War, Technology and Society Minor

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War Technology and Society

Minor

Cadets in the war, technology and society minor will learn how social systems, human agency, politics, laws, and technology have impacted warfare.

Offered by the Department of History.

The war, technology, and society minor is a multidisciplinary program that exposes cadets to what has shaped the past, present, and future of warfare.  It presents knowledge to help students understand the social, ethical, organizational, and technological challenges at the core of the Army’s ongoing modernization efforts.

Learn how social systems, human agency, political decisions, laws and norms, ethical considerations, and technological developments have impacted the past, present, and future of warfare. Understand the social, ethical, organizational, and technological challenges at the core of the Army’s ongoing modernization efforts. Embrace the past and be the leader the Army needs today!

This minor pairs well with STEM major fields.

To learn more about this area of study, visit the Department of History

The war, technology, and society minor is a multidisciplinary program consisting of three history courses and two courses chosen from one of the following interdisciplinary breadths. 

  • Law and Ethics
  • Innovation and Organizational Change
  • Society, Culture, and Politics
  • Science and Engineering
  • Mathematics and Statistics

Required Courses

  • HI301 HIST OF MILITARY ART TO 1900
  • HI355 WARFARE-AGE OF INDUSTRIALIZATION
  • HI462 THE HISTORY OF INNOVATION
  • XH341 INTEL CYBER HISTORY

Sample Electives

  • HI338 WARFARE IN AGE OF REVOLUTIONS
  • HI341 THE AGE OF EXPLORATION
  • HI344 MODERN DIPLOMACY
  • HI354 WORLD WAR I IN GLOBAL CONTEXT
  • HI357 DECOLONIZATION & THE COLD WAR 
  • HI358 POLICY, STRATEGY & GENERALSHIP 
  • HI359 ERA OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR 
  • HI370 ANCIENT & MEDIEVAL WARFARE 
  • HI376 EARLY MODERN WARFARE 
  • HI381 HISTORY OF IRREGULAR WARFARE 
  • HI383 MIDDLE EASTERN WARFARE 
  • HI385 WAR & ITS THEORISTS 
  • HI399 HISTORY STAFF RIDE 
  • HI410 VIOLENCE/SEX: CULTRL HIST WAR 
  • HI460 SENIOR FACULTY COURSE 
  • HI464 VISITING PROFESSOR ELECTIVE
  • XH405 THE HOLOCAUST AND ITS LEGACY 
  • XH415 GENOCIDE AND MASS ATROCITY

To learn more, view the full War, Technology, and Society Minor Curriculum.

Cadets have the opportunity to apply to attend any of the numerous domestic or international staff rides or summer Academic Individual Advanced Development (AIAD) program, USMA-run academic enrichment experience. They may also publish their work in the West Point Undergraduate Historical Review and work with either of the department’s academic centers.

To learn more about enrichment for this area of study, visit the Department of History, the Center for Oral History, the Digital History Center, or the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies.