Curriculum
Students are enrolled in Loyola classes in DC and receive 15 credits for their semester. These classes include an internship practicum which fulfills your Engaged Learning requirement (6 credits). You will also take the Core Internship Seminar on Fridays (3 credits) and two evening classes (3 credits each). All classes are cross-listed in Political Science and the School of Communication. If you have a different major and would like to receive credit in that major, please talk with your advisor and your home department.
Core Internship Seminar
This course requires you to combine your academic interests and your internship, allowing you to reflect on and think deeply about the relationship between your internship experience and academic learning. We will also explore political Washington. Through visits to think tanks, nonprofit organizations, advocacy groups, political organizations and agencies we will examine the policymaking world in Washington and get to know different participants in this process, what they do, and how they interact and work to affect policy and express their ideas.
Political Communication (3 credits)
This course explores how elected officials and institutions communicate to the public and the role journalists and PR professionals play in the process. The class challenges students to grapple with questions like: what is the meaning of “truth” in today’s media environment?
Public Policy and Information Technology (3 credits)
This course examines the policy issues that technology has created and that are at the cutting edge of debates in Washington, DC. We will take a critical look at many of these issues, including net neutrality, trade, and the fight over government access to phone data.
Political Advocacy (3 credits)
Policy-making and implementation in the United States is a complicated process. In any given year laws are passed by elected officials, decisions that guide our implementation of the law are made by government agencies, and rulings handed down by the courts shape our interpretation of those laws. This course explores these actors, their place in the policy-making ecosystem, and the efficacy of those efforts.
