2026-2027 Academic Catalog

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School of Pub & International Affairs (SPIA)

SPIA 1024 - Community Service Learning (3 credits) 
An introduction to community service learning with emphasis on the development of civic agency. Critical perspectives on community, ethical community engagement, service and volunteerism, servant leadership, and social change. Exposure to the socio-political dynamics inherent in community development and problem solving. Includes significant community engagement and service-learning experiences, reflection, and the development of a personal community engagement action plan.
Pathway Concept Area(s): 3 Reasoning in Social Sciences, 10 Ethical Reasoning, 11 Intercultural&Global Aware. 
Instructional Contact Hours: (3 Lec, 3 Crd) 
Course Crosslist: UH 1024 
SPIA 1044 - Life in the Built Environment (3 credits) 
Development of the human-made environment has shaped our social relations, culture, and identity. Discussion of how the imposition of built form has served both to define a shared culture and as a means of exclusion and injustice. Study of equity and ethics as evidenced and continued in planning, construction, and public space. Learn how the knowledge of these past structures might shape the future of the built environment in the United States in ways that are more equitable, inclusive, and sustainable.
Pathway Concept Area(s): 3 Reasoning in Social Sciences, 7 Identity & Equity in U.S., 11 Intercultural&Global Aware. 
Instructional Contact Hours: (3 Lec, 3 Crd) 
Course Crosslist: ARCH 1044 
SPIA 1044H - Life in the Built Environment (3 credits) 
Development of the human-made environment has shaped our social relations, culture, and identity. Discussion of how the imposition of built form has served both to define a shared culture and as a means of exclusion and injustice. Study of equity and ethics as evidenced and continued in planning, construction, and public space. Learn how the knowledge of these past structures might shape the future of the built environment in the United States in ways that are more equitable, inclusive, and sustainable.
Pathway Concept Area(s): 3 Reasoning in Social Sciences, 7 Identity & Equity in U.S., 11 Intercultural&Global Aware. 
Instructional Contact Hours: (3 Lec, 3 Crd) 
Course Crosslist: ARCH 1044H 
SPIA 2004 - Introduction to Urban Analytics (3 credits) 
Computational and quantitative thinking applied to urban problems. Multiple data sources and tools for urban analysis. Application of computational and quantitative thinking in decision making and policy processes. Data cleaning, joining/merging, and summarizing. Evaluation of computational and quantitative thinking in urban planning and policy. Ethical and other issues related to computing, analysis and problem solving.
Pathway Concept Area(s): 5A Quant & Comp Thnk Adv., 10 Ethical Reasoning 
Instructional Contact Hours: (3 Lec, 3 Crd) 
SPIA 2024 - Community Systems Thinking (3 credits) 
Introduction to systems thinking concepts and their application to community-based problem solving and decision making. Emphasis on identifying interactions between technical and contextual dimensions of persistent, complex global problems. Introduces systemic frameworks for defining problems, identifying and engaging stakeholders, ideating interventions, selecting and employing criteria for decision making, and creating feedback mechanisms for iterative design. Ethics of community engagement is considered. Includes problem- based service-learning projects.
Pathway Concept Area(s): 3 Reasoning in Social Sciences, 11 Intercultural&Global Aware. 
Instructional Contact Hours: (3 Lec, 3 Crd) 
SPIA 2124 - The Art & Science of Negotiation (3 credits) 
Practical negotiation techniques and tactics. Tools to systematically assess and prepare for negotiations, including option evaluation and understanding counterparts. Interpersonal skills for effective engagement. Multiparty negotiations. Ethical and moral issues in negotiations. Representation and principle-agent issues. Negotiation process design. Facilitation and mediation. Tackling scientifically and technically complex disputes. Various models, with an emphasis on the mutual gains approach to negotiation.
Instructional Contact Hours: (3 Lec, 3 Crd) 
SPIA 2244 - Sustainable Urbanization (3 credits) 
Process of urbanization and theories and approaches of urban development. Debates on the meanings of sustainable urbanization and development in cities and how they are measured. Urban sustainability initiatives in the context of urban political economies, land-use practices, urban inequality and diversity, urban nature, and urban policy and politics. Programs and policies designed to enhance sustainable urbanization. Comparative approach and global perspective. Fee $30.
Pathway Concept Area(s): 3 Reasoning in Social Sciences, 11 Intercultural&Global Aware. 
