Statement of Purpose
War Studies is inherently interdisciplinary, bridging the humanities and sciences to equip the future leaders and officers of the 21st-century. Through the study of conflicts past and present, the Minor in War Studies bolsters the essential skills that are the bastion of a Citadel education: critical thinking, concepts of leadership, and a complex understanding of the global environment.
The Minor in War Studies thus complements academic work in almost every other field of study at The Citadel and is a natural complement to the institution’s core mission.Image: Aaron Daninger, History Major
Competencies, Knowledge and Skills to be Achieved
The Minor in War Studies trains students to think critically, to synthesize diverse fields of data, to broaden horizons, and to communicate persuasively. These transferable skills are vital to leadership positions across society in the 21st century: not only within the military, but also within the civilian and security job markets, where critical thinking about real-world problems is crucial to success.
Structure of the Minor
To earn the Minor in War Studies, students must complete 15 hours of coursework from the list of courses curated by the Director and Committee on War Studies. Courses used to fulfill elective requirements in a student’s major may also fulfill requirements for the War Studies minor. Students are required to take one Military History course, one War & Society course, and three electives. No more than 9 hours of coursework from any one department may count toward the requirements of the minor. Students must achieve a cumulative grade point average of at least 2.0 on the courses taken to satisfy the requirements for this minor.
In addition to the coded courses below, a student may submit, per the Director’s approval, any Special Topics course from any department on campus toward the requirements of the Minor in War Studies.
Curriculum
The list of courses below will be supplemented every semester by Special Topics courses curated by the War Studies Committee, such as CHEM 309 – ST: War and Chemistry or PSCI 433 – ST: Conflict Studies.
1) Course in “Military History”
Any course from History numbered between HIST 372 and 395
2) Course in “War and Society” HIST 304 The Civil War HIST 335 Hitler and National Socialism HIST 338 Britain in World War I HIST 341 The Reformation and Wars of Religion HIST 364 Arab-Israeli Conflict HIST 372 Historical Studies in War & Society
3) Elective Courses, no more than one from the above History courses, but otherwise selected from the following courses and the curated Special Topics list: BIOL 207 – Bioterrorism CRMJ 332 – Comparative Counterterrorism ENGL 210 – Literature of War PHIL 410 – Man in Crisis: The Problems of Good and Evil PSCI 332 – National Defense Policy PSCI 335 – Comparative Foreign and Defense Policies PSCI 346 – Multinational Peacekeeping PSCI 348 – Theories of Peace and War
Declaration of Minor
Students who wish to earn the minor in War Studies must file a declaration of intent with the Director of the program by the beginning of their junior year. This declaration must outline the projected course of study and be approved by the Director.
Projected Course of Study
Each student’s declaration of minor must outline their projected course of study and be approved by the Director who assumes responsibility for publicizing the program and for monitoring progress toward fulfilling the requirements of the minor. As advisor for the student’s minor program, the director will be responsible for verifying that the student has met the requirements of the minor and for notifying the Records Office to that effect.
Total Credit Hours Required
Total Credit Hours Required—15, at least 9 of which must be completed at The Citadel.
Information
The Minor in War Studies is overseen by a steering Committee on War Studies, headed by a director for the Minor. The Committee on War Studies is comprised by three members, one from History, one from the remainder of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, and one from the School of Science & Math.
For further information, please contact Dr. Joelle Neulander in the Department of History.