Course Content and Outcomes Guides (CCOG)

CCOG for PS 220 Winter 2025


Course Number:
PS 220
Course Title:
U.S. Foreign Policy
Credit Hours:
4
Lecture Hours:
40
Lecture/Lab Hours:
0
Lab Hours:
0

Course Description

Covers historical analytical treatment of select foreign policy themes since World War I. Examines the United States' attempt to create world order through use of economic, military and diplomatic power, the roles of democratic institutions and decision-making elites in creating foreign policy, and the interdependent basis of the contemporary international system. Prerequisites: WR 115, RD 115 and MTH 20 or equivalent placement test scores. Audit available.

Addendum to Course Description

Credits from this course qualify for general education purposes at Portland Community College and may be applied toward satisfying Associates Degrees at Portland Community College. Courses with three digit numbers may be transferable to four year colleges and universities. Students should consult with a PCC Academic Advisor and/or other institutions regarding transferability and application of credit to other institutions.
 

Intended Outcomes for the course

Upon completion of the course students should be able to:

  1. Articulate the  diversity of human experience and culture in relationship to how individuals think and interact with others representing nationstates, organizations, and groups operating in the global environment.
  2. Organize information in conceptual frameworks using different methods of inquiry and analytical skills in order to discern meaning from attempts of the U.S. to create world order through use of economic, military, and diplomatic power.
  3. Analyze the roles of individuals and political institutions as these relate to contemporary problems and issues including the role of democratic institutions and decision-making elites in creating foreign policy.
  4. Reason quantitatively and qualitatively using analytical skills expressed in both written and oral communication to address the interdependent basis of contemporary international system and the United States’ place in it.
  5. Articulate personal value judgments while respecting points of view, while practicing ethical and social requirements of responsible global citizenship by participating in opportunities to shape U.S. foreign policy.

Social Inquiry and Analysis

Students completing an associate degree at Portland Community College will be able to apply methods of inquiry and analysis to examine social contexts and the diversity of human thought and experience.

General education philosophy statement

Political science is fundamental to helping students understand and act as more effective and empowered citizens. We contribute to the college and the wider community by examining critical questions about power and by preparing our students to be better citizens across the globe. Political science offers a variety of diverse approaches to the college and is strongly grounded in the sub-fields of American and Comparative Politics, International Relations and Political Theory. Our mission is to support educated and empowered students and to foster deep understandings of complex global and local issues. Our goal is to teach critical thinking and to expose students to the complex and diverse world that we live in.

Outcome Assessment Strategies

The SAC assumes that faculty will assess student learning using some combination of the following assessment strategies:

  • Exams consisting of essay or other method that integrates and requires application of concepts, themes and issues in the course
  • Written assignments such as papers, reviews, journals and other writing assignments that demonstrate understanding of content knowledge and appropriate application by students of content to clarification of their own views on political issues
  • Oral presentations, summits, model-UN, discussions, debates, or role-playing that articulate views and values incorporating a comprehensive knowledge of appropriate concepts and issues
  • Projects where students can identify resources that provide political information and can utilize these resources to evaluate the political process and identify participatory strategies.
  • Review and critique of political material from different media.
  • Use of standard research techniques and acceptable formats in written work and oral presentations

Course Content (Themes, Concepts, Issues and Skills)

  • the political culture of the US and how it affects US foreign policy decisions
  • competing theories of foreign policy, including idealism, realism, and others
  • the role and powers of the President and Congress in the foreign policy making process
  • the role of non-governmental organizations in policy-making process
  • the influences of public opinion on foreign policy
  • the politics of foreign economic policy, including the use of trade, aid and monetary policy as tools in applying foreign policies
  • the instruments of violence, coercion, covert activity and diplomacy as tools in carrying out US foreign interests

Students should develop the following skills:

  • Support generalizations/arguments with examples or evidence
  • Accurately articulates ideas in written and oral presentation
  • Articulates original applications and synthesis of academic theories/frameworks, supporting them by citing valid sources.
  • Demonstrates knowledge of political system in written and oral work
  • Critiques own assumptions and those of others, validating them with substantial thinking and application of appropriate arguments.
  • Use of standard research techniques and acceptable formats in written work and oral presentations

Approved Texts:
Choice of texts is at the discretion of each course instructor. Some of the suggestions:
Hastedt, Glenn P. American Foreign Policy, Past, Present, Future 4th edition, Prentice Hall, 2000. Hastedt, ed. Annual Editions 00/01, Dushkin Publishing, 2000.