Graduate Certificate in National Security Studies

National security issues have become highly important - an increasingly salient aspect of our daily lives - since September 11, 2001. The Graduate Certificate in National Security Studies offers a means for understanding more about this critical subject in the 21st century and provides skill enhancements for students interested in national security-related fields. This certificate is an excellent complement to many graduate disciplines. It may be awarded to degree-seeking students who complete the requirements.

The Course Catalog contains the FIU courses which count towards credit for the Graduate Certificate. Please check the FIU Public Class Search to verify which classes are offered during a specific semester. Students may submit other classes for approval by email to jgitalentdev@fiu.edu.

  • Program Requirements

    A total of 18 credit hours of graduate course work with a grade of “B” or higher. Courses must come from the approved GCNSS course listing or be approved by the certificate advisor. Courses may include those in the student’s departmental major but must also be selected from at least two disciplines outside the student’s departmental major.  With the approval of the Director, courses other than those listed herein may be substituted on a case-by-case basis. 

    A two-course introductory language sequence at FIU with a grade of “B” or higher. Exemption from this requirement may be obtained through a proficiency examination administered by the FIU Department of Modern Languages. Language courses may not be counted toward the fulfillment of requirement #1 above. 

    Note: Intermediate-high on the ACTFL exam (1-plus on the US government scale) can normally be attained by students with two undergraduate semesters of basic language instruction and at least one undergraduate semester of intermediate (3000/4000) instruction. Attainment of the required language proficiency is the responsibility of the student, and extra courses to achieve the required proficiency level must be taken outside the GCNSS curriculum.

  • Certificate Skill Requirements (3 Credit Hours)

    Certificate Students must complete at least 1 of the following courses with a minimum grade of a B or higher.  

    • POS 5785 - Writing Professionally in Political Science 
    • ISS 5388 - Communicating Analytically 
  • Certificate Core Requirements (6 Credit Hours)

    Certificate students must complete at least 2 of the following courses with a minimum grade of a B or higher. Students need to ONLY take 2 of the courses below to satisfy the certificate requirement.  

    Core Requirement Part I: Research Methodology (3 Credit Hours) 

    • GIS 5620 - Surveillance, Intelligence, and International Relations 
    • POS 5706 – Methodology 

    Core Requirement Part II: Foreign Policy (3 Credit Hours) 

    • INR 5007 - Seminar in International Politics 
    • INR 5105 - American Foreign Policy 
    • INR 5315 - Foreign Policy Analysis 
    • INR 5615 - Research Design in International Relations 
    • INR 6107 - U.S. Foreign Policy: Processes and Institutions 
    • INR 6338 - Seminar in Strategic Studies 
  • Certificate National Security Studies Requirement (3 Credit Hours)

    Certificate Students must complete the following course with a minimum grade of a B or higher.  

    • ISS 5135 – National Security Essentials 
  • Certificate Elective Requirements (6 Credit Hours)

    Certificate students must complete at least 2 of the following courses with a minimum grade of a C or higher. Students need to ONLY take 2 of the courses below to satisfy the certificate requirement.  

    Business, Finance and Management Eligible Certificate Elective Courses 

    • FIN 6644 - Global Financial Strategy 

    Criminal Justice Eligible Certificate Elective Courses 

    • CCJ 6040 - Comparative Crime and Criminal Justice Systems 
    • CJL 6421 - Legal Issues in Criminal Justice Administration 
    • PAD 6701 - Quantitative Methods in Public Administration 
    • CCJ 6676 - Transnational Crime and National Security 
    • DSC 6020 - Terrorism and Homeland Security 

    Economics Eligible Certificate Elective Courses 

    • ECO 6225 - Economics of Asset Markets 
    • ECO 6416 - Applied Quantitative Methods in Economics 
    • ECO 7206 - Macroeconomic Theory I 
    • ECO 7207 - Macroeconomic Theory II 
    • ECO 7236 - Money, Banking, and Monetary Policy 
    • ECO 7424 - Econometric Methods I 
    • ECO 7425 - Econometric Methods II 
    • ECO 7705 - International Trade 
    • ECO 7716 - International Money 
    • ECS 5406 - Latin American Economies 
    • ECS 7405 - Economics of Latin America 
    • ECS 7435 - Economics of the Caribbean 
    • ECO 5709 - The World Economy 
    • ECP 5707 - International Economic Problems & Policy 
    • ECS 5005 - Comparative Economic Systems 
    • ECS 5027 - Economic Development of Emerging Nations 
    • ECS 7015 - Development Economics: Theory 
    • ECS 7026 - Development Economics: Planning and Policy 

