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Integrated Security Minor

Using interdisciplinary approaches to the study of security, the Integrated Security minor facilitates the study of complex interactions that take place within and among human, cyber, economic, global, and political dimensions. It enables students to develop conceptual, analytical and evaluative skills relative to the dynamic and cascading effects of emerging security events, threats, and risks. Students will learn to exercise decision making with a holistic and integrative understanding of a wide range of security challenges.

Why do it?

Tomorrow’s business organizations as well as political and nongovernmental institutions need innovative people who are ready to address significant global challenges and opportunities in the natural and human world. Students in this minor take courses that uniquely emphasize an interdisciplinary, experiential, real-world simulation of a rapidly cascading security event. In addition, students learn how to evaluate the content and intent of multiple sources of information based on context, interpret intercultural experiences from multiple worldviews, and review past decision-making strategies to develop skills applicable far beyond the minor.

“As a liberal arts major in National Security and Foreign Policy, you have the opportunity to build your own path. The Integrated Security minor gave me the opportunity to take classes that I wouldn’t have normally experienced and allowed me to understand a more technical side of the field.”
-Cassidy Koo '22

Requirements

This 18-hour minor in Integrated Security includes a 3-hour introductory course, 12 hours of elective courses to be selected from one of three tracks, and a 3-hour capstone course.

BIT/CS/PSCI 2164: Foundations of Contemporary Security Environments (introductory course)
BIT/CS/PSCI 4164: Future of Security: Integrative Solutions for Complex Security Systems* (capstone)

*Prerequisite: BIT/CS/PSCI 2164

Based on their majors and personal career goals, students select 12 credit hours of elective courses from one of three tracks: general security, securing cyber, and human security. Each track builds upon a theme contained in the foundations course, and each track requires 12-15 hours of courses that incorporate interdisciplinary approaches to security studies.

For a complete list of elective courses, consult the Registrar checksheet (follow this link, click on 'checksheets', scroll down to Minors, and find the minor checksheet you're interested in).

Who is it for?

As the concept of security if inherently interdisciplinary, the minor is designed to be highly accessible to students of all majors across the university.

This minor is hosted by the Academy of Transdisciplinary Studies in collaboration with numerous other departments across Virginia Tech.

Pathways Concepts

Core Concepts*
1a - Advanced/Applied Discourse 
2 - Critical Thinking in the Humanities
3 - Reasoning in the Social Sciences
4 - Reasoning in the Natural Sciences
5f - Foundational Quantitative and Computational Thinking
5a - Advanced/Applied Quantitative and Computational Thinking
7 - Critical Analysis of Identity and Equity in the United States
*Students are guaranteed to meet at least three of the core concepts listed

Integrative Concepts
Ethical Reasoning
Intercultural and Global Awareness