Majoring in Political Science requires the completion of 9 courses. These courses are grouped into four distinct categories as follows:
- 100 Level Courses - Introductions:
- These courses emphasize writing, critical reading, and analytical interpretation and introduce students to the study of politics from a variety of perspectives. The department recommends that these courses be taken in the first and second year, or immediately following the declaration of the major. These courses may be offered in either lecture or seminar format. FYSE courses taught by members of our department can also count toward introductory courses.
- 200 Level Courses - Surveys:
- These courses survey broad topics in the study of politics. They engage students in the study of different institutions, countries, regions, theories, and modes of political thought. They focus on such key phenomena as power, justice, order, conflict, mobilization, and development. These courses may be offered in either lecture or seminar formats.
- 300 Level Courses - Research Seminars:
- Research Seminars in politics allow students to deepen their own inquiries into politics. They encourage students to develop research skills through examination of debates and topics in politics. Students should take at least one of these courses in their second or third year to facilitate subsequent work in the Department’s thesis program. These courses have prerequisites, limited enrollment, and may have a substantial writing requirement.
- 400 Level Courses - Specialized Seminars:
- Specialized seminars might include in-depth investigations into specialized or conceptually complex issues, may utilize new pedagogical approaches, may require more engaged forms of writing than lower-level courses, and may allow students to design and implement research in novel settings. These courses have prerequisites and limited enrollment.
