An exploration and analysis of past and present, these Military Studies courses, the core of Ashford University’s Associate of Arts in Military Studies and Bachelor of Arts in Military Studies, will give you a greater understanding of the global conflicts that have defined history. Your classes will focus on America’s role in these conflicts, as you come to understand the positive and negative impact of U.S. military involvement from a social, political, economical, and cultural perspective. Military Studies students will complete the Bachelor’s program by creating a comprehensive research paper reflecting an understanding of military history, leadership, ethics, and the role of the armed forces in peacekeeping and humanitarian efforts.
This course provides an orientation to the systematic study of the military. It explores topics that include grand strategy, the role of the military in the promotion of national security, how the application of military force can promote peace, the character traits necessary for moral and effective leadership, and the ethical dilemmas raised by the use of military force.
Since World War I, the American Military has expanded and transformed into a modern military machine. This course will focus on the reasons and ways in which the versatile American Military has been utilized throughout the world, at different times. This course will focus on a selection of significant battles fought by air, land and sea, during World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Persian Gulf War.
This course will examine ways in which militaries are utilized during peace times and in times of conflict. It will focus on NATO, the United Nations, Humanitarian Relief and Disaster Recovery. It will investigate the role external factors such as, international and local politics, geography, media, terrorism, and economics have on a military’s ability to be a peacekeeping force.
Ethical issues faced in the modern world will be examined including the ethics of leadership, just war theory, and the moral status of the rules of war. Students will use critical thinking to determine the ethical implications and solutions for complex issues that are relevant to the current day military. The course will make use of case studies to illustrate moral and ethical dilemmas.
United States military operations from colonial times through World War I. The course draws material from selected disciplines of the humanities, exploring how and why America has gone to war beginning with the American Revolution to the post-World War I period. This course examines how war has shaped national strategy and how conflict affected peacetime society.
United States military operations from the end of World War I to The Gulf Wars. The course draws material from selected disciplines of the humanities, exploring how and why America has gone to war beginning with World War II, through the Cold War period, and, finally, the Gulf Wars. This course examines how war has shaped national strategy and how conflict affected peacetime society.
This course will explore the concept of peacekeeping, particularly as it relates to grand strategy. Both multilateral and unilateral peacekeeping operations will be studied in considerable detail. Students will use a case study methodology to assess the utility and moral implications of peacekeeping operations worldwide.
The course will provide an overview of the literary content, social values and military significance found in selected works of military literature. Students will gain a contextual, cultural, and humanitarian understanding of the historical influences in military literature.
A close examination of how and what made specific American military leaders successful by studying their leadership techniques and military careers. The American Revolution to present day leaders will be examined. This course is designed to inspire an interest in the principles and practices of military leadership and to explore how these high-impact principles and practices may be professionally applied in the workplace.
Students will demonstrate their mastery of the learning outcomes of the Military Studies major by demonstrating the ability to conduct historical research using primary and secondary sources and by creating a final research paper requiring comprehensive critical analysis of an approved topic in the areas of military leadership, conflicts, peace-making, peace-keeping, and humanitarian efforts. Prerequisite: Successful completion of the General Education Capstone course.