Instructional Contact Hours: (3 Lec, 3 Crd) 
Course Crosslist: GEOG 2244 
SPIA 2314 - Active Transportation for a Healthy, Sustainable Planet (3 credits) 
Connections among active transportation (e.g., bicycling, walking) and significant global challenges such as physical inactivity, health, the environment, and the economy on local to global scales. Methods to assess walkability among communities with different worldviews and the influence of the built environment on rates of active transportation. Approaches to evaluate demographic and psychosocial predictors and physical and policy barriers to use of active transportation. Successful strategies to increase active transportation through community design guidelines, behavior change tools, transportation planning, and policy.
Instructional Contact Hours: (3 Lec, 3 Crd) 
Course Crosslist: HNFE 2314 
SPIA 2544 - Policy Dynamics in Global Health (3 credits) 
Overview of global health problems and policy. Key actors and socio-political dynamics that shape knowledge and action on global health issues. Roles and responsibilities in global health policymaking.
Pathway Concept Area(s): 3 Reasoning in Social Sciences, 11 Intercultural&Global Aware. 
Instructional Contact Hours: (3 Lec, 3 Crd) 
SPIA 2554 - Collaborative Policy-Making and Planning (3 credits) 
Introduction to multi-stakeholder collaboration and public participation in planning, policy-making and public administration. Tools and approaches for engagement and effective collaboration. Deliberative and participatory democracy, and transparency in society. Information sharing and access. Civil society, the media and citizen activism. Ethical and moral issues in collaboration. Barriers to participation, and diversity and inclusion.
Pathway Concept Area(s): 3 Reasoning in Social Sciences, 7 Identity & Equity in U.S., 10 Ethical Reasoning 
Instructional Contact Hours: (3 Lec, 3 Crd) 
SPIA 2984 - Special Study (1-19 credits) 
Instructional Contact Hours: Variable credit course 
SPIA 3554 - Transdisciplinary Problem Solving for Social Issues (3 credits) 
Strategies and skills for transdisciplinary problem solving. Emphasis on integrative thinking strategies and cognitive and interpersonal skills required to bridge scientific discipline-based, non-scientific discipline-based and cultural knowledge. Strategies to identify important disciplinary, non-scientific, ethical, cultural, and structural elements of a problem. Problem-based learning, ethics, team work, and effective communication skills.
Instructional Contact Hours: (3 Lec, 3 Crd) 
SPIA 3704 - Urban Contention and Mobilization (3 credits) 
Analyzes the emergence and impact of contentious mobilization in the U.S. and global cities. Includes civil and labor rights, religious freedom, democratization, and other movements for equity and inclusion. Explores social scientific approaches to mobilization, countermobilization, and collective action. Impact of contentious mobilization on governance and planning in urban sites and spaces worldwide. Examines how movements manage and address internal diversity, including variation in members’ diverse experiences and objectives.
Pathway Concept Area(s): 7 Identity & Equity in U.S., 11 Intercultural&Global Aware. 
Instructional Contact Hours: (3 Lec, 3 Crd) 
SPIA 3900 - Bridge Experience (0 credits) 
Application of academic knowledge and skills to in a work-based experience aligned with post-graduation goals using research-based learning processes. Satisfactory completion of work-based experience often in the form of internship, undergraduate research, co-op, or study abroad; self-evaluation; reflection; and showcase of learning. Pre: Departmental approval of 3900 plan.
Instructional Contact Hours: (0 Crd) 
SPIA 3954 - Study Abroad (1-19 credits) 
Instructional Contact Hours: Variable credit course 
SPIA 3984 - Special Study (1-19 credits) 
Instructional Contact Hours: Variable credit course 
SPIA 4454 - Future of Cities (3 credits) 
Cities as complex systems. Interdependence of social, economic, environmental, and technological components and how these change over time. Theories about city formation, structure, and change, with implications for sustainability, resilience, and globalization.
Instructional Contact Hours: (3 Lec, 3 Crd) 
SPIA 4464 - Data and the Art of Policy-Making and Planning (3 credits) 
Critical examination of use of scientific and technical information in planning and policy-making, exploring issues and challenges through social science lens. Investigation of appropriate and responsible use of data within collaborative and deliberative policy-making and planning processes. Presentation of data and underlying models in accessible and understandable formats. Integrating all forms of knowledge into decision-making, including local and traditional knowledge.
