I just finished my freshman year of college and have been looking into potential majors. I am really interested in studying war, security, cyberwarfare, etc., but my school does not offer any majors that fit these interests very directly. Has anyone with similar interests been in a situation like this and found a good solution? Any input would be greatly appreciated!
Usually, those topics are covered in courses in Political Science departments or International Relations/International Studies programs. Historical aspects of wars (and sometimes, military history) are covered in courses offered in History departments. “Cyberwarfare” might be covered in courses on various aspects of cybersecurity in Computer Science departments, and some universities offer a major in cybersecurity. Though few universities offer a major specifically focused on war, I’d find it hard to believe that your university doesn’t offer at least several relevant courses within other majors.
You could wait until grad school and then do a degree in the UK at the Department of War Studies at King’s College, U of London (http://www.kcl.ac.uk/sspp/departments/warstudies/index.aspx). Or, there is always the ROTC option…
Thank you for the input. My school does offer some courses along these lines, but as far as I’ve seen no departments/majors really allow for a focus in this, which is what I’m trying to find. It is a good point though that exploring the topic courses in different departments would be good. I would love to do ROTC but my asthma prevents me from joining. Thank you!
Another solution is, if you have a really good idea about what you want to pursue, is to create your own independent major. Many colleges offer this option; you usually have to work with 1 or 2 professors in relevant departments who will advise you on how to do it. But if you wanted to make a major like “Peace & Conflict Studies” (which is actually a real major at some colleges, and you can use their major as a guide) or “security studies”, you could probably select some classes from a political science, IR/IS, history, computer science, and perhaps other departments to focus on war/conflict/security.
Ah very good point, I will look into that, thank you!
If you are at UPenn, what about courses like:
CIS 125
HIST 135, 159, 160, 166, 312, 331, 333, 420, 425, 431
NSCI 102, 310, 410
PSCI 131, 150, 151, 156, 251, 252, 253, 255, 256, 257
STSC 212, 260, 312
You can take them as electives, or perhaps combine them and other relevant courses into an individualized major as described at https://www.college.upenn.edu/major-options .
I have been looking at just about all of those courses, though I am reluctant to take Political Science courses because I’m not the biggest fan of things that are overly politically-based. I was originally strongly considering an individualized major, though it seems to be more trouble than it’s worth (http://www.thedp.com/article/2015/04/complex-policies-turn-students-away-from-individualized-majors). I do appreciate all of the course suggestions, and I do plan on fitting as many of those in as I can. Thank you!
Since politics is the origin of war, and can affect strategic, tactical, and logistical decisions made by parties in a war, it would be hard to ignore politics when studying war.
That’s a very good point, thank you for your help!