Come next Fall term, Dartmouth will offer two new courses in the government department focusing on the far-reaching effects of terrorism. After the tragic events of Sept. 11, national attention has been riveted on how pervasively terrorism and national security can influence every aspect of our lives.
The College is doing its part to address these issues and to allow students to explore in depth how terrorism affects not only the security of our country, but the economic and foreign policy sectors as well, according to Michael Mastanduno, chair of the government department.
The seminar-style classes -- both of which are being offered by the government department -- will be restricted to approximately 16 people, a size designed to encourage small group discussions, he said.
David Shipler, a New York Times columnist and Montgomery Fellow, will teach "Civil Liberties in a time of Terrorism," and government Professor Stephen Brooks will be teaching "Economics, Security and U.S. foreign policy."
Brooks said he finds it crucial for students to learn about how the global economy changes due to international security.
"The U.S. may be the most powerful country in the world, but the U.S. doesn't control globalization completely, and it is important to consider in what ways the U.S. can promote global security," he said.
Mastanduno said that the faculty of the department have a lot of discretion in choosing what classes they would like to teach. Both Shipler and Brooks came up with these terrorism-based course offerings on their own.
The government department at Dartmouth tries to reflect current events and issues in the curriculum offered to undergraduates, he said.
"It is normal to adjust courses to reflect current events," Brooks said. "It would be somewhat surprising and disturbing if we did not keep up with the world today. While a class like 'Civil Liberties in a time of Terrorism' may not have been offered at Dartmouth, say, three years ago, today it is a pressing concern of national interest."
Faculty expect the classes to attract a high number of applicants because they only require primarily introductory level government courses as prerequisites.
In addition, these classes should be particularly attractive and popular even among students who are not government majors, because they deal with so many other disciplines. For example, economics majors may find the "Economics, security and U.S. foreign policy" seminar an asset to the traditional core curriculum.
Brooks said that students interested in international politics and U.S. foreign policy would be drawn to these classes because they deal with some of the most pressing issues our country faces today.
