PHYS 3330 - Health Physics and Radiation Protection
3 credit hoursPrerequisites: PHYS 2021 or PHYS 2120. Radiation protection methods, dosimetry techniques, and survey instruments. Practical knowledge of the methodology for paramedical personnel, industrial workers, and others who deal with radioisotopes and X-ray equipment. Two hours lecture and one three-hour laboratory.
PHYS 3350 - Concepts and Applications of Analog Electronics
4 credit hoursPrerequisite: PHYS 2021 or PHYS 2121 or ET 3610. Introduction to contemporary analog electronics utilizing integrated circuits to treat traditional circuits, power supplies, operational amplifiers, comparators, and multivibrators. Conversion of analog to digital signal for interfacing to microcomputers. Emphasis on practical applications. Three hours lecture and one three-hour laboratory.
3 credit hours Prerequisite: PHYS 2021 or PHYS 2121 and MATH 1920. Provides an intermediated treatment of the principles of thermodynamics, electromagnetics, and oscillatory behavior with applications. Course is not intended for physics majors participating in the Professional Physics concentration. Three hours lecture.
PHYS 3510 - Concepts in Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics
3 credit hoursPrerequisite: PHYS 3080 or PHYS 3110. Introduction to the concepts of thermodynamics and statistical mechanics. Discusses the fundamentals of thermodynamics from both the macroscopic and microscopic points of view including entropy, enthalpy, heat engines, Helmholtz and Gibbs free energy, the partition function, and quantum statistics. Not intended to prepare students for graduate school in physics.
3 credit hoursPrerequisites: MATH 1910 and a one-year introductory sequence in physics. Introduction to field of radiation oncology physics, including a discussion of fundamental physics and techniques associated with the diagnosis and treatment of cancer using electromagnetic radiation and particle beams. Includes experiences in a radiation oncology clinic and interactions with practicing medical physicists.
1 credit hourPrerequisite or corequisite: PHYS 3600. Real-world/clinical applications of concepts and theory from PHYS 3600, especially those associated with detectors and dosimetry. May include hands-on activities at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center.
3 credit hoursPrerequisite: PHYS 3110 and PHYS 3150 or consent of instructor. Introduction to statistical physics, kinetic theory, and thermodynamics from a unified microscopic point of view. Selected applications to various systems of interest presented.
1 credit hourPrerequisite: PHYS 3100. Develops and refines inquiry, communication, and presentation skills through exposure to new developments in physics, technical brief writing, and resume and job interview preparations.
1 credit hourPrerequisite: PHYS 3100 and consent of instructor. Refines thinking, communication, and interpersonal skills through exposure to on-the-spot technical questions and a laboratory teaching experience as an assistant in an introductory physics laboratory. One hour lecture and two two-and-one-half hour experiences as a teaching assistant to be scheduled with department faculty.
1 credit hourPrerequisites: PHYS 2021 or PHYS 2120 and PHYS 2121. The skills, art, and physics important in pursuing independent research. Experiments dealing with mechanical, optical, or thermodynamic principles explored. Report writing, literature research, and the use of analysis tools emphasized. One hour lecture and one three-hour independent study laboratory.
1 credit hourPrerequisites: PHYS 2021 or PHYS 2120 and PHYS 2121. The skills, art, and physics important in pursuing independent research. Experiments dealing with mechanical, optical, or thermodynamic principles explored. Report writing, literature research, and the use of analysis tools emphasized.
3 credit hoursPrerequisite: PHYS 3950. Introduces physics teaching pedagogies resulting from physics education research. Methods studied to include inquiry, discovery, and modeling-based approaches. Seminar meeting will be supplemented with extensive experience as a learning assistant in a hands-on cooperative-learning and/or discovery-learning based introductory physics course.
1 credit hourPrerequisites: PHYS 2021 or PHYS 2121 and MATH 1920. Overview of fundamental physics topics covered on licensure exams leading to endorsement to teach high school physics. Focuses on topics typically covered in the first semester of introductory physics. One one-hour, twenty-five minute lecture per week.
