NE 203 - Ethics and Moral Reasoning for the Naval Leader (3-0-3)
This course is structured around classical and contemporary writing in moral philosophy. Current and historical case studies are used to show how these fundamental ideas can be applied to the service of the professional military leader.
Prereq: 3/C Standing
NL 110 - Preparing to Lead (2-0-2)
Principles of Self Leadership and Organizational Dynamics. In this first year leadership course, midshipmen examine fundamental tenets of leadership in the context of the theories and principles of individual and group leadership. Topics include self leadership, self management, and team leadership, as well as a seminar with First Class Midshipmen. The course instructors provide relevant personal and Fleet based examples and emphasize interactive learning.
Prereq: 4/C Standing
NL 200 - Human Behavior (3-0-3)
An introduction to the science of psychology, this course covers the theories and principles of individual and group human behavior. Topics include learning, personality, social psychology, memory, human development, brain-functioning, health psychology and psychopathology. This course emphasizes research-based discoveries in the field of psychology. Students are prepared to critically evaluate behavioral science research and apply salient principles to leadership.
NL 211 - Social Psychology (3-0-3)
This course focuses on human behavior in the social context. How individuals influence and are influenced by groups, as well as the field of group dynamics will be examined. Emphasis is placed on research-based findings in the areas of causal attribution, social perception, interpersonal attraction, attitudes and attitude change, group dynamics, prosocial behavior and aggression. Particular emphasis is given to application in the military setting.
NL 230 - Introduction to Sociology (3-0-3)
Sociology is the scientific study of society and the interactions among human beings. The purpose of this course is to provide a survey of the field of sociology and educate and inspire Midshipmen to examine contemporary situations that involve social interaction. Students will use sociological concepts, theories, and research to explain what is taking place, identify social threads and patterns across the situations, and determine the personal as well as the social significance of the analysis. Sociology demands that the student transcend the taken-for-granted, subjective world view and develop a sociological imagination by revealing the linkages and relationships among social facts and connect public issues to self awareness. Students will engage in the identification of common threads across social situations and determine the self and social significance of facts. The teaching and learning strategy involves reading, writing, discussions, presentations, and other active-learning, hands-on projects. Particular emphasis is placed on understanding the basics of the field, to include micro, macro, and meso applications.
NL 306 - Personality (3-0-3)
This course offers an exploration of major influences on the development of personality from both theoretical and clinical perspectives. Theories covered include psychoanalytic, behavioral, cognitive, humanistic and biopsycosocial. This course addresses contemporary research and practices relative to assessment and understanding of personality traits, styles and disorders. Midshipmen will examine their own personality assets and liabilities and implications for leadership.
Prereq: NL 200
NL 310 - Leadership: Theory and Application (3-0-3)
Students examine the theory and research of the contingent and dynamic process of leadership. Students refine and further develop their understanding of personal strengths, values, and growth opportunities in the context of team, group, and organizational leadership, as well as through the creation of a leadership vision and professional development plan. The course combines literature from the fields of social psychology, organizational behavior, and group dynamics to help students understand the factors that influence leadership in a military context.
NOTE: Midshipmen who are considering participation in the service academy exchange program should click here for important information regarding completion of the NL 310 requirement.
Prereq: 2/C Standing
NL 311 - Psychology of Leadership (3-0-3)
This is an intensive and experientially-focused course that emphasizes leader self-analysis and skill development. Areas covered include personnel management, team development and performance enhancement at both individual and group levels. Research findings from industrial/organizational consultation, learning, motivation, social behavior, group dynamics, personality, counseling, social perception and interpersonal influence will provide the undergirding for developing knowledge, attitudes and skills which contribute to effective leadership.
Prereq: NL 200
NL 312 - Abnormal Psychology (3-0-3)
This course explores the origins, symptoms, diagnosis and management of psychological disorders. Midshipmen gain an understanding of the root causes of psychological disturbance, including personality disorders. The cognitive, emotional, behavioral and cultural manifestations of these disorders are explored. Strategies for effective prevention and management of psychopathology in operational environments are addressed. Midshipmen also learn techniques for rapid assessment and triage of psychiatric crises.