Pathway Concept Area(s): 5A Quant & Comp Thnk Adv., 10 Ethical Reasoning 
Instructional Contact Hours: (3 Lec, 3 Crd) 
SPIA 4554 - Creating the Ecological City (3 credits) 
Multidisciplinary, team oriented, problem-solving approaches to creating cities that foster healthy interconnections between human and ecological systems. Analysis of problems from practical and ethical perspectives in the context of the diverse knowledge bases and values of decision-makers. Formation and utilization of integrated design teams to address complex ecological city design and planning problems at a variety of scales. Pre: Senior standing.
Prerequisite(s): HORT 2134 or FREC 2134 
Pathway Concept Area(s): 3 Reasoning in Social Sciences, 6A Critique & Practice in Arts, 6D Critique & Prac in Design, 10 Ethical Reasoning 
Instructional Contact Hours: (3 Lec, 3 Crd) 
Course Crosslist: BSE 4554, FREC 4554, HORT 4554, LAR 4554 
SPIA 4784 - Community Engagement Capstone (3 credits) 
Collaborative community problem solving in team environments. Data collection, interpretation, and presentation augment community-based, iterative design and planning processes. Consideration of ethical engagement and community goals related to social justice, resilience, and sustainability. Discourse-based project culminating in presentation of intervention proposals to stakeholders.
Prerequisite(s): SPIA 1024 
Pathway Concept Area(s): 1A Discourse Advanced, 10 Ethical Reasoning, 11 Intercultural&Global Aware. 
Instructional Contact Hours: (3 Lec, 3 Crd) 
Course Crosslist: UH 4784 
SPIA 4954 - Study Abroad (1-19 credits) 
Instructional Contact Hours: Variable credit course 
SPIA 4964 - Field Work/Practicum (1-19 credits) 
Instructional Contact Hours: Variable credit course 
SPIA 4984 - Special Study (1-19 credits) 
Instructional Contact Hours: Variable credit course 
SPIA 4994 - Undergraduate Research (1-19 credits) 
Instructional Contact Hours: Variable credit course 
SPIA 5104 - Policy Gateway: Policy and Decision Making in Scientific Domains (3 credits) 
Key concepts in policy making, including policy analysis and decision making in complex social and technical settings. Policy process theories and evaluation tools. Concepts of governance including public values, ethics, and variable impacts across communities. Relationships among public policy decision processes and science, technology, and engineering, including disciplinary norms. Pre: Graduate standing.
Instructional Contact Hours: (3 Lec, 3 Crd) 
Course Crosslist: PSCI 5104, STS 5104 
SPIA 5124 - Decision Making, Reflective Practice, and Engagement in STEM-H Domains (3 credits) 
In-depth case-based exploration of roles of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in policy-making. Application of theories, concepts and practices for policy decision-making, including stakeholder engagement, human behavior, and organizational development. Critical examination of ethics, and fostering of reflective practice. Implications of big data and modeling in decision-making. Pre: Graduate standing.
Instructional Contact Hours: (3 Lec, 3 Crd) 
Course Crosslist: PSCI 5124, STS 5124 
SPIA 5134 - Tools and Approaches for Policy-Making in STEM-H Domains (3 credits) 
Techniques for translating theory-driven, qualitative concepts into quantitative data-focused modeling to address policy problems. Quantitative and computational tools including statistical inference and hypothesis testing, system dynamics, and economic analysis. Modeling paradigms and common challenges in modeling. Modern data analytic practices, including good collection, storage and visualization techniques. Problem definitions and application to real-world policy-related problems and implementation in modern software packages. Understanding complexity. Critical evaluation of challenges and common pitfalls in quantitative modeling. Pre: Graduate standing.
Instructional Contact Hours: (3 Lec, 3 Crd) 
Course Crosslist: PSCI 5134, STAT 5134 
SPIA 5154 - Science, Technology, and Engineering in Policy Seminar (1 credit) 
Seminar for Science, Technology, and Engineering in Policy (STEP) program students. Presentation of research on the intersections of science, technology, engineering, math, and health (STEM-H), public policy, and ethics. Professional development. Research resources and tools. Project management and funding opportunities. Publishing standards and processes across disciplines. STEM-H and policy practitioner engagement. Multidisciplinary communication. May be repeated up to six times, as seminar and presentation topics will change each semester. Pass/Fail only. Pre: Graduate standing.
