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This course is designed to introduce new students to higher education and LCC. The goal of First Year Seminar is for students to examine issues and develop a sense of competence in the areas of: academics, interpersonal relationships, community involvement, human diversity, career development, and personal values. The course provides a supportive environment for interactive and group learning. Reading, writing, and participatory activities are designed to develop skills in the following areas: reading, writing, oral communication, use of technology, and critical thinking.

In this course, students will develop the skills necessary for understanding and writing texts in an academic setting. With the goal of effectively communicating ideas and arguments, students will build strategies for writing fluent paragraphs and essays, in a variety of rhetorical modes. Students will read, write, revise, and edit both their own compositions, and the work of others. The course focuses on two areas: 1) building critical thinking skills, and 2) developing competencies to write analytical essays

This course presents an overview of the discipline, including the basic theories, concepts, approaches, and enduring questions of political science. The major Western political ideologies will be studied as well as key elements of the political system. This course will also introduce students to the most important contemporary issues in political science such as public policy making, cooperation between states, origin and nature of political violence, social, political and economic change, political development. The course also provides students the analytical skills and basic tools of political analysis necessary to understand and explain modern politics in historical context.

Students are provided with a basic understanding of the field of international development in today’s global context. The course enables the student to understand different theories pertaining to international development focusing on developing nations. Basic terms, concepts, and definitions are examined throughout the course.

This course is designed for students who have no previous knowledge of Lithuanian. Students learn basic communication skills through building a good base in vocabulary, communicative phrases, sentence structures, and some grammar. This course helps develop communication skills that are very important for language learners: comprehension (listening, reading) and speaking. This course is based on practical application of theoretically acquired language knowledge. It also provides an introduction to Lithuanian culture, customs and traditions.

Academic Writing is a required writing course for all first- year students. The course focuses on introductory research writing processes in the context of academic arguments. In addition, students will develop critical reading and thinking skills. Assignments require students to integrate information from a variety of sources. Students will learn basic structures, including APA style documentation and acknowledgment of sources for academic integrity.

This course offers a basic introduction to International Relations, its historical context, main theoretical approaches, levels of analysis and the most important transnational issues. Students will be introduced to the main International Relation theories of Realism, Liberalism, Constructivism and others. They will also learn about the nature and role of the modern state and other non-state actors in the international arena such as individuals, intergovernmental organizations, international institutions and NGOs. Special emphasis will be placed on the topics of war and peace and human rights. At the end of the course the most important transnational issues will be discussed.

This course covers the ideas of the major political philosophers of the Western cannon from Antiquity to the present, thereby tracing the development, evolution, and major innovations in Western political thought. The course is divided into three chronological and thematic subsections: political philosophy from the Antiquity to the Renaissance, beginning with Socrates and concluding with Machiavelli; political philosophy from the introduction of sovereignty and the social contract tradition to the 19th century, i.e. from Hobbes to Marx; and, finally, modern approaches to political philosophy (Marxist and critical left, 20th century conservatism, liberalism and libertarianism, and communitarianism). As a result, students get an insight into both timeless and emergent debates in the discipline of political philosophy. In all cases, key questions to be asked include, but will not be limited to, the following: where is political power and authority located? What is the ideal social and political entity and how ought it to be ordered? What is the role of the political community? What is the source of law and other norms and what role do they play in society and government? What is the nature of a social and political life well lived? By the end of the course, students will be not only familiar with the Western canon of political philosophy but will also be capable of understanding how these ideas have shaped and influenced (and continue to shape and influence) the social and political life that we live today.

This course introduces students to major thematic elements which unify the New Testament and offers all readers a text for talking about the purpose and meaning of human life. Students will examine the text against the background of its historical context and in relation to contemporary issues.

This course provides a theoretical and practical understanding of the technical, performative and ethical dimensions of public discourse, equipping students to become more effective and ethical public speakers, discerning audience members, and engaged citizens.

This course surveys contemporary approaches to the discipline and study of politics. This course is intended to help students become more critical thinkers by introducing them to current theories and methods used by political scientists. These theories will allow students to examine the subjects they study later in their academic career. They will become familiar with the questions that political scientists ask in different disciplines and the methods they have developed to answer those questions. They will come to understand how 116 those approaches can assist governments in forming policy and citizens in making political decisions.

The course provides an overview of the interdisciplinary fields of conflict studies and civil society: their origins, developments, leading topics and applications. The course analyses the complex definitions of peace, justice, violence and conflict. It distinguishes among conflict resolution, management and transformation and focuses on civic agency and Track Two diplomacy. It emphasizes civic peacemaking and conflict transformation, and helps students envision capacity for social change and assess personal skills of conflict transformation. It discusses civic engagement and civil society as theory and practice. CST/

This course introduces students to major thematic elements which unify the New Testament and offers all readers a text for talking about the purpose and meaning of human life. Students will examine the text against the background of its historical context and in relation to contemporary issues.

