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College of Arts & Sciences
- Undergraduate
Educational Objectives
| Degree Programs | Major
| Minor | Departmental
Honors
INTRODUCTION
A political science major prepares students for work in a
number of fields including law, politics, public policy, public
administration, and international affairs, as well as employment
in business and the non-profit sector.
EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES
Political science majors gain an understanding of American
political and legal life, the workings of other countries'
political and economic systems, the relations among countries
in the international arena, and key concepts in both political
philosophy and social science methodology.
DEGREE PROGRAMS
Bachelor of Arts in Political Science
Five year program: Bachelor of Arts in Political Science
and Masters of Public Administration
A special curriculum for students specializing in public
administration enables them to complete the requirements for
a Bachelor's and Master's degree in five years.
MAJOR
The political science major consists of at least 30 credits.
At least 21 credits of these must be earned at the University
of Miami.
To count toward the major, each course must be completed with
a grade of C- or above, with an overall GPA of 2.0 or above.
1. Nine credits must be taken in departmental core courses,
namely, POL 201, POL 202, and POL 203. POL213 does not count
toward the major.
The remaining credits must meet the following distributional
requirements:
2. Six of the credits must come from two 500-level seminar
courses offered by the University of Miami. This includes
any 500-level seminar offered by the Department of Political
Science or cross-listed with Political Science. The following
500 level courses are not seminars and do
not fulfill this requirement:
POL 520 Internship
POL 521 Public Affairs Internship
POL 563 Senior Honors Thesis (I)
POL 564 Senior Honors Thesis (II)
POL 599 Directed Readings
(Note that POL 599: Special Topics is a seminar
and does fulfill this requirement.)
3. At least one course above the 200-level must be taken
in three of the following five principal sub-fields of political
science:
American Politics
Comparative Politics
International Relations
Public Administration, Policy, and Law
Political Theory and Methods
These can include courses used to fulfill requirement #1 above.
Please note that some courses cover more than one sub-field
Students may not, however, use a single class to fill two
sub-field requirements
American Politics:
POL 309 American
Political Thought
POL 314 Legislative
Process
POL 315 American
Presidency
POL 332 Mass Media
and Politics
POL 334 Campaigns
POL 335 Local Government
POL 342 State and
Local Government and Politics
POL 343 Government
in Metropolitan Areas
POL 349 U. S. Defense
Policy
POL 351 Public
Opinion
POL 352 Political
Parties
POL 353 Interest
Groups and Lobbying
POL 360 Congressional
Representation
POL 408 The 2008
Election
POL 515 Media Content
Analysis
POL 528 Advanced
Seminar on Electoral Behavior
POL 530 Intelligence
and National Security Decision Making
POL 536 U.S. Health
Care Crisis: Politics and Policies
POL 540 Problems
in American Foreign Policy
POL 542 American
Constitutional Development
POL 548 Civic Participation
and Democracy
POL 543 Urban Politics
POL 550 Advanced
Seminar on American Politics
POL 552 Politics
and Group Perspectives
POL 547 Congressional
Representation
POL 553 The Environmental
Movement: Groups, Beliefs and Values
POL 599 Special
Topics: Congress, the President, and Spending
Other POL599: Special Topics classes may count as an American
Politics course. See the Director of Undergraduate Studies
for questions about POL599 courses not listed in the Bulletin.
Comparative Politics:
POL 380 Comparative
Political Analysis
POL 381 European
Governments and Politics
POL 382 Government
and Politics of the Federal Republic of Germany
POL 384 Soviet
and Russian Politics
POL 385 Politics
and Society in Latin America
POL 386 Democratic
Consolidation
POL 387 Politics
of the Middle East
POL 388 Politics
of Israel
POL 525 Comparative
Public Policy and Administration
POL 531 Global
Environmental Politics
POL 534 War Crimes
Tribunals
POL 535 Comparative
Legal Systems
POL 579 Ethnicity,
Nationalism, and Secession
POL 580 The Politics
of Post-Communist Transitions
POL 581 Comparative
Political Economy of Post-Industrial Democracies
POL 582 Political
Economy Development
POL 584 Contemporary
Latin American Politics
POL 588 Politics
in China
POL 599: Special Topics may count as a Comparative Politics
course. See the Director of Undergraduate Studies for questions
about POL599 courses not listed in the Bulletin.
