Tag: Fall 2026
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Courses
STIA 4404: Warfighting in the Space Domain
This course builds directly on the success of Space Security by moving students into the most contested and urgent debate in contemporary space policy: whether outer space has become or is becoming a warfighting domain and what that means. For decades, space was militarized primarily through enabling functions such as, communications, navigation, intelligence, and early […]
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Courses
STIA 4427: Analytical Frontiers: Mass Spectrometry for Space
Mass spectrometry is a foundational analytical technique for identifying and characterizing molecules, and it plays a central role in planetary exploration. This course introduces the core principles of mass spectrometry, with an emphasis on how the technique is adapted and applied to spaceflight. Students will examine how molecules are ionized, separated according to their mass […]
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Courses
STIA 4409: Orbital Dynamics
Orbital Dynamics are the physical and mathematical principles governing the motion of all objects in space—from satellites orbiting Earth to spacecraft traveling toward the Moon and beyond. This course introduces Newtonian gravitation, Kepler’s laws, satellite motion in cislunar space, including the three-body problem, and key elements of Einstein’s general theory of relativity. Students will learn […]
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Courses
ERTH 4010: Environmental GIS
Students will learn how to work with geospatial data to understand and address environmental issues. Popular GIS tools (such as ArcGIS) will be used to create maps for the effective communication of many types of environmental data. Relevant applications in areas such as climate science, biodiversity monitoring, and human-ecosystem interactions will be explored. More advanced […]
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Courses
LAW 3078: Commercial Space Law
This course will provide an overview of U.S. domestic legal regimes that govern commercial spaceflight activities, including those managed by the Federal Aviation Administration, Federal Communications Commission, Department of Commerce, U.S. Defense Department and State Department. The course will examine existing regulations and statutes as well as current discussions about changes to policy and law […]
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Courses
HIST 4131: Outer Space—Plato to Pluto
Human beings, regardless of when and where, have looked to the skies and pondered, “what’s up there.” Answers and speculations have found their way into religious texts, scientific books, and the canon of world literature. Some reflections highlight the differences between the world above and the world we live in, others on connections and similarities. […]
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Courses
SEST 6518: Space Strategy, Policy, and Ops
This course examines the extent to which space power theory, concepts, and operations influence national security strategy and international security. It identifies key space policy issues facing the United States and places them in the larger context of a changing international strategic environment. This course will briefly examine the historical and policy foundations for U.S. […]
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Courses
SEST 6577: GIS for Security Studies
This course provides an introduction to geospatial data science and its applications to public policy, political economy, and international relations. The course will enable students to work with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) data structures and understand cartography, transformations, georeferencing, geocoding, and spatial analysis. It will provide students with hands-on experience in using open-source GIS software […]
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Courses
STIA 4400: Space Diplomacy
Spaceflight increasingly serves as a powerful tool for diplomacy, fostering collaboration between nations and shaping global relations. This interdisciplinary course explores the role of outer space in international relations, examining how space programs, missions, and technologies influence political, economic, and strategic interactions on Earth. Throughout the semester, students will investigate how spaceflight has served as […]
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Courses
GOVT 3679: Interstellar Politics
Authors writing in the Science Fiction/Speculative Fiction (SF) genre have long explored political themes— such as the rise and decline of empires, the impact of technological change on individual liberty, the nature of revolutionary struggles, the workings of totalitarianism, and the impact of socio-political collapse on humankind. This seminar approaches SF as social-scientific and social-theoretic […]