This course will provide the academic and theoretical preparation to students who are or will soon be doing their practicum.

The course applies economic concepts and theories to understanding the growth and development of less developed countries. It gives consideration to the interaction of technological change with labor and capital markets in improving the economic well-being of societies. It also addresses the social costs of growth and development (including inequality and migration from the countryside to cities), as well as the role of public policy in alleviating undesirable consequences of economic development.

The course addresses development cooperation policies and their actors. It is built on 4 thematic modules aiming to introduce the students with the global forms of governance, international trading, financial and aid systems, addressing aspects of social change and the role of the civil society actors, acquitting them with the increasing role of the private sector in development as well as providing with the tools to assess the development cooperation policies. The course enables the students to understand the impacts of global policies to the local and international development, identify main international actors including but not limited to the agencies of the United Nations, the European Union, international financial institutions, providing the solid background for independent analysis of the developmental challenges in a global context. Moreover, it discusses various actors within the civil society and the private sector, enabling the student’s ability to recognize and assess different approaches to international development and social change. 117 Through a variety of study methods applied, the students are exposed to think critically about the development cooperation policies and are provided with the safe experimental environment to apply their theoretical knowledge.

This course introduces students to epistemological and methodological traditions in social scientific enquiry. Basic principles of discipline specific research design, both quantitative and qualitative are covered. Students will learn and apply key techniques, including inductive and deductive reasoning, hypothesis construction, operationalization of concepts, measurement, sampling and probability, causal inference, and the logic of controls. They will use these techniques to develop a research question, conduct a literature review, and craft a research proposal. Issues surrounding data collection and analysis, criteria for evaluation of research, and research ethics are examined. Students are required to apply the theoretical knowledge through practical exercises and assignments.

The course focuses on two cooperative processes of conflict resolution; negotiation and mediation. Theoretical and practical aspects will be analyzed in personal and community contexts. The course will build conflict transformation and communication skills.

The course applies economic concepts and theories to understanding the growth and development of less developed countries. It gives consideration to the interaction of technological change with labor and capital markets in improving the economic well-being of societies. It also addresses the social costs of growth and development (including inequality and migration from the countryside to cities), as well as the role of public policy in alleviating undesirable consequences of economic development.

This course builds upon the first part of the Research Methods course, briefly revisiting the topics of literature review, hypothesis formulation, variable operationalization, and sampling, and proceeding to more in-depth study and application of both qualitative and quantitative methods of primary data collection and analysis. The focus of the course centers on surveys, interviews, focus groups and experiments. Students will continue to work on their research projects, deepening their literature reviews and conducting more elaborate primary data collection and analysis.

The course will cover the organizational realities in which IRD project management takes place; what defines project; project culture; roles in project management; project planning and scheduling; project staffing and resourcing; project control; on-going project management activities; operational project management; strategic project management. It will include analysis of case studies of project management experiences. Students will learn step by step the planning part of the project by participating in group work.

This course will examine the Christian worldview in comparison with important alternatives. Special attention will be given to the nature of thinking about worldview issues as well as encouraging the student’s own critical reflection upon his or her foundational beliefs.

This course explores principles and problems of communication between people of different cultures and sub-cultures. Students have the opportunity to apply course material to their own personal and professional interactions.

This course will emphasize instruction in research design with emphasis on three main items: a statement of research context and rationale, a detailed review of relevant literature, and a research plan. More specifically, students will create a Problem Statement, identify and analyze subproblems, locate appropriate resources, synthesize and critically analyze secondary information, and design a plan for original research to address a specific need in the area of research. This will also involve practicing the defense of a position.

This course provides supervised work experience designed to apply academic concepts to actual real-world International Relations and Development situations. Assignments cover various aspects of International Relations and Development careers. The student should find a suitable work assignment and a faculty supervisor to develop a learning plan. This plan should be approved by the student's faculty advisor, employer and by the Practicum Coordinator (or Program Director).

This course examines the ethical dimension of life in its relation to what we believe, what we do, and what sorts of people we want to be. It studies basic ethical questions such as the objectivity of right and wrong, how we ought to live, and why we should try to be morally good. It considers these questions both theoretically (by studying relevant ethical theories) and practically (by applying them to issues in contemporary social life).

In this course, students will research and write a thesis. This completion process includes the execution of a design for original research and the reliable and ethical implementation of that plan. The thesis – approved for defense – will be publicly presented at an oral defense in front of an evaluating committee. Therefore, presentation techniques and authoritative and confident response to academic challenges will be practiced.

This course introduces students to the complex relationships between politics, the media and democracy in Western democracies.