Requirements 

Requirements for the Major in Political Science

All Students majoring in political science must complete the following four introductory courses. They are urged to take POL 112 and 211 before POL 205 and POL 212. All four introductory courses should be completed by the end of the sophomore year.

Introductory Courses
POL 112 Introduction to Political Science 3 hrs
POL 205 Introduction to Political Theory 3 hrs
POL 211 American Government and Politics 3 hrs
POL 212 Introduction to International Relations 3 hrs
Total Hours 12 hrs

Students may complete the major in political science by fulfilling the course requirements in one of the following tracks and certain collateral or related courses outside the discipline.

Track 1: General Politcal Science Track
Required: one upper level course in each sub-field 12hrs

  • American Politics: POL 300 Congress, POL 300 The Supreme Court, POL 301 The American Presidency, POL 311 Political Parties, Voting, and Campaign Strategies, POL 314 American Constitutional Law and Politics, and POL 316 American Jurisprudence, POL 326 Environmental Politics and Policy, POL 370 Drugs, Politics, and Public Policy
  • Comparative Politics: POL 300 Middle Eastern Politics, POL 306 West European Government and Politics, POL 308 Post-Soviet Politics, POL 323 Governments and Politics of Southeast Asia, POL 340 Religion and Politics, POL 423 Politics of the Non-Western World
  • International Relations: POL 305 International Law and
    Organizations, POL 362 American Foreign Policy
  • Political Theory: POL 302 Political Thought and Modern Society, POL 303 Marxism and the Marxist Tradition, POL 304 American Political Theory
              
Electives: Select any two other political science courses from any sub-fields 6 hrs
Total hours, General Political Science Track 30hrs
Track 2: The Pre-Law Track
Required: Complete Pre-Law Minor 21 hrs
Electives: Select two other political science course from any sub-field 6hrs
Total hours, Pre-Law Track 39hrs
Track 3: The Security Studies Track
Required: Complete the Security Studies Minor .
Electives: Select two other political science courses
from any subfield
18 hrs
 
6 hrs
Total hours, Securities Studies Track 36 hrs
Total hours, depending on selected track 30-39 hrs
Students contemplating graduate school in political science are
strongly encouraged to take at least two semesters of a foreign
language, Introduction to Computers, and a relevant methods course
such as MAT 313, PSY 270, PSY 274, HIS 390, or ECN 367.
 
All departmental majors must have an overall “C” average or better in
the group of courses presented to satisfy the requirements for the
political science major.