Courses by CISTP faculty

IAFF 241 Science, Technology, and International Affairs*
Professor David Grier

Description
This course provides a comprehensive overview of the policy issues related to the support, use, management, and regulation of science and technology. It addresses U.S. domestic as well as international issues, is concerned with governmental policies as well as non-governmental, and it is focused on both the economics and politics of science and technology issues.

In today's world, scientific discoveries and technological innovations influence almost every aspect of human existence. The effects of many of these innovations innovations influence almost every aspect of human existence. Many changes induced by these innovations have been extremely positive, bringing advances in health, communications, material wealth, and quality of life. At the same time, science and technology have helped create apparently intractable problems, including new risks to human health, pollution of the natural environment, and the existence of weapons capable of mass destruction. Given all these impacts, making effective and fair decisions regarding technologically complex issues is one of the most challenging tasks of modern governance.

Especially demanding is policy-making for international economic competition, which is increasingly defined in terms of technological competence. The diffusion of centers of technological excellence around the world and the progressive convergence of local markets in terms of consumer tastes and preferences have obliged economic agents to adopt a global outlook; not only do firms compete internationally but they also depend upon each other's technological, financial, and marking strengths to stay afloat. In this course we examine a number of important characteristics of the new international environment that are directly related to the technological competence of firms and of nations as well.

*This course used to be titled “Science, Technology, and Public Policy".

IAFF 242 Technology, Creation, and Diffusion
Professor Nicholas S. Vonortas

Description
The purpose of this course is to examine the factors that underlie the creation of new technologies and their diffusion throughout the economy. The discussion will cover issues of interest to new technology producers and/or users in the private business sector, universities and government. Although the main focus will be the prevailing environment in developed market economies, developing countries will be dealt with to some extent. We will examine in some depth important recent global developments in technology creation and dissemination and their historical overlaps. And, of course, we will address the implications for policy.

IAFF 246 U.S. Space Policy
Professor Scott Pace

Description
This course is an examination of the origins, evolution, current status, and future prospects of U.S. space policies and programs. It will cover the U.S. government's civilian, military, and national security space programs and the space activities of th U.S. private sector, and the interactions among these four sectors of U.S. space activity. This xamination will be cast in the context of the space activities of other countries, and of international cooperation and competition in space. The goal of the course is to give the student an expos re to the policy debates and decisions that have shaped U.S. efforts in space to date, and to the policy issues that must be addressed in order to determine the future goals, content, pace, and organization of U.S. space activities, both public and private.

IAFF 248 Issues in U.S. Space Policy
Professor Scott Pace

Description:
This course will address international space policy issues facing the United States and places them in the larger context of technological advances and a changing international strategic environment. The course will address current regulatory issues facing U.S. space programs with regard to dual-use technologies, including export controls, spectrum management, and licensing of commercial remote sensing systems. Conflicts over dual-use technologies, such as space launch, remote sensing, satellite navigation, and communications, will be examined for their implications for a range of national interests. The course will also address strategic choices facing other nations in space activities, including continued dependence on U.S., European, and Russian space capabilities, developing indigenous space programs, and reliance on commercial space capabilities.

The class will apply the insights gained from the discussion and readings to a class exercise that examines the contributions of spacepower to a future China/Taiwan Straits scenario (~2020-2025). Using a team approach where students represent space advisors to national security decision-makers and military commanders, the class will examine the employment and contribution of space capabilities in assessing unfolding events involving the national interests of China, India, Japan, and the United States. The scenario will take place in the context of the Global Exploration Strategy (GES) and return to the Moon, and evolving Chinese and Japanese space capabilities. It will be played during two or three class sessions in addition to preparation time and post-game assessment time.

ECON 220 Managerial Economics
Professor Henry R. Hertzfeld

Description
This is essentially an intermediate microeconomics course focuses on the economic behavior of the firm. The course is oriented toward graduate business students and students who expect to apply economic principles to strategic planning and decision making.

ECON 255 Economics of Technological Change
Professor Nicholas S. Vonortas

Description
This course provides an overview of important issues related to technological change that have interested economists up to the present time. Reflecting the general orientation of mainstream economic analysis, the material is somewhat biased towards the spread of new technology and the economic impact of new technology. The specific assumptions and methodologies of mainstream analysis have, however, drawn considerable criticism more recently. Our exposition will also cover such criticism and, thus, expand to the appraisal of the sources of new technology. The overall purpose of the course is to assess the prevalent economic conceptualization of the origins and sources of new technology, the way innovation proceeds and diffuses across economic agents, and the impacts - both economic benefits and costs - of the application of new technology.

IAFF 252 Environmental Policy
Professor Robert Rycroft

Description
This is a seminar that examines public policy designed to protect the human and physical environment. Throughout the seminar, the dominant theme is the role of science and technology (S&T) in creating environmental problems and opportunities.  Topics covered include: comparisons of the scientific and technical dimensions of national environmental policies; the linkages between science, technology, and environmentalism; the S&T dimensions of controversies about environmental risk analysis and risk management; a profile of industrial sources of pollution and evidence regarding whether scientific and technological advancements are leading to a “greening of the private sector”; and the likelihood of the emergence of a new technological innovation paradigm (e.g., industrial ecology, the sciences of complexity) and the implications for the future governance of the global environment. View a sample syllabus from Spring 2005.

