Major Requirements

Fundamental Courses

Every Politics major must take these courses.

Subfields

Students must select one course in each of the following subfields: International Relations, Comparative Politics, American Politics, Political Theory, and Public Law.

For the subfield courses, DWA courses may count towards International Relations or Comparative Politics with department approval, and UEP courses may count for American Politics with department approval, but Political Theory and Public Law must be taken within the Politics Department.

International Relations

Comparative Politics

American Politics

Political Theory

Public Law

Additional Electives

Three required electives in any subfield must be taken within the Politics Department. Study Abroad courses may be accepted with departmental approval.

SECOND-STAGE WRITING REQUIREMENT

The Junior Writing Seminar is Politics 272 or any 300-level Politics, DWA, or UEP course (except Politics 300) that focuses on research and oral presentation skills.

COMPREHENSIVE REQUIREMENT

All politics majors must complete a Comprehensive Seminar in the spring of their senior year (preliminary preparation will occur in the fall semester of the senior year). In the seminar, students will read and discuss political science journal articles that raise interesting questions for the field, combine theory with empirical data, and serve as models for their own senior thesis. Each student will develop a senior thesis on a topic in one of the sub-fields of the major, demonstrating theoretical sophistication, an ability to find and evaluate sources of data, to develop and test hypotheses, and to argue a thesis. Each thesis is subjected to a rigorous drafting process that includes peer review and feedback from a faculty advisor. All seniors are required to submit a proposal for their thesis in the fall of their senior year. These proposals should state the research problem, demonstrate a significant command of the relevant bibliography, and include a tentative outline of major components in the study.

HONORS

We encourage highly motivated students to pursue Department Honors. They qualify for this program by achieving a 3.25 grade point average overall and a 3.5 grade point average in courses counting toward the Politics major. Only under extraordinary circumstances will the Politics faculty members approve a petition to have this 3.5 grade point average waived. Students interested in pursuing Honors should complete the courses required for the Politics major by the end of Fall Semester. They will be required to meet all of the obligations of the Comprehensive Seminar in the spring semester and complete a major research paper that follows the above requirements, but is a project of greater depth that extends to 40-50 pages.