LibGuides: Honors College: Open Educational Resources

Honors College

Adopted OER at UTRGV

Explorations: An Open Invitation To Biological Anthropology

Honors College

This is a collection of openly licensed or free textbooks and materials that can be used to enhance teaching and learning. This page highlights some of the Open Educational Resources (OER) available, but this is by no means an exhaustive list. If you would like to learn more about OER please visit the Library's Textbook Affordability Project website.

Textbooks

American Government and Politics in the Information Age This text is a comprehensive introduction to the vital subject of American government and politics. Governments decide who gets what, when, how (See Harold D. Lasswell, Politics: Who Gets What, When, How, [New York: McGraw-Hill, 1936]); they make policies and pass laws that are binding on all a society’s members; they decide about taxation and spending, benefits and costs, even life and death.
Critical Epistemologies of Global Politics Critical Epistemologies of Global Politics combines social science and cultural studies approaches to IR, showing why contemporary Border Studies needs to be trans-disciplinary if it is to avoid reproducing the epistemological and political order that has led to contemporary global crises like the rise of ISIS, global migration, or increasing contestations of the State form as such. The volume offers a critical epistemology of global politics and proposes an enriched vision of borders, both analytically and politically, that not only seeks to understand but also to reshape and expand the meanings and consequences of IR.
Human Geography Welcome to Human Geography! If you are interested in how humans interact with the environment and how human systems are geographically distributed over space, then you’ve found your place. We hope that find this textbook useful and enjoyable; please dive in by clicking “Contents” to immerse yourself in all-things-human geography.
Human Rights in Brief In all civilized nations, attempts are made to define and buttress human rights. The core of the concept is the same everywhere: Human rights are the rights that one has simply because one is human. They are universal and equal. The following publication gives an overview of Human Rights across the globe.
Introduction to Political Science Research Methods – An Open Education Resource Textbook Introduction to Political Science Research Methods, 1st edition, is an Open Education Resource Textbook that surveys the research methods employed in political science. The textbook includes chapters that cover: history and development of the empirical study of politics; the scientific method; theories, hypotheses, variables, and units; conceptualization, operationalization and measurement of political concepts; elements of research design including the logic of sampling; qualitative and quantitative research methods and means of analysis; and research ethics.
Moral and Political Philosophy This course introduces students to the basic concepts and methods of moral and political philosophy. Its primary focus is on the development of moral reasoning skills and the application of those skills to contemporary social and political issues. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to: Discuss several major theories of justice and morality, including utilitarianism, libertarianism, social contract theory, deontology, and the ethics/politics of virtue; Demonstrate how moral and political dilemmas are handled differently by each set of theoretical principles; Develop their analytical skills through interpreting the consequences of various moral principles and revising principles to correspond with their own conceptions of justice; Discuss the relationship between morality and politics; Formulate their own positions concerning moral and political principles, especially in regards to particular issues discussed in this course; Discuss the origins of western democratic politics and constitutional government; Address a range of difficult and controversial moral and political issues, including murder, the income tax, corporate cost-benefit analysis, lying, affirmative action, and same-sex marriage.
Popular Culture and World Politics: Theories, Methods, Pedagogies This edited collection brings together cutting edge insights from a range of key thinkers working in the area of popular culture and world politics (PCWP). Offering a holistic approach to this exciting field of research, it contributes to the establishment of PCWP as a sub-discipline of International Relations. Canvassing issues such as geopolitics, political identities, the War on Terror and political communication – and drawing from sources such as film, videogames, art and music – this collection is an invaluable reader for anyone interested in popular culture and world politics.
Quantitative Research Methods for Political Science, Public Policy and Public Administration for Undergraduates Quantitative Research Methods for Political Science, Public Policy and Public Administration for Undergraduates: 1st Edition With Applications in R is an adaption of Quantitative Research Methods for Political Science, Public Policy and Public Administration (With Applications in R). The focus of this book is on using quantitative research methods to test hypotheses and build theory in political science, public policy and public administration. This new version of the text omits large portions of the original text that focused on calculus and linear algebra, expands and reorganizes the content on the software system R and includes guided study questions at the end of each chapter.
State and Local Government and Politics: Prospects for Sustainability - 2nd Edition The book reflects upon and collectively considers decades’ long research, and the meaning of that research to both the broader society and to students of contemporary politics of sustainability.

Resources

Data.gov Open government portal to tools and resources to conduct research.
Merlot - Public Administration This is a collection of educational resources by Merlot that are freely available to use educators and those interested in Public Administration.
Merlot - Security Studies This is a collection of educational resources by Merlot that are freely available to use by educators and those interested in Security Studies.
NICCS Curriculum Resources NICCS is managed by the Cybersecurity Education and Awareness Branch (CEA) within the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Office of Cybersecurity and Communications (CS&C). CEA promotes cybersecurity awareness, training, and education and career structure, with the added goal of broadening the Nation’s volume of cybersecurity workforce professionals.
OER Commons: Political Science OER Commons is a public digital library of open educational resources.
Open Learn - Public Administration Produced by The Open University, a world leader in open and distance learning, all OpenLearn courses are free to study. We offer nearly 1000 free courses across 8 different subject areas. Our courses are available to start right away.
Open Learn - Society, Politics & Law Produced by The Open University, a world leader in open and distance learning, all OpenLearn courses are free to study. We offer nearly 1000 free courses across 8 different subject areas. Our courses are available to start right away.
Open Learn - Security Studies Produced by The Open University, a world leader in open and distance learning, all OpenLearn courses are free to study. We offer nearly 1000 free courses across 8 different subject areas. Our courses are available to start right away.

Media

C-SPAN: Political Science Set of freely available videos dealing with political science created by the C-SPAN Network.
CrashCourse - U.S. Government and Politics CrashCourse is an educational YouTube channel started by John and Hank Green in 2012. This curated YouTube playlist covers a number of topics related to U.S. Government and Politics.
FedFlix - Public Administration Freely available videos created by the federal government. Content is open to anyone and accessible through the Internet Archive.
Fedflix - Security Studies Open security videos created by the U.S. Government. Archived and curated on the Internet Archive these resources can be used without worrying about copyright.
TEDEd - Political Science Created by Technology, Entertainment and Design or TED this curated selection of videos covers a large number of subjects in Political Science.
TEDEd - Public Administration Created by Technology, Entertainment and Design or TED this curated selection of videos covers a large number of subjects in Public Administration.