Program Overview

The Department of Political Science administers a major in Politics, an interdisciplinary major in International Relations, as well as a minor in Politics and a minor in International Relations. Our programs offer the rigor and depth of disciplinary training with interdisciplinary breadth that is grounded firmly in the liberal arts tradition. 

We seek to provide a learning environment that can produce liberally educated citizens who are fluent in the language of politics and political analysis and thereby have the foundation for both citizenship in a democratic society and successful training in a job, in a graduate school, or in a professional school.

Our degrees prepare students for graduate school in political science, international relations, and related fields. Our degrees also prepare students for careers in government (at the local, state, national and international levels), political campaigns, law, political journalism, business, non-profit organizations, and academics. Courses in the department offer students opportunities to integrate experiential learning with their academic coursework. We encourage our majors to complete internship experiences, and a multitude of internships are available, including opportunities in state government, political campaigns, and non-profit organizations and internships related to international issues or multicultural affairs.

B.A. Degree Requirements

The undergraduate B.A. degree in Politics includes coursework that develops students’ capacity to recognize and evaluate assumptions, implications, and causal relationships pertaining to government and politics and, by extension, to other realms of human experience. Students will learn to understand government and politics in terms of the theories, concepts, and tools of sophisticated political analysis that characterize the discipline of political science. Students take required core classes in American politics, comparative politics, world politics and political theory as well as intermediate courses that introduce them to the fundamental concepts and methods in the study of political science.

For their remaining requirements, students take upper-level electives in Politics and in related areas of study.  Students should work closely with their advisors to select courses that are most compatible with their academic and professional goals.

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Introductory Courses
POLS 001	THE AMERICAN POLITICAL SYSTEM	3
POLS 065	COMPARATIVE POLITICS	3
POLS 075	WORLD POLITICS	3
POLS 080	INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL THEORY	3
Upper-Level Subfield Requirements
Select at least one course from American Politics, Comparative Politics, International Relations, and Political Theory		12
Upper-Level Electives
Select three additional courses in any subfield 1		9
Capstone
Senior Capstone in Politics		3
Total Hours		36

¹

Students may not double-count these upper-level courses toward a second major in the Department of Political Science.

In addition to programmatic requirements, students are responsible for satisfying all requirements of the Drake Curriculum, including Areas of Inquiry (AOI)

Student must also satisfy university graduation requirements for all undergraduate students..