Political Science Major

Requirements of the Major (POLS):

Majors must complete at least 33 credits of coursework: 30 credits from within Political Science (31 for those completing the departmental capstone rather than an honors thesis), plus three credits outside the Department from the options in Requirement 3 (below). Only four credits of honors thesis research may be counted in the total.

Transfer credit for courses taken outside Tulane University involving different credit systems will be evaluated case by case by the department's undergraduate studies director.

Required Courses:

Students must take at least three of the following courses:

• POLA 2100 (American Government) (or a 4 or 5 on the A.P. American Government Exam)
• POLC 2300 (Introduction to Comparative Politics ) (or a 4 or 5 on the A.P. Comparative Politics Exam)
• POLI 2500 (Introduction to International Relations)
• POLT 2700 (Political Thought in the West)

POLS 2010: Introduction to Scope and Methods of Political Science*

* This requirement will take effect for those graduating after May, 2013 (i.e. Classes of 2014 and beyond) who have not declared a major prior to July 1, 2012.

Statistics or Foreign Language Component:

Students must complete either a statistics or a foreign language component.

Statistics Component:

• MATH 1110 (Probability and Statistics I), or other equivalent course.¹

Foreign Language Component:

• Students must complete one additional course (3 credits) beyond the SLA foreign-language requirements.

Electives:

Students must successfully complete at least six electives in political science. No more than four of these courses can be in any single subfield (POLA, POLC, POLI, or POLT).

Pre-requisites:

Students must have successfully completed the correlating introductory course in order to enroll in any course above the 3000-level. For example, students must complete POLA 2100 in order to enroll in any POLA 4000 or 6000-level course. Of course, faculty may choose to add other pre-requisites to any course and are encouraged to do so in any case in which they feel that doing so would improve student preparation for and performance in their own courses. Non-major juniors and seniors may enroll in courses at the 4000-level or above with the consent of the instructor. The Political Science department enforces all pre-requisites. Students must have successfully completed a pre-requisite the semester before registering for any class. The department reserves the right to drop students who are missing the pre-requisite from the course without notice.

Grade Point Average:

According to college rules, all students must have an overall GPA of 2.0 or better, and a GPA in their major of 2.0 or better, at the time of graduation.

Level of Coursework:

1. Students must successfully complete at least two courses at the4000 level or above. This does not include internships, independent studies, or honors thesis credits.
2. Students must successfully complete either one course at the 6000level or one 4-credit writing intensive course in political science. Honors thesis credits do not count as political science writing courses.
3. Students not writing an honors thesis must complete the Senior Capstone Experience (POLS 5100) during their last semester at Tulane. This one-credit course is not included in the 10 total courses for the major.
4. Students may not exceed six credits of internship toward their total hours of graduation and can count only one internship course (POLS 4560) toward the major requirements.

Concentration in International Relations (PSIR Major)

Students concentrating in PSIR must complete the following requirements in addition to the general political science major requirements.

Economics Component:

PSIR majors must successfully complete 2 of the following courses:²

• ECON 1010 (Microeconomics)
• ECON 1020 (Macroeconomics)
• ECON 1050
• MATH 1110 (Probability and Statistics I)
• POLI 3540 (International Political Economy)
• ECON 3370 (The World Economy)
• POLC 6110 (Comparative Political Economy)

Foreign Language Component:

Students selecting the PSIR concentration must fulfill the foreign language component in addition to the expanded economics component.

Electives:

Students selecting the PSIR concentration must take at least three of the required six elective courses in POLI and/or POLC.³

Notes

¹Political Science majors who are double majors in Sociology or Psychology may satisfy this requirement through the successful completion of SOCI 3030 (Intro to Research Design), PSYC 3090 (Psychological Applications of Univariate Statistics I). Equivalent courses from other departments or schools may also satisfy this requirement for any student majoring in Political Science, as determined by the Department Chair or Undergraduate Studies Director.
² A course in the political economy department (such as PECN 3040) that is approved by the political science department’s director of undergraduate studies may also be considered.
³POLI 3540 (International Political Economy) and POLC 6110 (Comparative Political Economy) can count for either the Economics Component or an Elective but not both.

For PSIR majors, the general major's GPA requirements and Level of Coursework requirements remain the same. Students should keep this in mind as they select electives so that they take the required 4000 level and writing intensive/6000 level courses within the concentration. Likewise, students majoring in PSIR must successfully complete at least 10 courses in political science, must complete the Capstone or Honors Thesis, and are bound by the same pre-requisites as those in POLS.