Graduate Certificate in Social, Political, Ethical and Cultural Thought
Sponsoring Unit: Alliance for Social, Political, Ethical and Cultural Thought (ASPECT)
Rationale
As its name suggests, ASPECT fosters a theoretically informed engagement among domains of inquiry often separated by the disciplinary confines that accompanied the 19th century institutionalization of the modern research university. Through its teaching and research programs, ASPECT places in dialogue ethical thought, cultural studies, historical analysis, political and political-economic analysis, and critical social and political theory as these have been articulated in various disciplines, subdisciplines and fields. See here.
Faculty and students in ASPECT conduct research and participate in graduate seminars and workshops about compelling theoretical problems that emerge at the intersections of social and political theory and ethical and cultural thought. As researchers in various fields of scholarship, students seeking the certificate will grapple with such issues as state sovereignty; religion and politics; comparative ethics; radical, plural and other forms of democracy; cultural production and the politics of culture; science and technology; corporate and non-corporate models of globalization; identity and difference; environmental crisis; global civil society and the ethics of place; national and comparative perspectives on race, racialization, and nativism; bio-ethics and bio-power; gender and sexuality; and analytic approaches to power and justice.
In sum, ASPECT fosters a theoretically informed return to broad concerns about values and power, their historical contexts, and their various manifestations in contemporary states, societies, and cultures. ASPECT utilizes the resulting understandings to analyze various sites that are both local and global in effect.
Admission Requirements
Applications for the Graduate Certificate in Social, Political, Ethical and Cultural Thought will be considered from non-degree post-baccalaureate students who have been permitted to take courses by the Graduate School, and Master's, professional and/or Ph.D. graduate students accepted in ASPECT or other programs at Virginia Tech who seek to enhance their training in interdisciplinary thought, methodology, and theory. Students new to Virginia Tech will be considered on the basis of transcripts, a statement of purpose, two letters of recommendation and other requirements specified by the Graduate School. Students previously admitted by the Graduate School or accepted as graduate students in a cognate program will submit to the director a statement of purpose and at least one letter of recommendation.
Completion Requirements
The certificate provides entry level graduate training in interdisciplinary social, political, ethical, and cultural thought and theory. The certificate curriculum consists of 18 credit hours of course work and can be completed in one year of concentrated study. Alternatively, the certificate can be earned over the course of several years of part time study or while the student is working simultaneously towards another degree. Student interests will determine in which departments, and in which concentration, specific requirements will be fulfilled, with the approval of the program director. The certificate will be awarded following successful completion of all course requirements with an overall GPA of 3.0 or better.
Curriculum
- ASPT 6004: Interdisciplinary Perspectives in Social, Political, Ethical and Cultural Thought.
- GRAD 5114: Pedagogical Practices*
- Three 6000 (or 5000) courses in the candidates major concentration (i.e., cultural, political, ethical or social thought)
- One 6000 (or 5000) course in the candidate’s secondary concentration (i.e., cultural, political, ethical or social thought)
* required for students who will serve as GTAs. Students not funded as GTAs may substitute another course from (4), their secondary concentration.
In fulfillment of 3) and 4), students will be required to take courses from more than one department.
The following courses are available to certificate earners; they may not be offered every semester. Consult the ASPECT home page listing of course offerings, updated each semester prior to registration.
Certificate Electives **
Each course listed here and below counts for three credit hours.
