem-solving skillsby having students work out solutions, individuallyand collaboratively, to real-life situations. Culminatesin guided design. Prerequisite: PORT 122. Offeredon demand.225 Career Study (4)Provides an in-depth introduction to a career fieldof choice, an externship experience in that careerfield, and subsequent reporting and processing.Students spend the first week researching the careerchoice made in previous PORTfolio courses and thesite at which they will extern. In the second week theycarry out the on-site externship. The final week isused to document, process, and present the lessonslearned. They include final reflection and summary inan updated electronic portfolio. Offered each WinterSession and upon request during a three-weeksummer session.311 Director’s Seminar (2)Provides a venue for PORTfolio students toinvestigate in depth some topic of relevance and stayabreast of current developments in career andgraduate school planning. Meets once a week overdinner with visiting speakers and presentations byCareer Services staff. Prerequisite: sophomore statusin the PORTfolio Program or consent of the programdirector. Offered each fall or on demand.420 President’s Senior Seminar (1)Provides the capstone to the PORTfolio Program.Taught by the President of the college, this seminarfocuses on ethical values, commitment tocommunity, and ways in which students can put theirliberal learning to work for the personal and collectivegood. Prerequisite: senior status in PORTfolio.421 Senior Synthesis and Segue (2)Provides the capstone to the PORTfolio Program.Students reflect, synthesize and write about their fouryears of learning experiences. A focus on ethical valuesallows students to discover how they can put theirliberal learning to work for the common good.Emphasizes responsibilities to oneself, to one another,and to the community in the transition from collegeto “the rest of their lives.” Each student’s electronicportfolio is completed through the addition ofindividual reflections, synthesis, explorations, andpreparations. Prerequisite: senior status inPORTfolio. Offered each spring.