Political Science Major
BACHELOR OF ARTS IN POLITICAL SCIENCE
Majors take 36 credits in political science distributed across core, upper-division, elective, and seminar courses, and must maintain a GPA of at least 2.0 within the major. Majors may choose to concentrate their upper-division courses in American Politics, Public Policy, or Comparative Politics/International Relations, or to maintain a “general” political science major with no concentration. This is in the university catalog.
CORE COURSES
Students must take four core courses:
- 10100 – American Politics or 10300 – Public Policy
- 10004 – Comparative Politics or 10500 – World Politics
- 30002 – Political Thought or 30003 – Political Economy
- 30001 – Political Methods
Total Hours: 12
Students may take more than four of these courses and count the additional courses towards their electives (below)
UPPER-DIVISION COURSES
Political Science Majors who have selected a concentration must complete fifteen upper-division credit hours within that concentration. Students who have selected the general major may fulfill these fifteen credit hours using any POL upper-division courses, without regard for concentration categories.
American Politics
- 30100 – American Political Theory
- 30110 – Congress
- 30120 – Presidency and Executive Bureaucracy
- 30130 – Courts
- 30430 – Ohio Politics
- 30450 – Urban Politics & Policy
- 30460 – State Politics & Policy
- 40112 – Politics and the Mass Media
- 40116 – Public Opinion and Political Behavior
- 40118 – Political Parties and Interest Groups
- 40182 – Con. Law: Government Powers
- 40183 – Con. Law: Civil Rights & Liberties
- 40410 – Regulatory Policy
- 40440 – U.S. Environmental Politics & Policies
- 40450 – Health Care and Social Policy
- 40470 – Women, Politics and Policy
- 40620 – Politics of Social Movements
- 40930 – U.S. Foreign Policy
Public Policy
- 30300 – Public Policy Theory
- 30301 – Introduction to Public Administration
- 30310 – Public Policy Analysis
- 30350 – Environmental Conflict Resolution
- 30430 – Ohio Politics
- 30450 – Urban Politics & Policy
- 30460 – State Politics & Policy
- 30810 – Politics of the Global Economy
- 30820 – International Organizations and Law
- 30840 – Nongovernmental Organizations
- 40320 – Ethics and Public Policy
- 40410 – Regulatory Policy
- 40440 – U.S. Environmental Politics & Policies
- 40450 – Health Care and Social Policy
- 40470 – Women, Politics, and Policy
- 40840 – Comparative Foreign Policy
- 40930 – U.S. Foreign Policy
International Relations / Comparative Politics
- 30500 – International Relations Theory
- 30520 – European Politics
- 30530 – Asian Politics
- 30540 – African Politics
- 30550 – Latin American Politics
- 30551 – U.S.-Latin American Relations
- 30560 – Middle East Politics
- 30810 – Politics of the Global Economy
- 30820 – International Organizations and Law
- 30840 – Nongovernmental Organizations
- 40530 – Politics of War
- 40540 – Politics of Development
- 40560 – Human Rights and Social Justice
- 40620 – Politics of Social Movements
- 40840 – Comparative Foreign Policy
- 40930 – U.S. Foreign Policy
Total Hours: 15
ELECTIVE COURSES
In addition to their core and upper-division courses, students may select two courses as electives. These courses may be from any concentration; at least one of the two must be at the upper-division level.
Total Hours: 6
SENIOR SEMINAR COURSE
Majors are required to complete a Senior Seminar within their area of concentration. Those with the general political science major may fulfill this requirement with any of the Senior Seminars.
- 40191 – Seminar in American Politics
- 40391 – Seminar in Public Policy
- 40591 – Seminar in Comparative Politics/International Relations
Total Hours: 3
ADDITIONAL CREDITS
- POL 40995 – Selected Topics in Political Science
The “Selected Topics” course is a class focused on a specialized topic, one in which the faculty member has some expertise. These courses are periodically offered and generally count toward the 6 elective hours and may (depending on subject matter and with approval of the Undergraduate Coordinator) count toward the upper-division requirements within a concentration.
- POL 40992 – Public Service
The “public service” credits are credits earned for academic work done in conjunction with an internship. Students who have arranged an internship relevant to political science should make an appointment with the Undergraduate Advisor to discuss enrolling in these credit hours. Eligible students will have a 2.0GPA and must arrange with a faculty advisor to oversee their internship and related academic work. In most cases, students will be required to do some reading and writing assignment/s related to their internship work. Importantly, these credit hours may be used for internships in a wide range of fields. Past “public service” credit hours have been earned by students interning at the White House, for local political offices and campaign, for work with a local refugee agency, and a law firm. Whether you are interning in the public or private sector, the POL Public Service credit may be an option.
- POL 40996 – Individual Investigation
The Individual investigation credits are utilized by students looking to pursue a specialized course of study not available through the established POL coursework. In most cases, the coursework involves extensive reading and an in-depth research paper. Students interested in pursuing an individual investigation should first determine whether there is a faculty member able to oversee the project, and then make an appointment to speak with the Undergraduate Advisor to complete the required paperwork.
In addition to these, the Political Science Department offers two in-house, fifteen credit hour internship programs. The Washington Program in National Issues (WPNI) and the Columbus Program in State Issues (CPSI) may be count for the 15 hours required in a concentration, depending upon the nature of the internship undertaken. See the Undergraduate Advisor with specific questions.