NL 335 - Armed Forces and Society (3-0-3)
This course examines the American military as a social institution using sociological concepts, theories, and methods. The internal organization and practices of the armed forces and the relationships between the military and other social institutions comprise the field of study. To understand the armed forces and their place in society it is necessary to consider forces, past, present and future, that influence and shape the military. Topics include: military culture and socialization; race and gender, recruiting and retention; changes in military organization; marriage and military families; warfare, technology, and the media. Permanent course designation pending. Counts as upper level Humanities Social Science elective.
NL 400 - Law for the Junior Officer (2-0-2)
This course provides a broad survey of military law applicable to the junior officer. Students examine operational law concepts including the Law of Armed Conflict and the Law of the Sea. This course also explores a variety of military justice topics including constitutional issues such as search and seizure and self-incrimination, judicial and non-judicial forums and the administrative separation of enlisted service members from the Navy and Marine Corps.
Prereq: 1/C Standing or permission of Chair
NL 420 - Communicating as a Leader (3-0-3)
This course examines how leaders use verbal, nonverbal, written, and visual communications to convey their vision and influence both their seniors and subordinates. The students will study interpersonal communication theory, analyze the communications techniques and styles of historical leaders, interact with guest speakers, assess technological aids to communication, and gain practical experience through assigned projects.
Prereq: NL 110 and NE 203
NL 430 - Leadership in Groups and Organizations (3-0-3)
This course investigates models of leadership drawn from military sociology and organizational behaviors. It provides an overview of the critical scholarship on how large, complex, formal organizations like the Navy function and examines the leadership process within such organizations. Topics include group formation and performance, organizational culture and change from the perspective of junior leaders, and the challenges and imperatives of leadership under changing organizational circumstances.
NL 435 - Military Sociology (3-0-3)
This course examines the military as a social institution. It uses sociological concepts and methods to analyze both internal organization and practices of the armed forces and the relationships between the military and other social institutions. Though the course focuses on the American military and its relationship to American society, it also investigates the armed forces of other nations to understand some alternative means by which societies organize and relate to their military organizations.
NL 440 - Experiential Leadership (0-6-3)
Experiential Leadership provides a supervised, self-selected opportunity to experience, reflect, conceptualize and deepen an understanding of leadership in an applied context. The course seeks to extend and complement the student's understanding of leadership by leveraging coursework completed at USNA (e.g., NL110, NE203, NL310) with a focused and professionally guided real-world experiential activity outside of the Naval Academy. Various military and civilian-based internships are available; however, the exact nature of the experiential activity will be developed and coordinated with a designated faculty mentor/sponsor. Midshipmen enrolled in the course undertake a commitment to research, scope, and gain faculty approval of a learning plan with specific objectives before the experiential experience begins; communicate regularly with their faculty mentor during the experience in order to focus reflection and understanding; continually seek out challenges and active participation opportunities during their experiential activity; record (log) their experiences as they pertain to their learning plan objectives and deliver a major paper and presentation following their return which meets the approved learning plan objectives.
NL 450 - Race, Gender, and Ethnicity (3-0-3)
This course investigates the social and physical constructs of race, gender, and ethnicity in the context of social inequality in America. Particular emphasis is placed on understanding how these constructs, both singly and in combination, affect American society and culture. The course examines how the social institutions of marriage and families, work and employment, education, media, and the state create and maintain inequalities. Marxian and conflict theories, Weber's multidimensional model, and the structural-functionalism of Durkheim and Talcott Parsons are covered in depth. Application of key concepts, principles, and theories to the American military and Naval Service is a cornerstone of this course, as is the understanding of cultural diversity. Upon completion of this course, the successful student will possess a stronger and broader understanding of how social stratification affects American society, and how this stratification contrasts with stratification systems in other societies.
