INTV498

Senior Capstone

Course Description

INTV498 provide Intelligence & Information Operations majors with a capstone experience emphasizing integration of knowledge acquired in previous courses. The course provides a culminating experience for majors involving a substantive project that demonstrates a synthesis of learning accumulated in the major, including broadly comprehensive knowledge of the discipline and its methodologies. Students are required to incorporate a field research study into their research project. This is a self-directed course in which students develop and produce a senior-level research paper grounded in relevant research.

Learning Outcomes

The student will:

• Demonstrate comprehensive understanding of the discipline of Intelligence & Information Operations by:
  • Evaluating and explaining the capabilities and limitations associated with the various analytical techniques and how the application of the best techniques will facilitate answering complex information requirements
  • Modeling the observable phenomenology of adversarial Information Warfare operations
  • Analyzing and planning the synchronization of collection capabilities to ensure multi-disciplinary coverage of complex target sets
  • Evaluating the effects of laws and gaps in legal guidance and precedent with respect to activities in Intelligence & Information Operations.
  • Appraising and validating the specific principles associated with the selected emphasis area (e.g. Operational Intelligence, Law Enforcement Intelligence, or Information Warfare) selected by the student

Course Objectives

The student will:

• Apply competencies gained through an engagement experience to new contexts within the field of Intelligence & Information Operations.
• Assess and demonstrate the critical analytical and tradecraft knowledge, skills, and abilities across the breadth and depth of Intelligence & Information Operations
• Exercise critical thinking strategies including reasoning, problem solving, analysis, and evaluation by:
  • Analyzing and synthesizing theoretical and practical constructs within the field of Intelligence & Information Operations;
  • Critically reviewing and evaluating the application of selected theories to practical, real world situations;
  • Describing and evaluating how competencies gained in an engagement experience can be applied to new contexts.
• Demonstrate advanced written communication skills by:
  • Conducting and reporting research
  • Reporting, evaluating, and incorporating research conducted through engagement activities and academic sources within the field of Intelligence & Information Operations;
  • Developing, outlining, and preparing a thesis proposal;
  • Completing a comprehensive research paper.