    Global and Sociocultural Studies Eligible Certificate Elective Courses 

    • GEA 6409 - Landscapes of Violence and Healing in the Americas 
    • GEO 5557 - Globalization 
    • GEO 6473 - Space, Place and Identity 
    • ANG 6303 - Comparative Feminisms 
    • ANG 6339 - Seminar on Latin America 
    • SYD 5045 - Population and Society 
    • SYD 6236 - International Migration and Refugees 
    • SYD 6705 - Comparative Analysis of Ethnicity and Race 
    • SYG 6932 - Special Topics in Disaster Studies 
    • GIS 5935 - Topics in Geographic Information Systems 
    • GIS 5038 - Remote Sensing 
    • GEO 5415 - Topics in Social Geography 
    • SYO 6306 - Political Sociology 
    • SYP 5447 - Development and Post-Development 

    History Eligible Certificate Elective Courses 

    • AFH 5905 - Readings in African History 
    • AFH 5935 - Topics in African History 
    • AMH 5905 - Readings in American History 
    • AMH 5935 - Topics in American History 
    • EUH 5126 - Readings in European History 
    • EUH 5935 - Topics in European History 
    • HIS 6059 - Historical Methods 
    • LAH 5905 - Readings in Latin American History 
    • LAH 5935 - Topics in Latin American History 
    • WOH 5237 - The African Diaspora Since the End of the Slave Trade 
    • AMH 5935 - Topics in American History 
    • EUH 5935 - Topics in European History 

    Law Eligible Certificate Elective Courses 

    • LAW 6251 - Comparative Constitutional Law 
    • LAW 6255 - Comparative Law: Constitutions and the Judicial Process 
    • LAW 6280 - European Union Law and Policy 
    • LAW 6264 - Immigration Law 
    • LAW 6103 - International Criminal Law 
    • LAW 7268 - International Environmental Law 
    • LAW 6263 - International Human Rights Law 
    • LAW 6282 - Law and Politics in Latin American 
    • LAW 6260 - Public International Law 
    • LAW 7930 - Special Topics in Law 
    • LAW 6506 - Foreign Relations and National Security Law 
    • LAW 6936 - Seminars 

    Politics and International Relations Eligible Certificate Elective Courses 

    • CPO 5325 - Politics of the Caribbean 
    • CPO 6105 - Politics of the European Union 
    • CPO 6106 - Seminar on European Politics 
    • CPO 6307 - Seminar on South American Politics 
    • CPO 6350 - Seminar in Brazilian Politics 
    • CPO 6407 - Seminar in Politics of the Middle East 
    • INR 6089 - International Relations and Human Rights 
    • CPO 6316 - Seminar in Latin American Democratic Institutions 
    • INR 5087 - Ethnicity and the Politics of Development 
    • INR 6936 - Seminar in Inter-American Politics 
    • POS 6725 - Formal Political Modeling 
    • POS 6918 - Seminar in Political Science Research Methods 
    • INR 5036 - Politics of Globalization 
    • INR 5086 - Islam in International Relations 
    • INR 5087 - Ethnicity and the Politics of Development 
    • INR 5255 - Seminar in African Development 
    • INR 5275 - International Relations of the Middle East 
    • INR 5409 - International Law I 
    • INR 5507 - International Organizations I 
    • INR 5607 - International Relations and Development 
    • INR 5609 - Contemporary Dynamics of International Relations 
    • INR 6209 - Comparative Foreign Policy of Latin America 
    • INR 6266 - Seminar in Russian Foreign Policy 
    • INR 6406 - International Law II 
    • INR 6706 - Political Economy of International Relations 
    • CPO 5036 - Politics of Development 
    • CPO 5936 - Seminar in Comparative Political Parties 
    • CPO 6092 - Seminar in Comparative Political Culture 
    • INR 5036 - Politics of Globalization 
    • INR 5062 - War, Peace and Conflict Resolution in INR 
    • INR 5934 - Topics in International Politics 
    • INR 6705 - Seminar in International Political Economy 

    Religious Studies Eligible Certificate Elective Courses 

    • RLG 5025 - Myth and Religion 
    • RLG 5144 - Women and Religion 
    • RLG 5149 - Religion, Violence, and Conflict 
    • RLG 5352 - Religions of East Asia 
    • RLG 5488 - Theology and Liberation Movements 
    • RLG 6322 - Seminar in Western Religions 
    • RLG 6319 - Seminar in Asian Religions 
    • RLG 6442 - Religion in the Contemporary World