NP 230 - Introduction to Philosophy (3-0-3)
This course gives you a chance to hone your discussion, debating, critical thinking and persuasive writing skills by arguing about some of the great perennial questions pursued by thoughtful men and women in every age, every culture. These may include: Are our lives directed by fate/destiny, or do we have free will? Do we have certain knowledge of anything at all? What is truth? Is there is a distinction between mind and brain? When you wake up in the morning, how do you know that you are the same person you were yesterday? As the Greek philosopher Socrates once said, "The unexamined life is not worth living." Come explore life through the works of great philosophers, from Plato to Descartes to David Hume.
NP 232 - Military Ethics: The Code of the Warrior (3-0-3)
Why do warriors fight? How do they fight? What should bring a warrior honor? What should bring them shame? What is really worth dying for? There have been special warrior cultures in countless societies across the globe, through every era in history. Were these warriors just killers, or did they have their own unique codes of behavior? This course explores several warrior traditions: the Ancient Greeks, the Vikings, the Romans, the Celts, Knights and Chivalry, African Tribesmen, Native American Warriors, Chinese Warrior Monks, Japanese Samurai, and 20th century warriors, and applies the lessons of their experience and warrior philosophy to the task of creating the ideal code for warriors of the new millennium.
NP 250 - Introduction to Logic (3-0-3)
Logic is the study of arguments and their structure, including the identification of possible mistakes or errors in reasoning ('logical fallacies") and the manner in which these may lead us astray in public discourse. Most importantly, logic enables us to spot these errors and correct them, as well as avoid them in our own reasoning. In this introductory survey, we will examine the role of language and rhetoric in constructing arguments and introducing errors, how to replace language with symbols in so-called "propositional logic" in order to analyze the structure of arguments more carefully, and how to recognize a number of famous "informal strategies of reasoning, like analogy and induction, which are used frequently in scientific, engineering, legal, and applied moral reasoning to frame problems and search for adequate solutions.
NP 336 - Philosophy of Religion (3-0-3)
This class provides a focused introduction to philosophical questions that arise about religion and in the pursuit of religious ideals. Whether you are a person of strong faith from any religious tradition or an agnostic or an atheist, you will enjoy investigating and debating questions and topics such as these: Arguments for the Existence of God, Do Miracles Occur?, What is the Source of Evil?, What Happens When We Die?, Faith and Reason, Faith and Knowledge, Religious Pluralism, and the Relationship Between Religion and Ethics. One way or another, these issues affect us all.
NP 340 - Philosophy of Science (3-0-3)
Everyone learns science from textbooks and tried-and-true lab experiments, but do you know how scientists really work? How they decide to count only certain things as "facts," and to regard only certain theories as "knowledge?" How they struggle to eliminate the subjective factor that is present in all human inquiry, in order to discover objective truths? In this course you will examine these intriguing issues by reading some classic works of philosophers, historians, and sociologists of science; by comparing the process of knowledge-generation in science with the analogous processes in other fields and in everyday life; and by actually performing your own social-scientific study. Leave behind the popular myths and stereotypes about scientists, and find out how their world really works. (Required of general science majors)
Prereq: 1/C or 2/C Standing, or permission of Chair
NP 410 - Philosophy of War (3-0-3)
This course will begin with a careful philosophical analysis of the concept of war and then proceed to a critical investigation of its moral permissibility. In so doing, we will consider such questions as: what distinguishes war from other forms of violence and coercion; whether offensive or defensive wars are ever justified; whether the use of military force for humanitarian ends is legitimate; what weapons, tactics, and strategies may be employed in fighting a war, and against whom? Although the course will focus on philosophical foundations and moral issues, we will examine some aspects of international law and the law of armed conflict, for example, the U.N. Charter, the Hague and Geneva Conventions and Lieber's Code. Finally, while this will not be a course in history or current events, we will make ample use of historical and contemporary examples, such as the recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the treatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay. Emphasis throughout will be on class participation together with weekly writing assignments. Both a written mid-term and final examination will be given.
Prereq: NE 203
