The Curriculum:
The BA in political science requires the completion of 36 credits distributed as follows with a minimum grade of C in all courses. No more than 6 credits of internship (PO 295, PO 395) may count toward completion of the major.
The core requirements for the political science major are (25 credits):
PO 101 Introduction to Political Science; Justice, Politics & Power (3 credits)
PO 131 Introduction to American Government & Politics (3 credits)
PO 201 Political Inquiry (3 credits)
PO 211 Introduction to International Relations (3 credits)
PO 215 Political Theory (3 credits)
PO 395 Advanced Internship (4 credits)
PO 408 Senior Seminar (3 credits)
Electives (15 credits). Five political science courses or cognate.
A. Political science courses:
|
Course |
Title |
Credits |
|
PO 216 |
American Political Thought |
3 |
|
PO 218 |
Politics of Health |
3 |
|
PO 221/LAS 201 |
Introduction to Latin American Studies |
3 |
|
PO 231 |
Elections and Political Parties |
3 |
|
PO 245 |
International Political Economy |
3 |
|
PO 247 |
Actors and Processes in U.S. Foreign Policy Formation |
3 |
|
PO 270 |
State and Local Government |
3 |
|
PO 280 |
Congress and the Presidency |
3 |
|
PO 299 |
Independent Study in Political Science |
3 |
|
PO 311 |
Topics in International Relations |
3 |
|
PO 315 |
Democratic Theory and Practice |
3 |
|
PO 317 |
International Law |
3 |
|
PO 325 |
Public Opinion Research |
3 |
|
PO 331 |
Topics in Comparative Government |
3 |
|
PO 332 |
European Politics |
3 |
|
PO 333 |
Middle Eastern History & Politics |
3 |
| PO 348 | Political Communication | 3 |
|
PO 350 |
Topics in Political Theory |
3 |
|
PO 353 |
American Constitutional Law |
3 |
|
PO 354 |
Civil Rights and Liberties I |
3 |
|
PO 355 |
Civil Rights and Liberties II |
3 |
|
PO 357 |
Supreme Court and Foreign Policy |
3 |
|
PO 360 |
Topics in American Government |
3 |
|
PO 295 |
Internship in Political Science |
1 |
|
PO 395 |
Advanced Internship |
4 |
|
PO 399 |
Intermediate Independent Study in Political Science |
3 |
|
PO 499 |
Advanced Independent Study in Political Science |
4 |
B. Cognate courses: In addition to political science courses, the following courses will also count as electives toward completion of the political science major. (3 credits)
IB 201 International Business
PS 261 Social Psychology
SO 264 Social Welfare Institutions
SO 285 Protest and Change
SO 340 Peace and Conflict Resolution
Experiential requirement
PO 395 Advanced Internship (3-6 credits) or equivalent approved by the department. Students should plan with their academic advisers to complete this requirement before the start of their senior year. With departmental approval, PO 395 may be substituted with one of the following:
- Political science course taken in the study abroad program
- Political science course taken in the Washington, D.C. program
- Service learning course in any discipline, but must have “SL” designation
Portfolio Requirement
In addition, students in their senior year assemble a portfolio of representative academic work done in political science, which includes a senior thesis, internship paper and other key assignments.