Washington Center

UCDC Courses

A list of courses can be accessed using the drop-down menu below.

For *preliminary* information about each course, click on the course title.

Please note: In the event of low enrollment, a class may be cancelled. Students will be informed as soon as possible and enrolled in a different class.

Fall Quarter 2023 & Fall Semester 2023

Core Seminar

  • Comparative Law and Society

    Remember back throughout your life to disputes among people, possibly about fairness or justice.  You probably have heard people say, “I’ve got a right.”  “It’s a free country and it’s my right.”  Or, “You don’t have the right to do x.”  The concept of...

  • General Research: Developing Critical Writing and Thinking Skills Through Independent Research

    The general research seminar introduces you to some of the main tools of social science research methods. You will learn and apply tools that will help you a) ask and try to answer critical questions about the world around you; b) understand the logic...

  • International Relations & Contemporary Civil War

    Civil wars, and wars that begin as some sort of civil war, are by far the most common and destructive form of organized political violence in the modern world. However, studies of these wars only reached substantial numbers in the wake of the Cold War...

  • Polarizer-in-Chief: Presidential Leadership in the 21st Century

    Many Americans can name several presidents and even have opinions on “good” versus “bad” presidents. But what do presidents actually do, what resources and limitations do they have in their ability to act, and how do we measure their performance and...

  • Power and Purpose: Understanding U.S. Foreign Policy

    This course explores the ideas and assumptions that guide U.S. foreign policy. We will consider how U.S. leaders choose to engage with the rest of the world -- and consider how they might in the future -- by focusing on a number of recurring themes...

  • Reducing Poverty and Inequity: Lessons from International Development

    This course introduces students to the role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as agents of advocacy and socio-political, economic and cultural change. The emphasis is on a) examining ways in which the NGO sector operates at the local, national...

  • The American Congress: Design and Practice

    Congress and other branches of the U.S. government were designed nearly two and a half centuries ago under circumstances and reflecting values and philosophies that bear little relationship to contemporary America. All of these institutions have...

  • The U.S. Supreme Court: Conflict, Change and the Court

    Immigration. LGBT rights. Healthcare. Abortion. The death penalty. Cell phone privacy. The U.S. Supreme Court has decided cases on all of these topics in recent years, and its decisions ultimately touch the lives of all Americans. In this class we will...

  • Washington History, Institutions & Rituals: Myth vs. Reality

    Much is said about Washington. Much of it is wrong. This course will immerse students in the history, institutions and rituals of nation’s capital. You will learn about Washington’s transformation from a remote federal city to the world’s most powerful...

  • Washington Media: Fake News, Social Media, and the Reshaping of American Politics

    Do Twitter or Facebook threaten democracy? What is the difference between “fake news” and journalism? Should the media report what people want to know or ought to know? Does objectivity exist?

    This seminar examines the extraordinary changes to...

Fall Quarter 2023

Quarter Elective

  • Law and Politics of Memory

    This class will invite students to consider the law and politics of memory with a special focus on Washington, D.C.  In this class we will consider why we choose to memorialize some aspects of our history, but not others, and what impact those choices...