Economic, Political and Policy Sciences

EPPS 1110 Critical Issues in the Social Sciences (1 semester credit hour) This course is a graduation requirement for all first time in college EPPS freshman. This course is designed to introduce incoming freshmen to the intellectual and cultural environment of the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences. Students will learn about EPPS majors, research opportunities, careers, and internships. The course covers introductory information applied to criminology, political science, public affairs/public administration, nonprofit management, economics, global economy, and sociology. This course is also open to all non-EPPS majors. Corequisite: UNIV 1010. (1-1) Y

EPPS 2301 Research Design in the Social and Policy Sciences (3 semester credit hours) Approaches adopted by the social and policy sciences to increase understanding and develop actions to improve the world. Topics include: philosophy of science, logic of inquiry, role of theory in attributing cause, articulating answerable research questions, efficient exploration of the research literature, types of research design, qualitative approaches, transforming abstract concepts into measurable indicators, producing reliable data, assessing validity of conclusions, and research ethics and politics. Students completing this course will have a good understanding of systematic inquiry and its capacity to yield useful knowledge and a solid foundation for further study of research methods. (3-0) S

EPPS 2302 Methods of Quantitative Analysis in the Social and Policy Sciences (3 semester credit hours) This course introduces basic concepts and methods of statistical analysis used in different fields of social and policy science research to better understand human relationships and the impacts of government action on them. Topics include data description, using probability to assess the reasonableness of claims about the world based on sample data, exploring cause-effect interactions through regression models, and application of software to ease visualization and calculation. Students completing this course will be good consumers of statistical information and have a solid foundation for pursuing further study of quantitative analysis. NOTE: EPPS 2302 is required for all School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences majors. Prerequisite: MATH 1314 or equivalent. (3-0) S

EPPS 2305 Spatial Thinking and Data Analytics (3 semester credit hours) This course explores the role that Spatial Thinking plays across a variety of subject areas in science, engineering, mathematics, arts and humanities. We will introduce rich resources of geospatial data from government agencies, social media, and semantic web. Students will be exposed to introductory methods in Spatial Data Analytics afforded by Global Positioning Systems (GPS), Remote Sensing (RS), Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Spatial Analysis, and Mapping technologies and learn how to bring spatial considerations into research and applications. The course is intended to empower students with spatial intelligence (one of the nine intelligences on Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences) and with experiences of applying spatial thinking and data analytics to problem solving. (Same as GEOS 2305 or GISC 2305) (3-0) Y

EPPS 3301 Special Topics In Economic, Political and Policy Sciences (3 semester credit hours) Explores current topics in Economic, Political and Policy Sciences. May be repeated for credit as topics vary (9 semester credit hours maximum). Instructor consent required. (3-0) R

EPPS 3310 Community-Based Service Learning (3 semester credit hours) This interdisciplinary course aligns students with different community partners to effect social change through community-based/service learning. Community-based learning is a form of experiential education where students learn to apply educational content in a community setting with three distinct goals; academic learning, personal growth, and civic engagement. Each course section will have a different emphasis but will share a focus on the inter- and intra-personal development of 21st century skills, and reflective and reciprocal experiences. Community-based learning has been described as a transformative experience and identified as a high-impact practice in education. The course will integrate topic relevant reading and reflective writing assignments in a small-group setting. Credit/No Credit only. May be repeated for credit as topics vary (6 semester credit hours maximum). Instructor consent required. (3-0) S