INSS Major Requirements

INSS Major Requirements (available Fall 2026)

To earn the INSS major, students can choose between the BA or the BGS in Intelligence & National Security Studies. Students must complete the four core courses for the INSS track (12 hours), plus 6 additional courses related to INSS (18 hours).

  • (1) Four required courses:
    • POLS 125 Introduction to Intelligence & Statecraft
    • POLS 130 US Intelligence Community
    • POLS 325 Intelligence Analytics
    • POLS 345 Counterintelligence
  • (2) Plus five INSS elective courses
  • (3) Plus INSS Capstone Research Class, 3 hours (POLS 494, 495, 499)

Approved Elective List for INSS Major:

  • POLS 356 Government & Politics in East Asia
  • POLS 361 Politics of the Middle East
  • POLS 371 United States Foreign Policy 
  • POLS 375 Russian Foreign Policy
  • POLS 378 Chinese Foreign Policy
  • POLS 425 Extremist Groups and Government Response
  • POLS 452 Politics in Europe
  • POLS 477 U.S. National Security Policy
  • POLS 482 Transnational Terrorism
  • POLS 682 Trafficking, Organized Crime and Terrorism: U.S. Government Response
  • POLS 687 Introduction to Cyberintelligence 
  • POLS 688 US Counterterrorism Approaches to International and Domestic Terror Groups