2024-2025 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
    Nov 21, 2024  
2024-2025 Undergraduate Catalog

Political Science, BA or BS


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The major in political science requires completion of HIST 222 , POSC 100 , at least one credit of an internship or directed research, and 34 credits in additional work in political science. Qualified majors may avail themselves of Congressional District Office Internships around the state, internships with the Washington Center and Institute for Experiential Learning in Washington, D.C., law offices, businesses, and a wide variety of state and local government offices.

The optional pre-law concentration  requires completion of HIST 222 , POSC 100 , at least one credit of an internship or directed research, and 40 credits in additional courses, including 31 credits in political science, 3 in psychology, 3 in philosophy, and 3 in economics or accounting.

The optional Political Science, Global Politics Concentration  requires 30-33 credits of core political science courses, 15 credits of courses focusing on regional area studies, and 9 credits of courses focusing on transitional communities and related issues.

Three courses in the Leadership Studies minor (LDST 120 , LDST 220 , and LDST 320 ) can be taken as Political Science electives for credit in the Political Science major and minor.

Political science majors may earn either the Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Arts degree.

No grade below “C-” will be accepted for courses applied to the major.

Civitae Core Requirements (39-40 credits)


Civitae Core Curriculum  

Political Science majors may count Civitae Core courses satisfying major requirements as also satisfying their respective Civitae Core requirements, up to two Pillar courses and one Perspectives course.  The following are the courses in this major that may be used in this way:

  • POSC 100  can satisfy the Human Behavior and Social Institutions Pillar requirement
  • MATH 171  can satisfy the Quantitative Reasoning Pillar requirement

Courses satisfying major requirements that are designated as Civitae Core courses subsequent to the print deadline of this Catalog will not appear in the above listings but will be eligible to also satisfy Civitae Core requirements, subject to the same rules as the others.  (If doing so would otherwise decrease the total credits required for the degree below 120, General Elective credit must be substituted to restore the total.)  

Additional Degree Requirements


Additional Degree Requirements BA degree 3 credits Additional Degree Requirements BS degree 3-4 credits

Major Requirements (50 credits)


Some courses that meet major requirements are also designated Civitae Core Curriculum courses; such courses taken to meet Civitae Core requirements will be considered to also satisfy the associated major requirements (up to two Foundations pillars and one Perspectives course).

Choose three credits from the following courses:


Choose three credits from the following courses:


One credit from one of the following three courses


Political Science Electives (9 credits)


General Electives


General Electives BA Degree (27-28 credits)

General Electives BS Degree (26-28 credits)

Total Credits Required


BA, BS in Political Science 120

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