Our Curriculum
Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership Curriculum
The School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership offers four distinct academic tracks in its undergraduate curriculum. To graduate with a BA or a BS degree in civic and economic thought and leadership, students are required to take at least one course from each academic track in addition to the required core courses.
“I’m better in my STEM classes because of SCETL, but I’m also better in my SCETL classes because of my STEM major.”
- Ariana A., neurobiology major and CEL minor
Listed below are the civic and economic thought and leadership elective courses that are regularly offered in each track. Additional rotating electives may be offered each semester. If you have any questions, you can schedule an academic advising appointment.
Moral and Political Thought
Study the questions at the heart of ethics and politics through the study of classics and contemporary texts.
Available courses
Great Ideas of Politics and Ethics (HU) (CIVI)
Justice and Virtue: Classical Political Thought
Reason and Revelation: Medieval Political Thought
Liberty and Equality: Early Modern Political Thought (HU) (CIVI)
Progress and Power: Late Modern Political Thought (GCSI)
Women in Political Thought and Leadership (L)(HUAD)
Science, Society, and Faith: Gaming the Galileo Affair (H)
Comparative Political Thought
Political Thought of Islam, Hinduism, and Confucianism
Latin American Political Thought (G) (GCSI)
Russian Political Thought (G or H)
Politics and Leadership in the Age of Revolutions
Political Thought & Literature
C.S. Lewis: Reason, Imagination, and Politics (HU) (HUAD)
Technology and the Good Life
American Political Thought
Available courses
Great Debates in American Politics (HU) (AMIT)
Debating American Constitutionalism: the Founding
Tocqueville’s Democracy in America
Lincoln: Rhetoric, Thought, Statesmanship (HUAD)
Race and the American Story (C) (HUAD)
Debates in American Civic Affairs
American Constitution I: Structures and Powers
American Constitution II: Civil Liberties (CIVI)
Arizona Constitutionalism and Political Development
Explore American political institutions and culture, constitutionalism, and leadership through the study of foundational documents and other important sources.
Economic Thought and Political Economy
Available courses
Philosophy, Politics & Economics (SB) (SOBE)
Classical to Modern Economic Thought
Debating Capitalism (SOBE)
Debating Socialism (HUAD)
Modern Economic Classics
American Political Economy
Adam Smith and Classical Political Economy
Answer fundamental questions around economic inequality, relationships between the market and the state, and how markets do (or don't) work in this track through the study of classic texts in the history of economic thought and the writings of more recent economists.
Leadership and Statesmanship for the 21st Century
This track forms future leaders through courses in political rhetoric and speech writing, American foreign policy, exemplary leadership styles, and navigating conflicts in a complex and interdependent world.
Available courses
Statesmanship and American Grand Strategy (SB) (HUAD)
Classical Political Statecraft
Modern Political Statecraft
US National Security Policy
War as a Moral Problem: Just War
War as a Legal Problem: Law of Armed Conflict
Civil-Military Relations
Left and Right Around the World
Debating Globalism and Nationalism, Past and Present (G)
Sports and Leadership
Leading a Life of Meaning (HUAD)
Shakespeare's Leadership Lessons
Leadership and Service GIE: India
Leadership and Service GIE: Israel & West Bank