1 credit hour Prerequisite: PHYS 3950. Overview of fundamental physics covered on licensure exams that lead to endorsement to teach high school physics. Subject matter will focus on topics typically covered in the second semester of introductory physics. One-hour twenty-five minutes lecture per week.
3 credit hoursPrerequisite: PHYS 3160. Topics including electric and magnetic fields, electrostatic potential, and potential energy and fields in matter, discussed in a mathematically rigorous manner. A variety of good applications of mathematical methods in physics.
3 credit hoursPrerequisite: PHYS 4310. Topics include theory of electromagnetic radiation, production and propagation of electromagnetic waves, and the solution of boundary-value problems with applications to optics, wave guides, and lasers.
3 credit hoursPrerequisites: PHYS 3110 and PHYS 3160. Topics include both one- and three-dimensional solutions to the Schroedinger equation, including the infinite square-well, finite square-well, tunneling, the harmonic oscillator, and the hydrogen atom with a discussion of angular momentum at a mathematically rigorous undergraduate level.
3 credit hours Prerequisite: PHYS 4380. Advanced topics in quantum mechanics, including time-independent and time-dependent perturbation theory, systems of indistinguishable particles, the Aharonov-Bohm effect, Fermi’s Golden Rule, and an introduction to quantum field theory.
3 credit hoursPrerequisites: PHYS 3110 and PHYS 3160. Topics in medical physics at an advanced undergraduate level. Possible topics include charged-particle interactions and equilibrium in matter, cavity theory, dosimetry, CTs, and MRIs.
3 credit hoursPrerequisites: PHYS 3110 and PHYS 3150. Includes crystal structures, lattice dynamics, statistics of conductors and semiconductors, thermal properties, the metallic state, free electron theory, band theory of solids, dielectric and magnetic properties of solids, and the low temperature behavior of matter, particularly solids. Three hours lecture.
3 credit hours(Same as BIOL/CHEM/MATH 4740.) Prerequisite: YOED 3520. Provides secondary science and mathematics teacher candidates with the tools that scientists use to solve scientific problems. Students will use these tools in a laboratory setting, communicate findings, and understand how scientists develop new knowledge.
PHYS 4800 - Special Topics in Physics, Special Topics A
3 credit hoursPrerequisites: An extensive physics background and permission of instructor. Detailed study of a selected topic of current interest in physics not normally covered in the regular undergraduate physics curriculum. Possible topics include advanced atomic physics, high-energy physics (nuclear and elementary particles), scattering theory, astrophysics, and general relativity.
PHYS 4810 - Special Topics in Physics, Special Topics B
3 credit hoursPrerequisites: An extensive physics background and permission of instructor. Detailed study of a selected topic of current interest in physics not normally covered in the regular undergraduate physics curriculum. Possible topics include advanced atomic physics, high-energy physics (nuclear and elementary particles), scattering theory, astrophysics, and general relativity.
2 credit hoursPrerequisite: Consent of instructor. Independent study of a selected research problem in physics. Includes experimental and/or theoretical investigation of an important, yet unexplored, problem. Includes literature research, experiment design/problem formulation and execution, resulting in oral and written presentation of results suitable for submission for publication in a suitable journal. One hour lecture and significant time working with research mentor.
2 credit hoursPrerequisite: Consent of instructor. Independent study of a selected research problem in physics. Includes experimental and/or theoretical investigation of an important, yet unexplored, problem. Includes literature research, experiment design/problem formulation and execution, resulting in oral and written presentation of results suitable for submission for publication in a suitable journal. One hour lecture and significant additional time working with research mentor.
2 credit hoursPrerequisites: PHYS 4850 or PHYS 4860 and consent of department chair. Brings undergraduate experience to focus on a specific research problem; chosen with the consent of the thesis committee and with the potential for original discovery or for creative development of a tool or technique applicable to scientific research. Independent pursuit of research objectives outlined in a research proposal results in a written thesis whose approval will include an oral defense. One hour lecture and independent writing of thesis.
3 credit hoursConstitutional principles, functions, and administration of American federal government; Congress, the presidency, and the Supreme Court. A General Education Social/Behavioral Sciences course.
