Undergraduate Students
Requirements for a Concentration in Political Science
The Political Science undergraduate concentration is organized around four tracks:
American Politics
Comparative Politics
International Relations
Political Theory
Students interested in graduating with a concentration in Political Science need to complete the following requirements:
Twelve courses overall: Ten within Political Science and two from outside the department related to track. If a non Political Science course is taken to fulfill the methods requirement it will not count as one of the outside courses - it becomes a 13th course.
1) Two introductory courses from the following group: POLS 0010, 0100, 0110, 0200, or 0400. Introductory course in chosen track is required as follows:
American: POLS0010
Comparative: POLS0200
International Relations: POLS0400
Theory: POLS0110
2) One course in each of the four subfields: American, Comparative, International Relations, Theory. Click here for subfield breakdown.
3) One course in methodology from the following list:
POLS 0500
POLS 1600
APMA 0650
ECON 1620 or ECON 1630
EDUC 1110
SOC 1100
4) One research seminar taken from the POLS 1820/1821 offerings. Research seminar must be track related and taken at Brown (effective starting with 2009 concentrators).
5) Three additional 1000 level track courses from within the department.
Click here for X-List courses.
6) Two 1000 level courses from outside the department which relate to track. Outside courses are chosen with the approval of the concentration advisor from appropriate 1000 level courses offered in other departments, such as, but not limited to: Afro-American Studies, American Civilization, Anthropology, Classics, Economics, History, International Relations, Philosophy, Religious Studies or Sociology. Your concentration advisor may approve a course from another department if it clearly meets the intent of the outside course requirement.
POLITICAL SCIENCE CONCENTRATION WORKSHEETS
Points to remember:
Courses may count twice to fill two separate requirements provided the total number of Political Science courses is ten.
Freshman Seminars: Students can use one freshman seminar only as an elective. Freshman seminars do not count as track courses or as Intro courses.
Senior Seminars: The senior seminar used toward the concentration requirements must fall in the student's subfield track. Moreover, the course must be taken at Brown. Students may continue to receive credit for seminars taken abroad or at other institutions to meet other concentration requirements.
Seminar Overlap: A student cannot count as a senior seminar a course that overlaps significantly with the freshman seminar he/she is using as an elective.