ASPT 6204 Interdisciplinary Frameworks in Social, Political, Ethical, and Political Thought (variable topics)
Social Thought and Theory
AFST 5314 Theories in Africana Studies
HIST 5114 U. S. to 1877
HIST 5124 U. S. Since 1877
GEOG 5014 Geographic Theory & Research
GEOG 5564 Contemporary Thought in Human Geography
PHIL 6014 Special Topics in Philosophy
SOC 5024 Power in Institutions
SOC 5104 History of Sociological Thought
SOC 5114 Contemporary Sociological Theory
SOC 5654 The Global Division of Labor
HIST 5934 Gender in U.S. History
STS 6524 Critical Approaches to Science & Technology
STS 6614 Advanced Topics in Technology Studies
STS 6664 Advanced Topics in Science & Technology Policy
STS 6674 Advanced Topics in Alternate Perspectives on Science, Technology & Medicine
STS 6824 Normative Structuring of Science & Technology
STS/HIST 5205, 5206 Main Themes in The History of Science & Technology
UAP 5394 Nature, Society & The Global Economy
WS 5914 Feminist Theory
Political Thought and Theory
AFST 5984 Political Consciousness and Agency: Minority Responses to Oppression
GEOG/GIA 5424 Topics in Political Geography
HIST 5524 Emergence of the Pacific Century
HIST 5534 Imperialism, Nationalism, & Decolonization
IDST/REL 5134 Islamic Political Thought
HIST 5214/ASPT 6214 Topics in Global History
PAPA 6014 Public Administration Theory
PHIL 6324 Advanced Topics in Ethics & Political Philosophy
PSCI/GIA 5214 Contemporary Political Theory
PSCI/GIA 5224 Alternative Perspectives in Political Theory
PSCI 5244/ASPT 6244 Constitutionalism in Theory and Practice
PSCI 5464 Critical Security Studies
PSCI/GIA 5241 Contemporary Political Theory
PSCI/GIA 5444 International Politics
PSCI/GIA 5514 Global Security
UAP 5104 Urban & Regional Development Theory
HIST 5144 The Transatlantic World
PSCI 5464/ASPT 6464 Critical Security Studies
Ethical Thought and Theory
HIST 5694 American Environmental History
HIST 6254 Advanced Topics in Modern Science, Technology and Medicine
HIST 5914 Race and Slavery in Comparative Perspective
PAPA 6414 Normative Foundations of Public Administration
PAPA 6454 Advanced Topics in Ethics & The Public Sector
PAPA 6494 Capstone Seminar in Ethics & The Public Sector
PHIL 5204 Topics in the History of Philosophy
PHIL 5324 Contemporary Metaethics
PHIL 5334 Ethics
PHIL 5344 History of Ethics
PHIL 6204 Advanced Topics in the History of Philosophy
PSCI/GIA/UAP 5364 Public Ecology
STS 5444 Issues in Bioethics
SOC/STS 6824 Normative Structuring of Science & Technology
UAP 5364 Non-Governmental Organizations in International Development
Cultural Thought and Theory
ARCH 5134 Topics in Architecture History and Theory
ARCH 5614 Theory of Urban Form
ENGL 5024 Critical Theory
ENGL 5064 Topics in Language
ENGL 5314 Genre Studies
ENGL 5354 Comparative Studies in Literature
ENGL 5454 Studies in Theory
ENGL 5544 Current Topics in Literary Study
ENGL 5664 Rhetoric of Science and Technology
ENGL 6334 Rhetoric in Society
ENGL 6514 Studies in Rhetoric
ENGL 6524 Theories of Written Communication
FL 5334 Topics in Foreign Language Cinema
FR 5344 Writing in the Francophone World
FR 5404 Topics in French Studies
HIST 5414/ASPT 5414 Topics in Cultural History and Theory
HIST 5504 Modern European History
IDST 5014 The Liberal Arts in a Global Context 1
IDST 5015 The Liberal Arts in a Global Context 2
IDST/REL 5124 Religion and Modernity in the West
PSCI/GIA 5504 Discourse Analysis
PSCI/GIA 5554 Culture, Politics & Society in Network Environments
PSCI/GIA 5574 Arts, Culture, & Civil Society
PSCI/GIA/UAP/ PAPA 5374 E-Governance
SPAN 5234 Spanish-American Institutions and Concepts
SPAN 5344 Hispanic Literature and the Representation of History
STS 6534 Cultural Studies of Science, Technology, & Medicine
Additional ASPECT Curriculum Offerings***
ASPT 5974 Independent Study
ASPT 7994 Research and Dissertation
*Required of all students who intend to pursue a teaching career and/or who serve as Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs). Students with other career interests may substitute another course from the minor concentration.
** Depending upon course instructor, individual courses may fit more than one concentration area, but may not count more than once toward fulfilling the credit hour requirements. Acceptance into another concentration on the PhD plan of study must be approved prior to enrollment by the Director of ASPECT.
***ASPT 5974 or ASPT 6204 may count toward fulfilling either the major or minor area of concentration.
NB. As is a well instituted practice at Virginia Tech, Ph.D. students who enroll in 5000 level are expected to undertake and are responsible for doctoral level assignments for the course.
Plan of Study Forms