3 credit hoursMeets part of the General Education Social/Behavioral Sciences requirement. Comparative theories and institutions of government. Law, constitutions, power, political socialization, ideologies, and the media.
PS 2000 - Political Science and International Relations as a Profession
1 credit hourTo be taken as early as possible by Political Science and International Relations majors. Provides practical information for majors on career planning and development, including potential careers in law, graduate school and research, government, policy analysis, political campaign management, lobbying, and non-profit management.
3 credit hoursPrerequisite: PS 1005 or permission of instructor. Politics and administration at the state and local level. Legislative, judicial, and administrative structures and processes; major issues and problems.
1 credit hourFor students interested in developing trial advocacy skills; practical course offering preparation for mock trial competition. May be repeated for up to four hours credit. Pass/Fail.
3 credit hours(Same as SPAN 2105, SOC 2105, ART 2105, ANTH 2105, GEOG 2105.) A multidisciplinary, team-taught introduction to Latin America. Covers the cultures and societies of the region: pre-history, history, geography, politics, art, languages, and literatures. Required course for all Latin American Studies minors.
1 credit hourStudents conduct research of legal controversies, prepare briefs, and argue cases before a mock judicial panel. May be repeated for up to four hours credit. Pass/Fail.
1 credit hourPrerequisite: PS 1005 or permission of department chair. For students interested in developing skills as mediators and advocates in mediation settings. Practical application of theories, methods, and ethical components of mediation. Participation in intercollegiate mediation competition. May be repeated for up to four hours of credit. Pass/Fail.
PS 2130 - Model United Nations and Crisis Simulation
1 credit hourFor students interested in developing skills in negotiation and conflict resolution involving international issues. A practical application of negotiating skills, policy process, and understanding of international conflicts and problems through participation in intercollegiate MUN/crisis simulation competition. Course may be repeated for up to 4 hours of credit. Pass/Fail.
PS 2140 - Tennessee Intercollegiate State Legislature
1 credit hourStudents work through content and activities on legislative procedures designed to prepare them to participate in the annual Tennessee Intercollegiate State Legislature (TISL). May be repeated for up to 4 hours of credit. Pass/Fail.
3 credit hoursPrerequisite: PS 1005 or permission of instructor. A general introduction to American law and the American legal system; focus on the case system.
3 credit hoursPrerequisite: PS 1005 or permission of the instructor. Analysis of the legal treatment of women in the home, school, and workplace. Examines development of law, relationship of law to political movements, and current state of law and legal theory on women’s rights and gender equality.
3 credit hoursPrerequisite: PS 1005 or permission of instructor. A comprehensive analysis of the presidency; includes origins of the presidency, political power, the nature of the institutionalized presidency, campaigns and elections, and a careful look at selected presidents.
3 credit hoursPrerequisite: PS 1005. An analysis of the United States Congress; its origins, political power, the nature of the institutionalized Congress, campaigns, and elections.
3 credit hoursPrerequisite: PS 1005PS 1010, or permission of instructor. Analysis of political ideas as expressed in motion pictures. Topics include leadership, political biographies, campaigns and elections, ideology, and war.
3 credit hoursPrerequisite: PS 1005 or permission of instructor. Examines the public policy-making process in the United States, the stages of policy development and the problems inherent in policymaking. At least one substantive policy area examined in depth; examples: health care, environmental, welfare, agricultural, poverty, or budgetary policies.
3 credit hoursAssesses the institutional impact–past and present–of the civil rights movement on American political institutions (the presidency, Congress, the courts, the executive cabinets, the administrative regulatory agencies, and the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights). Events and topics include the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the 1991 Civil Rights Act, voter dilution, felony disenfranchisement and sentencing disparities, campaign finance reform, affirmative action, disability rights, gender discrimination, and majority-minority congressional districts.
3 credit hours(Same as AAS 3180.) Prerequisite: PS 1010. Comparative study of the political systems, modernization efforts, and development problems of countries with different traditions or colonial pasts, selected from the continent of Africa.
3 credit hoursPrerequisite: PS 1010 or permission of instructor. The evolution of parliamentary government in the United Kingdom and its current distinctive characteristics, processes, and functions in contrast to other parliamentary regimes.
