Military and Veterans Studies

MVS 1100 Veterans Transition Seminar: 1 semester hour

This course is designed for the student veteran who is new to UMSL but not eligible for the First Year Experience class. It will survey essential life skills (time management, financial management, physical fitness) and tools for academic success (note-taking, writing, research, oral presentation). It will familiarize students with the relationship between their education and their career and personal goals. It will also expose students to campus and veteran-specific support services. Maybe most importantly, this course will provide a venue for veterans to connect with other veterans who are facing a similar transition.

MVS 2000 Selected Topics in Military or Veterans Studies: 1-3 semester hours

Selected topics in military or veterans studies. The topics will vary each semester. May be taken more than once for credit as long as the topic differs.

MVS 2021 War and Violence in Modern Times: 3 semester hours

Same as HIST 2021. Prerequisites: Sophomore standing or consent of the instructor. This course examines the connections between warfare and resistance, gangs and poverty, and state and non-state officials as enactors of violence. It explores the effects of war and violence on the poor in Brazil and the United States, prisoners of war in Asia, and resistance fighters in Latin America and northern Africa. Students will watch films/short videos, read academic and newspaper articles, and listen to short podcasts to grapple with the issues underlying structures of violence.

MVS 2025 U.S. Foreign Relations and Military History: 3 semester hours

Same as HIST 2025. This course surveys the development of American land, sea, air, space, and cyber power from the start of the colonial era to the present, with an emphasis on the interrelationship between U.S. foreign and military policies and between diplomacy and force.

MVS 2100 Veterans in American Society: 3 semester hours

Same as SOC 2801. Prerequisite: ENGL 1100. This survey course will focus on the American veteran experience and explore basic concepts, ideas and research into veterans and veteran institutions. In a multidisciplinary manner, students will examine military culture, the unique status of veterans in our society, and veteran institutions. Students will also study the successes, challenges and obligations our society faces related to its veteran community.

MVS 2130 Gender and the Military: 3 semester hours

Same as SOC 2802 and GS 2130. This course investigates how the military treats gender difference, explores how military culture is defined, and how gender is a socially constructed concept. Topics may include military culture, gender construction, and how gender and sexuality issues affect military readiness and effectiveness.

MVS 2200 Examining Cultural Experiences of Veterans: 3 semester hours

Prerequisites: Consent of the instructor. This course is designed to explore the cultural experiences of veterans. Through discussion, reflection and writing, students will examine the service experience in another culture and then relate those limited interactions within the context of the culture as a whole. For non-western cultural experiences, this course satisfies the Cultural Diversity requirement.

MVS 2850 National Security Policy and Practice: 3 semester hours

Same as POL SCI 2551. This simulation-driven course focuses on national security policies and the processes that put these policies into practice. It examines the elements that underpin national security policy and the processes employed by the US government for integrating and synchronizing those instruments in the pursuit of national security objectives.

MVS 2860 Understanding Terrorism in the 21st Century: 3 semester hours

Same as POL SCI 2860. This course seeks to provide insight into the use of terrorism, as a means to achieve a political end, in our current globalized environment. It will review various facets of terrorism including societal disturbances that allow terrorist organizations to flourish, various types of domestic and international non-state actors that use terrorism, terrorism as the next generation of warfare, and the global response to the threat of terrorism. Students will exit the course with a more complete understanding of the multi-faceted threat terrorism poses to our increasingly globalized society.

MVS 3100 Current Issues in Military and Veterans Studies: 1-4 semester hours

Selected topics in military or veterans affairs with emphasis on current issues and trends. May be repeated as long as the topic is different for a maximum of 6 credit hours.

MVS 3201 Narratives from the Forever Wars: 3 semester hours

Same as MEDIA ST 3201 and ENGL 3201. This course studies literature and film written by and about those who served in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, with particular interest in how veterans as individuals are represented in it.

MVS 3300 Veteran Social Policy: 3 semester hours

Same as SOC 3802. This course provides an overview of American public policy towards military veterans. Students will research, design, and propose policy changes using various written products and presentations.

MVS 3500 Internship in Veterans Studies: 1-3 semester hours

Prerequisites: Junior Standing and consent of the department chair. Independent study involving regular on-site work with an appropriate public or private agency serving the veteran community. A written report reflecting on the experience is required. Course may be repeated for a maximum of 6 credit hours.

MVS 4100 Veterans Studies Capstone Seminar: 3 semester hours

Prerequisites: MVS 2100 and senior standing. Mentored by a faculty member, students in this course will apply insights gained from previous coursework into a substantial Veterans Studies project. Students will work with the instructor and the class to develop a topic, establish a research or project plan, then prepare a project or paper suitable for presentation to the public. Students should expect that their work will be published or presented at an end-of-the-year symposium. This is not an independent study.

MVS 4200 Independent Study in Military and Veterans Issues: 1-3 semester hours

Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. Faculty mentored, independent study through readings, reports, or field research. No student may take more than a cumulative total of 6 hours of Independent Study.

MVS 4345 War Crimes, Genocide, and Justice in the 20th and 21st Centuries: 3 semester hours

Same as SOC 4345, POL SCI 4345, and CRIMIN 4345. Prerequisite: ENGL 3100. This course provides advanced undergraduate and Master’s level students a comprehensive overview of the subject of war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and legal responses to these crimes in the modern era. The goal of this course is to engage students in sustained, critical thought about these issues and to foster a deeper understanding of both the causes and consequences—legal, social and human—of these egregious crimes.

MVS 6220 Social Policy and Military Veterans: 3 semester hours

Same as SOC WK 6220. Prerequisites: SOC WK 5200 or its equivalent or consent of the instructor and graduate standing. This course provides an overview of public policy towards military veterans, with an emphasis on social work. The course focuses on political theory and public policy and reviews the various methodological approaches to studying public policy, the pertinent theories related to public policy analysis, an introduction to military culture and current issues facing veterans. The main focus of the course will be on understanding the current issues facing veterans and how public policy affects these issues.