BS in Political Science

 

Professor Alexander Downes speaks in a lecture-style class

 

In addition to taking the same 33 credit required course load as required by the BA in Political Science, Bachelor of Science students complete six courses in statistics, mathematics and computer science. Students also complete a required proseminar as juniors or seniors, in which they examine a political issue and develop scholarly writing on the topic.

Per Columbian College of Arts and Science policy, students must complete the major requirements at the time of declaration. Students who declared a major before Fall 2020 are beholden to prior major requirements.

 

 

Course Requirements  

The following requirements must be fulfilled:

The general requirements stated under Columbian College of Arts and Sciences (CCAS), Undergraduate Programs. CCAS stipulates that a student must complete the major requirements published in the Bulletin for the academic year in which the student declares their major.1

Program-specific curriculum:

Prerequisite courses
PSC 1001Introduction to Comparative Politics
or PSC 1001W Introduction to Comparative Politics
PSC 1002Introduction to American Politics and Government
or PSC 1002W Introduction to American Politics and Government
PSC 1003Introduction to International Politics
or PSC 1003W Introduction to International Politics
or IAFF 1005 Introduction to International Affairs
Students in the Politics and Values program are required to take PSC 1011 and PSC 1012W. For such students, these two courses fulfill the prerequisite requirement and count as a Group E (political thought) course.
Required for the major
Six 2000-level Political Science (PSC) courses (18 credits) from the groups below, including at least one course from group D and at least one from group E: 2
Group A (comparative politics)
PSC 2330Comparative Politics of Western Europe
PSC 2331Comparative Politics of Central and Eastern Europe
PSC 2332European Integration
PSC 2334Global Perspectives on Democracy
PSC 2336State–Society Relations in the Developing World
PSC 2337Development Politics
PSC 2338Nationalism
PSC 2339Comparative Political Economy
PSC 2366Russian Politics
PSC 2367Human Rights
or PSC 2367W Human Rights
PSC 2368Politics in the Two Koreas
PSC 2369Comparative Politics of South Asia
PSC 2370Comparative Politics of China and Northeast Asia
PSC 2371Politics and Foreign Policy of China
PSC 2373Comparative Politics of Southeast Asia
PSC 2374Politics and Foreign Policy of Japan
PSC 2377Comparative Politics of the Middle East
or PSC 2377W Comparative Politics of the Middle East
PSC 2379Politics and Foreign Policy of Israel
PSC 2381Comparative Politics of Sub-Saharan Africa
PSC 2383Comparative Politics of Latin America
PSC 2993Special Topics in Comparative Politics
Group B (American government and politics)
PSC 2211State and Urban Politics
PSC 2212State and Urban Policy Problems
PSC 2213Judicial Politics
PSC 2214U.S. Constitutional Law and Politics I
PSC 2215U.S. Constitutional Law and Politics II
PSC 2216The American Presidency
PSC 2217Executive Branch Politics
PSC 2218Legislative Politics
or PSC 2218W Legislative Politics
PSC 2219Political Parties and Interest Groups
PSC 2220Public Opinion
PSC 2221African American Politics
PSC 2222Science, Technology, and Politics
PSC 2223Campaigns and Elections
PSC 2224Issues in Domestic Public Policy
PSC 2225Women and Politics
PSC 2228Media, Politics, and Government
PSC 2229Media and Politics
PSC 2230Law and Justice: The View from Hollywood
PSC 2240Poverty, Welfare, and Work
Group C (international politics, law, and organizations)
PSC 2439International Political Economy
PSC 2440Theories of International Politics
PSC 2442International Organizations
or PSC 2442W International Organizations
PSC 2444Public International Law
PSC 2446U.S. Foreign Policy
PSC 2447American Presidents at War
PSC 2449International Security Politics
or PSC 2449W International Security Politics
PSC 2451Theory of War
or PSC 2451W Theory of War
PSC 2453U.S. Foreign Policy Perspectives
PSC 2454Humanitarianism
PSC 2455Global Governance
PSC 2461European-Atlantic Relations
PSC 2468Post-Soviet Foreign Policy
PSC 2475International Relations of East Asia
PSC 2476The Arab-Israeli Conflict
or PSC 2476W The Arab-Israeli Conflict
PSC 2478International Relations of the Middle East
PSC 2482African International Politics
PSC 2484International Relations of Latin America
Group D (research methods)
PSC 2101Scope and Methods of Political Science 3
or IAFF 2101 International Affairs Research Methods
or PSC 2102 Visualizing and Modeling Politics
or PSYC 2101 Research Methods in Psychology
or SMPA 2151 Research Methods
or SOC 2101 Social Research Methods
PSC 2102Visualizing and Modeling Politics
Group E (political thought)
PSC 2105Major Issues of Western Political Thought I
PSC 2106Major Issues of Western Political Thought II
or PSC 2106W Major Issues of Western Political Thought II
PSC 2107Twentieth-Century Political Thought
PSC 2108Freedom and Equality
PSC 2110American Political Thought
PSC 2120WFreedom in American Thought and Popular Culture
PSC 2991Special Topics in Political Thought
One proseminar (3 credits) and one advanced topics course (3 credits)
PSC 3192WProseminar: Political Science (taken in the junior or senior year)
PSC 3500Advanced Topics in Political Science
or PSC 3500W Advanced Topics in Political Science
Required courses in related areas
MATH 1232Single-Variable Calculus II
STAT 1051Introduction to Business and Economic Statistics (only one may be taken for credit)
or STAT 1053 Introduction to Statistics in Social Science
or STAT 1111 Business and Economic Statistics I
Four additional courses in statistics, mathematics, and computer science, excluding the following:
CSCI 1010Computer Science Orientation
CSCI 1011Introduction to Programming with Java
CSCI 1020Applications Software
CSCI 1021Introduction to Computers and the Internet
CSCI 1022Introduction to Internet Technology
CSCI 1023Introduction to Web Software Development
CSCI 1030Technology and Society
or CSCI 1030W Technology and Society
MATH 1000Dean's Seminar
MATH 1008History of Mathematics
MATH 1009Mathematical Ideas I
MATH 1220Calculus with Precalculus I
MATH 1221Calculus with Precalculus II
MATH 1231Single-Variable Calculus I
MATH 1252Calculus for the Social and Management Sciences
MATH 2991Introductory Special Topics
STAT 1000Dean's Seminar
STAT 1129Introduction to Computing
STAT 4195Reading and Research

1Bulletins covering prior academic years are archived.

2In addition to the courses listed, a maximum of 3 credits in PSC 2987 may count toward the 2000-level course requirement. However, these credits do not count toward any group.

3If a course other than PSC 2101 is selected, an additional PSC course must be taken to fulfill this requirement.