3 credit hoursPrerequisite: PS 1010 or permission of instructor. The state system and national power, balance of power, balance of terror, game theory, psychological aspects of international conflict, decision making, diplomacy and negotiation, war, disarmament, and collective security.
3 credit hoursPrerequisites: PS 1010 or permission of instructor. Seminar covering the theoretical literature, methodological debates, and current issues in the field of comparative politics. Offers preparation for upper-division courses in comparative politics.
3 credit hoursKey topics and issues surrounding the political environment and competing pressures that international non-governmental organizations and domestic non-profits confront. Formal readings paired with discussions from practitioners in the field and hands-on professional exercises.
3 credit hoursThe nature of democracy, politics, and political parties; party organization and role in government; campaigning; primaries, conventions, general elections; the Electoral College; voting behavior and pressure groups.
3 credit hoursAn analysis of applied politics; how to plan and manage a modern political campaign. Readings, discussions, and hands-on projects; students will learn the strategies, tactics, and varied techniques of political campaigning.
3 credit hoursExamines role of interest groups in American politics and the policymaking process, including the role of lobbyists, money, and politics, and case studies of several specific interest groups.
3 credit hoursPrerequisite: PS 1005 or permission of instructor. Analysis of theories of judicial decision making as well as the establishment of judicial review itself, followed by case studies of major Supreme Court decisions in federalism. Issues covered include commerce, contracts, police, and war powers as well as restrictions placed on state governments after the ratification of the Civil War Amendments. Offered fall only.
3 credit hoursPrerequisite: PS 1005, PS 3370, or permission of instructor. The Supreme Court as a policy-making body in the governmental system. Focuses on case studies of major Supreme Court decisions dealing with civil liberties. Issues covered include racial and gender discrimination, freedom of speech and religion, as well as rights of the criminally accused and the right to privacy. Offered spring only.
3 credit hoursPowers, functions, and politics of municipal governments from the standpoint of city management. Attention is given to problems related to the execution of municipal policy. Offered infrequently.
3 credit hoursThe unique history, content, and form of African American political participation; examines the nature of consequences of African American influence within, or exclusion from, the workings of various American political institutions; the nature and types of issues that influence contemporary discussions in American and African American politics related to the socioeconomic conditions of African Americans. Students who have taken PS 4390 - Special Topics in Political Science (Black Politics in America) may not take PS 3420 for credit.
PS 3440 - Governmental Budgeting and Finance Administration
3 credit hoursPrerequisite: PS 1005 or permission of instructor. Analysis of the legal and social nature of government budgets emphasizing the procedures and administrative methods of fiscal control. Budget documents at state and local levels. Offered infrequently.
3 credit hoursPrerequisite: PS 1005 or permission of the department chair. Theory, methods, and ethical components of alternative dispute resolution (ADR); emphasis on various forms of mediation, but including other ADR formats such as arbitration, negotiation, and summary jury trial.
3 credit hoursPrerequisite: PS 1010 or permission of instructor. General principles of modern international law taught by the case study method in a seminar format encouraging debate and discussion. Issues concerning the development of international law and human rights will be studied.
3 credit hoursPrerequisites: PS 1010 or permission of instructor. The relation between politics and economics in international affairs and its implications for global peace, security, ecology, and social welfare.
3 credit hoursPrerequisite: PS 1005 or permission of instructor. A specialized composition course for the student planning to attend law school or paralegal school or to become a legal secretary. Practice in legal research, documentation, and a variety of legal problems.
PS 3550 - Democratic Participation and Civic Advocacy
3 credit hoursFocus on theories of democratic participation, the role and impact of participation in a democracy, and practical approaches to building and working through organizations advocating for candidates or particular policies or working with the government in crafting and implementing public policies.
3 to 6 credit hoursPrerequisite: PS 1010 or permission of instructor. Supervised study in a foreign country; familiarizes students with foreign cultures and political systems. Three to six hour classes may be repeated once if country of destination varies. No more than 6 hours may count toward a political science major. Pass/Fail.
