Washington Center

Courses

A list of current and past courses offered at UCDC is provided below. Use the drop-down menu to select the relevant Quarter or Semester course listing. For detailed information about a course, click on the course title. You may also view a calendar of the full slate of courses for the current term by visiting the Course Schedule.

For information on future courses offered at UCDC, please see Future Courses.

*In the event of low enrollment, a class may be cancelled. Students will be informed as soon as possible and enrolled in a different class.

Winter Quarter 2020 & Spring Semester 2020

Core Seminar

  • Congress and Politics in Washington D.C.

    This thematic research seminar explores the history of Congress—the first branch under the Constitution—and its role in making public policy, as well as other issues in contemporary politics and government. The subject matter will cover the...

  • Contemporary Politics and Washington Media

    What is the difference between “fake news’’and journalism? Does objectivity exist? Why does President Trump call the news media the “enemy of the people.? This seminar explores the rapidly evolving relationship between the news media, governing and...

  • General Research

    Gathering knowledge and learning the truth about the world around us is a fundamental part of human development and progress. While most of us take knowledge and truth for granted, the process by which we understand our political, social, cultural,...

  • International Development

    This is an introductory course to the international development field. The focus is on some of the key questions, challenges and achievements in this field. Materials from the course (readings, documentaries, discussions of current events) will enhance...

  • International Policy Research

    This seminar is designed to help you to engage critically and think systematically about crucial questions that are global in scope and to guide you through the process of developing a significant research paper. This is not a field seminar in...

  • Judicial Process and Politics

    The theme of this course is that the judiciary is a political institution in the American scheme of government. This topic couldn’t be more relevant than it is now in the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election as we witness courts across the...

  • Presidential & Executive Power: Polling in a Presidential Election Year

    This class will provide you with the practical research skills required to design, field, evaluate, and analyze a sample survey with and focus on elections. It will combine statistical theory with actual practice and exploration, taking the insights of...

  • The U.S. Supreme Court

    Gay marriage. The death penalty. Abortion. Health care. Cell phone privacy. The U.S. Supreme Court has heard cases on all of these topics in recent years, and its decisions ultimately touch the lives of all Americans. In this class we will study the...

Winter Quarter 2020

Quarter Elective

  • Activism, Protest and the Politics of Change in Washington D.C.

    How does social and political change happen in Washington? What strategies and techniques do underdogs use to take on entrenched and established powers in the nation’s capital? Making real change is difficult. Yet, there are several examples of...

  • How Technology Shapes Public Policy

    The course begins by examining the relationship between technology and society, illuminating for students how culture, law, and policy have shaped technology’s development over the past century. Next, students will explore a range of contemporary...

  • Money, Message and Media

    This course will look at evolution of political communication, from broadcast journalism and political parties/ advertising to messaging by the candidates.  The quarter will also examine the impact of social media and role of outside interest groups. ...

  • The Politics of Water Policy

    As the title suggests, this course is about one of the trenchant policy problems of our time, policy regarding the availability, uses, and distribution of water, particularly in arid parts of the world.  Though the focus of the class will be the...

  • Washington History, Institutions & Rituals: Myth vs. Reality

    Much is said about Washington. Much of it is wrong. This course will immerse students in the history, institutions and rituals of nation’s capital. You will learn about Washington’s transformation from a remote federal city to the world’s most powerful...