Instructional Contact Hours: (1 Lec, 1 Crd) 
Repeatability: up to 7 credit hours 
Course Crosslist: PSCI 5154, STS 5154 
SPIA 5284 - Nuclear Nonproliferation, Safeguards, and Security (3 credits) 
Technical essentials, policy analysis, theoretical perspectives of nuclear energy and nuclear nonproliferation. Fundamentals of the nuclear fuel cycle, management of international safeguards, threat of nuclear terrorism, and challenges for global nuclear industry. Pre: Graduate standing.
Instructional Contact Hours: (3 Lec, 3 Crd) 
Course Crosslist: NSEG 5284, STS 5284 
SPIA 5304 - Introduction to Game Theory & Wargaming (3 credits) 
Introduces core concepts of game theory and wargaming used to analyze competitive interactions. Examines differences between game theoretic models and wargaming simulations and their roles in understanding strategy and uncertainty. Reviews the historical development and major applications of wargaming. Applies foundational game theory models to defense related scenarios. Analyzes wargame outcomes to compare observed behavior with theoretical expectations and to evaluate wargaming as a decision support method. Pre: Graduate standing.
Instructional Contact Hours: (3 Lec, 3 Crd) 
SPIA 5314 - Analytical Foundations for Wargaming (3 credits) 
Covers operations research models used in wargaming, including attrition modeling and basic campaign simulations. Examines principles of analytic wargame design, adjudication methods, and data collection planning. Introduces qualitative and quantitative techniques for analyzing wargame results and interpreting trends. Reviews quality standards for evaluating wargame rigor, limitations, and uncertainty. Explores the role of analytical wargaming in defense planning and its relationship to modeling, simulation, and other decision support tools. Pre: Graduate standing.
Instructional Contact Hours: (3 Lec, 3 Crd) 
SPIA 5324 - Mission Design and Human Factors in Wargaming (3 credits) 
Introduces the principles of designing credible wargame scenarios, including objectives, narrative structure, and victory conditions. Examines operational and real world factors, game mechanics, and uncertainty that shape scenario realism. Analyzes player behavior and wargame execution and applies structured feedback to evaluate and refine scenario design. Pre: Graduate standing.
Instructional Contact Hours: (3 Lec, 3 Crd) 
SPIA 5334 - Wargaming Design and Capstone (3 credits) 
Examines principles of rigorous wargame design, including scenario structure, objectives, and methodological standards. Covers purpose definition and research question development for decision support applications. Explores best practices in wargame control, adjudication, and information management. Introduces techniques for analyzing wargame data and deriving defensible insights. Emphasizes professional reporting and presentation of findings for decision makers.
Prerequisite(s): SPIA 5304 and SPIA 5314 
Instructional Contact Hours: (3 Lec, 3 Crd) 
SPIA 5514 - Nongovernmental Organizations in International Development (3 credits) 
Roles of Nongovernmental Organizations (NGO) in international development. NGO interactions with local governments, community organizations, international governmental organizations, and private businesses. Tensions and collaborations between NGOs and other development actors. Pre: Graduate Standing.
Instructional Contact Hours: (3 Lec, 3 Crd) 
SPIA 5524 - Nonprofit Accountability and Evaluation (3 credits) 
Societal role of the nonprofit sector. Why nonprofit organizations are held accountable, to whom they are accountable, and how organizations can satisfy accountability demands. Evaluation tools for accountability Pre: Graduate Standing.
Instructional Contact Hours: (3 Lec, 3 Crd) 
SPIA 5534 - Nonprofit Organization Leadership (3 credits) 
Methods of devising and implementing leadership strategies in the complex economic, cultural, social, and political contexts in which nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations operate. Theories, models, and tools for success, focusing on leadership accountability, ethos, and performance. Pre: Graduate Standing.
Instructional Contact Hours: (3 Lec, 3 Crd) 
SPIA 5544 - Public and Nonprofit Financial Management (3 credits) 
Role of finance in the management of complex public, nonprofit, and nongovernmental organizations. Functions of financial management, including planning and budgeting, reporting, resource acquisition, and internal controls in the nonprofit context. Pre: Graduate Standing.