3 credit hoursPrerequisite: PS 1010 or permission of instructor. Development and prospects of the United Nations Organization and its major approaches to peace–pacific settlement, collective security, international law, arms control, trusteeship, preventive diplomacy, international conferences, functionalism. Offered infrequently.
3 credit hoursPrerequisite: PS 1010 or permission of instructor. Fosters critical thinking about human rights by developing skills in weighing powerful but opposing arguments in complex moral situations. Familiarizes students with the role of both national and international organizations in global politics.
3 credit hoursPrerequisites: Senior standing, competitive selection, PS 2440, or by permission of instructor. Familiarizes pre-law students with general law office procedures and an active law environment.
3 credit hoursPrerequisite: PS 1010 or permission of instructor. Examines political violence, including assassination, terror, repression, and genocide, in comparative and international perspectives. Theoretical and case study approaches used to examine forms, goals of, tactics, and responses to political violence.
3 credit hoursPrerequisite: PS 1005 or permission of instructor. Structure, functions, and processes of Tennessee’s governmental and political institutions. Policy issues studied.
3 credit hours(Same as AAS 3180.) Prerequisite: PS 1010 or permission of instructor. Comparative study of selected African political systems with different colonial traditions in the process of rapid change. The ideology and politics of development, political system forms and processes, modernization efforts, and the challenges of nation building.
3 credit hoursPrerequisite: PS 1010 or permission of instructor. Emphasis on the Palestinian question, the Arab-Israeli wars, the role of the United Nations; conflicts between and among the Arab nations; the various peace initiatives that have been proposed.
3 credit hoursPrerequisites: PS 1005 or PS 1010 and at least 12 hours of political science classes. Work done under the close direction of a professor on a tutorial basis. Student expected to present a sound proposal for departmental consideration and acceptance before enrolling.
PS 4210 - International Conflict: Causes, Consequences, and Responses
3 credit hoursPrerequisite: PS 1010 or permission of instructor. Theoretical and empirical approaches to understanding the causes of interstate war, intrastate war, and transnational terrorism as well as the social consequences of and policy responses to international conflict.
3 credit hoursPrerequisite: PS 1010 or permission of instructor. Experiencing contemporary international politics through the medium of simulation. Particular focus areas include the U.S., F.S.U., People’s Republic of China, the Middle East, South Asia, and Southern Africa.
3 credit hoursPrerequisite: PS 1005, PS 1010, or PHIL 1030. Western political theory from the ancient Greeks through the medieval Christians. Includes Sophocles, Aristophanes, Plato, Aristotle, stoicism, skepticism, Lucretius, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Thomas More.
3 credit hoursPrerequisite: PS 1010 or permission of instructor. Foreign policies in the nuclear age from Kennan and Containment to the present with particular emphasis on contemporary problems and policies.
PS 4260 - The Political Status of Women in the World
3 credit hoursPrerequisite: PS 1010 or WGST 2100 or permission of instructor. Comparative examination of the political, economic, and social status of women in the United States and abroad. Particular emphasis on women in developing countries, the relationship between economic and political power, and the impact of both conflict and globalization on the status of women.
, and a 2.50 minimum GPA. Students work for a political campaign as an employee under the joint administration of the campaign and the department. Only six hours may count toward a political science major and three hours toward a political science minor. Arrangement for this course must be made in advance.
12 credit hoursA cooperative program with the Washington Center that provides for student service with a governmental office in Washington, D.C., on a full-time basis during the fall or spring semester. On-the-job training will be supplemented with lectures and other activities. Students selected on a competitive basis. Only six hours count toward a Political Science major or minor.
1 to 12 credit hoursPrerequisites: Junior standing and 2.50 minimum GPA. Student assigned to a public service agency as an employee under the joint administration of the agency and the department. May be repeated for up to 12 hours of credit, but only six hours of internship credit may count toward a Political Science major or minor. Arrangement for this course must be made in advance.
3 credit hoursPrerequisite: PS 1010 or permission of instructor. Comparative analysis of the governmental forms and practices of England, France, Germany, the European community, and others.
3 credit hoursPrerequisite: PS 1010 or permission of instructor. Comparative analysis of the governmental forms and practices of China, Japan, India, and other governments in the region.