IAFF 259: Multidisciplinary Seminar in Science, Technology, and Global Affairs
Professor Nicholas S. Vonortas

Description
This is the capstone course for majors in the M.A. Degree in Science, Technology, and Public Policy. It integrates previous coursework in a flexible format combining the writing of focused policy papers, role playing, simulations, and other relevant exercises and experiences. In addition, the course features a final exam that has the objective of allowing each student to synthesize the literature in the field. Drawing upon the writings of both practitioners and theorists in the U.S. and abroad, the course focuses on ways to redesign U.S. science and technology institutions and organizations, so that they are more interconnected and capable of engaging in more effective knowledge creation, diffusion, and utilization.

IAFF 258 Security, Privacy, and Technology: The Current Policy Agenda
Professor Henry Farrell

Description
Many of the key policy debates surrounding the application of technology seek to strike a balance between privacy and security. In such diverse areas as the proposed collection and analysis by government of databases (the CAPPS II initiative and moribund Total Information Awareness Initiative), new tools for law enforcement authorities (data traffic preservation), the creation of effective and privacy-preserving voting machines and new technologies such as Google's Gmail service, there are continuing controversies over the extent to which individuals should have privacy, and the extent to which their information may be used for commercial or law enforcement purposes. In this seminar class, we will discuss these issues, beginning with a broad overview of the general issues, and moving onto specific examination of how this debate is playing out in different policy areas. 

IAFF 258 Space and National Security
Professor Peter Hays

Description
As shown by military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kosovo, space capabilities have become increasingly important to the U.S. military in recent years. The many broad interrelationships between space and national security have also been under careful examination both domestically and internationally. The 2001 Space Commission Report, for example, found that because U.S. military and economic security has become so dependent on undefended space assets, the nation could face a "space Pearl Harbor." Others argue that the United States should act to establish space control, defined as U.S. ability to access and use space in its interests and to deny such access to U.S. adversaries. In addition, there is a growing debate over the wisdom and feasibility of stationing force application systems - "space weapons" - in orbit. The course uses seminars, short writing assignments, and a focused research paper to examine these and other issues associated with U.S. strategy, policy, and organization for the national security uses of space.

IAFF 258 Space Law
Professor Henry Hertzfeld

Description
Space activities, by the nature of their unique characteristics, operate in an international and global environment. Nearly 50 years have elapsed since beginning of human activity in space. A body of law has evolved that deals with space activity. The foundations of these international legal principles are found in five treaties developed within the framework of the United Nations during the late 1960s. They reflect the governmental nature of space programs of that era. Many nations participating in space activities also have domestic laws that regulate and administer the activities of their citizens who now participate in the growing commercial environment of space.

This course will review the underlying principles of international space law. The emphasis will be on issues that will be of concern in the future as space activity moves into the commercial world. However, many technologies and uses of space may encounter conflicts between civil and defense concerns. Such legal issues include liability for accidents, registration of space objects, non-proliferation, and transparency. The course will also review domestic (primarily U.S.) space law and the many regulatory agencies that are involved in licensing and approving commercial space activities.

Finally, looking a bit further into the future, there are numerous legal uncertainties that must be resolved to lower investment risks if private space activities are to be funded, built, and operated. These issues include: the relationship between air law and space law, space traffic control, environmental concerns, licensing and financial responsibility, and international over-flight and landing considerations.

IAFF 258 Science, Technology and Complexity
Professor Robert W. Rycroft

Description
This is a course about how the sciences of complexity and associated bodies of theory and practice (especially evolutionary economics) have influenced thinking about and acting on matters of scientific and technological advancement and change. Fifty years ago, our technologies, organizations, and our lives were less complex than today. Things were simpler, and this simplicity became embedded in most of the institutions and processes of most Western industrial societies. This simplicity was especially important for institutions and processes related to science and technology, including technological innovation. This course examines how the sciences of complexity and related bodies of thought have begun to create a radical rethinking of those innovation-related scientific and technological institutions and processes.

IAFF 258 Science, Technology and International Security
Professor James Lewis

Description
This seminar looks at the contributions of science and technology to U.S. security in military, intelligence and homeland security activities through readings, class lectures, and discussion. The course focuses on three issue areas where science and technology shape national security: defense, intelligence, and homeland security.

IAFF 258 Science, Technology and International Security
Professor Caroline Wagner

Description
The aim of the course is to equip students with skills in science and technology policy analysis. The course uses an interdisciplinary approach and emphasizes the importance of teamwork in the design and implementation of science and technology policy. In addition to developing analytical skills, students are expected to strengthen their capacity to work in teams by integrating knowledge from a diversity of sources. Training in the natural or engineering sciences is not a requirement for the course.

The course is designed to accommodate students from all fields interested in the role of science and technological innovation in development. The sessions will be conducted through guided discussion as well as lectures, guest speakers and presentations by students. Modest adjustments in the syllabus will be introduced to accommodate specialized interests by students and address important topical issues.

IAFF 202 Fundamentals of Science & Technology Public Policy
Professor Bonvillian, William B

Description
Science and technology-based innovation is now seen to be connected to society's economic growth and its corresponding ability to generate societal wellbeing. This course will examine the public policy behind, and the federal government's role in, the science and technology innovation system. Given the challenges to future federal science support, this seminar will aim to equip those planning careers in and around science and technology with the basic background for involvement in science policymaking.