Political Science Major

Degree: Bachelor of Arts

Major Hours: 36

Major Requirements:

NOTE: With the exception of POLS 405, required courses must be completed within the first 15 hours of political science coursework.

POLS 101	American Government
POLS 103	World Politics or
POLS 104	World Regional Geography
POLS 250	Politics and Political Inquiry I
POLS 251	Politics and Political Inquiry II
POLS 405	Capstone Seminar

A minimum of three semester hours in four of the five subfields of political science. Courses in the political science department normally fall into the following subfields of the discipline:

American Politics

POLS 380	State Politics
POLS 382	The Congress
POLS 383	The Judiciary
POLS 384	The Presidency
POLS 386	American Politics and the Mass Media
POLS 387	Political Parties and Interest Groups
POLS 388	Elections, Participation, and Voting Behavior
POLS 389	Public Opinion in American Politics
POLS 390	Southern Politics
POLS 391	Extremist Politics
POLS 392	Women and Politics
POLS 394	Political Campaign Communication
POLS 395	American Federalism
POLS 396	Race, Ethnicity and the City
POLS 397	LGBT Politics
POLS 399	Special Topics in American Politics

Comparative Politics

POLS 210	Introduction to Comparative Political Analysis
POLS 321	Politics of Latin America
POLS 322	Politics of Africa
POLS 323	Politics of East Asia
POLS 324	Politics of the Middle East
POLS 328	Modernization, Dependency, and Political Development
POLS 329	Politics of Protest and Revolution
POLS 330	Comparative Gender Politics
POLS 331	The Politics of Film and Reality in South Africa
POLS 332	The Politics of Film and Reality in Latin America
POLS 333	The Politics of Contemporary Brazil
POLS 334	Geographies and Politics of the European Union
POLS 335	Cuban Revolution
POLS 336	Geographies and Politics of Food
POLS 337	Geography and Politics in the U.S. and Canada
POLS 338	Chinese Politics
POLS 339	Special Topics in Comparative Politics

International Politics

POLS 360	International Relations Theory
POLS 361	The United States in World Affairs
POLS 362	Case Studies in Foreign Policy
POLS 363	International Law and Organization
POLS 364	International Environmental Politics
POLS 365	International Political Economy
POLS 366	International Diplomacy Studies
POLS 367	The Geography of International Conflict
POLS 368	Political Geography
POLS 369	Politics of Globalization
POLS 379	Special Topics in International Relations

Political Thought and Public Law

POLS 220	Criminal Justice
POLS 221	Law and Society
POLS 340	Democratic and Anti-Democratic Thought
POLS 341	Constitutional Law
POLS 342	Civil Liberties
POLS 344	Jurisprudence
POLS 345	Ethics and Politics
POLS 347	American Political Thought
POLS 350	Contemporary Liberalism
POLS 351	Utopia/Dystopia
POLS 352	Gender, Theory, and Law: Sexual Harassment
POLS 353	Beginning Mock Trial
POLS 354	Advanced Mock Trial
POLS 355	Global Political Theory
POLS 359	Special Topics in Political Thought and Public Law

Public Administration and Public Policy

POLS 200	Introduction to Public Administration
POLS 201	Introduction to Public Policy
POLS 301	Bureaucratic Politics and Policy
POLS 302	Policy Evaluation
POLS 304	American Foreign Policy Process
POLS 305	Urbanization and Urban Geography
POLS 306	Urban Policy
POLS 307	Environmental Policy
POLS 308	Education Policy
POLS 309	Health Policy
POLS 310	Environmental Geography
POLS 319	Special Topics in Public Administration and Public Policy

A minimum of 12 credit hours at the 300 level or above.

NOTE: Special topics courses may be repeated if the subject matter changes.

Electives:

Students are encouraged to take additional courses in economics, history, philosophy, psychology, sociology, anthropology,urban studies, communication and statistics depending on their career plans.

Independent study/Internship:

The student must have completed a minimum of 12 hours in political science and have an overall GPA of 2.0 and a GPA of 2.5 in political science courses in order to qualify for an independent study.

NOTE: No more than six hours of independent study and/or six hours of internship and/or six hours of experiential courses (POLS 353, 354, 366) may be applied to the major requirement, for a maximum of 12 hours.

To be eligible for departmental honors in political science, students must have earned a grade point average in the major of at least 3.5 and completed a minimum of 12 hours of exceptionally fine independent work. The 12 hours must include the completion of a 6-hour bachelor's essay in addition to any combination of POLS 400, 401, and/or 402. The Capstone Seminar (POLS 405) is not included in the required 12 hours of independent work.