12 credit hoursA cooperative program with the State of Tennessee that provides for student service with the legislature on a full-time basis during the spring semester. Students selected on a competitive basis. Only six hours may count toward a Political Science major or minor.
3 credit hoursPrerequisite: PS 1010 or PS 1005 or permission of the instructor. An in-depth study of a special topic significant in contemporary political developments or political science literature. May be taken more than once, as topics change, with up to six credit hours applied to a Political Science major.
3 credit hoursPrerequisite: PS 1005PS 3250, or permission of instructor. Procedural aspects, substantive issues, judicial review of the type of law concerned with the powers and procedures of government agencies and the rights of citizens affected by them.
3 credit hoursPrerequisite: PS 3250 or permission of instructor. Human resources administration in government agencies. Patterns of position classification, compensation, recruitment, selection, training, performance appraisal, promotion, discipline, separation, collective bargaining.
PS 4690 - Comparative Foreign Policies and International Relations of the Middle East
3 credit hoursPrerequisite: PS 1010, MES 2100, or permission of instructor. Examines framework within which to understand Middle East international relations. Includes Arab/Israeli conflict; oil and Middle East international relations; political Islam; the war on terror; and United States, European, Chinese, and Russian policies in the Middle East.
3 credit hoursPrerequisite: PS 1005 or PS 1010 or PHIL 1030 or permission of instructor. Major thinkers and movements in American political thought from colonial times to the twentieth century with special emphasis on the thoughts of the framers of the American Constitution and their contemporaries.
3 credit hoursPrerequisite: PS 1010 or permission of instructor. The formation and evolution of the Russian state from the pre-Communist to the Soviet (Communist) and post-Soviet stages of its development. Special attention given to the historical origins and the role of authoritarianism in the Russian political culture and to the ideological foundations, formation, evolution, and the reasons for decline of the Communist system.
3 credit hoursPrerequisites: PS 1005, PS 1010, and 12 additional hours of political science courses. A reading and discussion seminar designed to integrate knowledge of the subfields of political science through critical reflection on politics, law, ideology, and culture from both a domestic and global perspective.
PS 4801 - Senior Seminar in International Relations
3 credit hoursPrerequisites: PS 1010, PS 3001, PS 3210, and 6 hours electives in the major. A reading and discussion seminar focused on the subfields of international relations and comparative politics, the practical application of theories, preparation for professional work or graduate study following graduation, and assessment of student learning outcomes for the program.
3 credit hoursPrerequisites: PS 1005, PS 1010, and one upper-division course in American Politics. Advanced study in the area of American politics. May be repeated for credit when subject matter varies.
PS 4830 - Advanced Studies in Public Administration
3 credit hoursPrerequisites: PS 1005, PS 1010, and PS 3250. Advanced study in the area of public administration. May be repeated for credit when subject matter varies.
PS 4860 - Advanced Studies in International Relations
3 credit hoursPrerequisites: PS 1010 and PS 3210. Advanced study in the area of international relations. May be repeated for credit when subject matter varies.
3 credit hoursPrerequisites: PS 1005, PS 1010, and either PS 4230, PS 4700, or PS 4920. Advanced study in the area of political theory. May be repeated for credit when subject matter varies.
3 credit hoursPrerequisite: PS 1010 or permission of instructor. Emphasis on the comparative analysis of structures, functions, and aspects of Latin American political cultures and systems.
3 credit hoursPrerequisite: PS 1010, PS 1005, or PHIL 1030 or permission of instructor. Western political theory from the Renaissance to the twentieth century. Includes Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, J.S. Mill, Marx and Engels, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, facism, existentialism, Strauss, Arendt, and contemporary thought.
PS 4930 - Introduction to Contemporary Political Philosophy
3 credit hoursPrerequisite: PS 1005, PS 1010, or PHIL 1030 or permission of instructor. Aims to foster critical thinking about contemporary political philosophy by introducing students to four main approaches: Aristotelianism, Utilitarianism, Contractarian Liberalism, and Marxism. Familiarizes students with certain philosophical arguments about important issues in both national and global politics such as multiculturism, justice, democracy, and freedom.