Instructional Contact Hours: (3 Lec, 3 Crd) 
SPIA 5564 - Nonprofit and Nongovernmental Organization Law and Ethics (3 credits) 
Professional managers engaging legal, ethical, and normative systems affecting nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations (NGO), both domestically and internationally. Historical foundations of legal regulation and professional ethics impacting nonprofit and NGOs. Professional ethics. Tax implications related to charitable giving, advocacy, lobbying, political and commercial activities of tax-exempt organizations. Current theories of nonprofit and nongovernmental organization regulation. Pre: Graduate Standing.
Instructional Contact Hours: (3 Lec, 3 Crd) 
SPIA 5574 - Nonprofit Organization and Management (3 credits) 
Internal management for nonprofit and nongovernmental organization managers with emphasis on unique culture, social, political, and economic challenges facing nonprofit managers. Key management knowledge, processes, and system skills for managers in nonprofit organizations and NGOs and the role of internal collaboration. Challenges facing domestic nonprofits compared to those found in nongovernmental organizations across the globe. Pre: Graduate Standing.
Instructional Contact Hours: (3 Lec, 3 Crd) 
SPIA 5614 - Building Participation and Engagement in Volunteer-Based Organizations (3 credits) 
Effective participation and engagement in nonprofit volunteer organizations. Role of enhanced autonomy, decentralization, democracy, and inclusive decision-making in attracting and retaining volunteers. Strategies for managing large groups of volunteers and deepening volunteer commitment to engagement for purposes of the organization mission. Pre: Graduate Standing.
Instructional Contact Hours: (3 Lec, 3 Crd) 
SPIA 5674 - Financial Health of Public and Non-Profit Organizations (3 credits) 
Concepts, tools and techniques, analytical capacities necessary to evaluate financial condition and the overall financial health of governmental and nonprofit organizations. Resiliency and the impact of policy on the organization. Pre: Graduate Standing.
Instructional Contact Hours: (3 Lec, 3 Crd) 
SPIA 5904 - Project and Report (1-19 credits) 
Instructional Contact Hours: Variable credit course 
SPIA 5954 - Study Abroad (1-19 credits) 
Instructional Contact Hours: Variable credit course 
SPIA 5974 - Independent Study (1-19 credits) 
Instructional Contact Hours: Variable credit course 
SPIA 5984 - Special Study (1-19 credits) 
Instructional Contact Hours: Variable credit course 
SPIA 6004 - SPIA Graduate Colloquium (1 credit) 
Special topics, critical reviews, lectures and discussion of literature in planning and public policy. Presentation and critique of research related to dissertation and other research. Research resources and tools, project management and funding opportunities. Professional development, publishing standards and processes. May be repeated up to eight times, as seminar and presentation topics will change each semester. Pass/Fail only. Pre: Graduate standing
Instructional Contact Hours: (1 Lec, 1 Crd) 
SPIA 6014 - Pedagogy and Learning (3 credits) 
Central questions of pedagogy and learning with emphasis on the social and cultural foundations of the university in our society. Historical context for and nature of research in fields encompassed by policy, environmental design and planning; theoretical underpinnings and methodological approaches; current research directions; and selected case studies of research projects. A requirement for both GG and UEDP track students. Pre: Graduate Standing.
Instructional Contact Hours: (3 Lec, 3 Crd) 
SPIA 6104 - Knowledge Theory & Planning (3 credits) 
Doctoral-level seminar that examines contemporary theories of planned societal change.
Instructional Contact Hours: (3 Lec, 3 Crd) 
SPIA 6564 - Risk in Contemporary Culture (3 credits) 
Conceptual perspectives on social and cultural studies of risk. Qualitative theories and tools for analyzing a wide range of risks in contemporary culture. Definitions of risk as opposed to concepts such as danger, hazard, and uncertainty. Perception of risk and selective bias in risk perception. Efficiency, objectivity, and morality as factors influencing risk assessment and risk management, and affective definitions of safety and reliability. Role of expertise, trust, and communication in risk regulation. Democratic policy instruments to facilitate stable, legitimate decisions about what risks to take or avoid in contemporary societies. Pre: Graduate Standing.
Instructional Contact Hours: (3 Lec, 3 Crd) 
Course Crosslist: STS 6564 
SPIA 6984 - Special Study (1-19 credits) 
Instructional Contact Hours: Variable credit course