International Relations:
POL 337 International
Law
POL 345 The United
States and Asia
POL 346 U. S.-Latin
American Relations
POL 347 American
Foreign Policy
POL 348 United
States Relations with the Middle East
POL 349 U. S. Defense
Policy
POL 391 Introduction
to International Relations
POL 392 International
Terrorism
POL 530 Intelligence
and National Security Decision Making
POL 531 Global
Environmental Politics
POL 540 Problems
in American Foreign Policy
POL 544 Chinese
Foreign Policy
POL 570 Uniting
States in International Perspective
POL 577 Security
in South Asia
POL 579 Ethnicity,
Nationalism, and Secession
POL 586 Conflict
in the Middle East and Africa
POL 591 Problems
in International Politics and Organization
POL 592 International
Political Economy
POL 593 International
Relations of the Middle East
POL 599 Special
Topics: Security in South Asia
POL 599 Special
Topics: Security, Globalization, and Human Rights
Other POL 599: Special Topics courses may count as an International
Relations course. See the Director of Undergraduate Studies
for questions about POL599 courses not listed in the Bulletin.
Public Administration, Policy, and Law:
POL 321 Public
Policy and Administration
POL 322 Environmental
Politics and Policy
POL 336 Politics
of Crime
POL 337 International
Law
POL 372 Introduction
to Criminal Justice
POL 373 Constitutional
Law I
POL 374 Constitutional
Law II
POL 375 Supreme
Court Issues
POL 376 Discrimination
and the Law
POL 377 Constitutional
Law III
POL 396 Policy
for Urban Systems
POL 501 Budget
and Financial Management and Administration
POL 522 Introduction
to Graduate Public Administration
POL 523 Problems
in Public and Non-Profit Management
POL 524 Non-Profit
Organizations: Law, Policy, and Management
POL 525 Comparative
Public Policy and Administration
POL 526 Administrative
Law
POL 533 Courts
and Controversy
POL 534 War Crimes
Tribunals
POL 535 Comparative
Legal Systems
POL 536 U.S. Health
Care Crisis: Politics and Policies
POL 537 The Law
and Politics of Sports
POL 541 Philosophy
of Law
POL 542 American
Constitutional Development
POL 545 Environmental
Policymaking
POL 546 Public
Policy
POL 551 Productivity
in the Public and Non-Profit Sectors
POL 554 Social
Welfare Policy
POL 555 Total Quality
Public Service Management: Achieving High Performance
Government
POL 556 Political
Ethics
POL 557 Ethical
Issues in Government
POL 569 Politics,
Law and Sexual Identity
POL 599 Special
Topics: Public Project Management & Procedures
Other POL 599: Special Topics courses may count as a Public
Adminstration, Policy, and Law Course. See the Director of
Undergraduate Studies for questions about POL599 courses not
listed in the Bulletin.
Political Theory and Methods:
POL 250 Scope and Methods in Political
Science
POL 305 Introduction to Political
Theory
POL 306 Positive Political Theory
POL 307 Political Ideologies
POL 309 American Political Thought
POL 310 God, Science, and Politics
POL 380 Comparative Political Analysis
POL 510 Political Analysis
POL 512 Advanced Political Analysis
POL 513 Models of Politics
POL 515 Media Content Analysis
POL 541 Philosophy of Law
POL 599 Introduction to Game Theory
POL 599 Ideals and Realities
Other POL 599: Special Topics courses may count as a Political
Theory and Methods class. See the Director of Undergraduate
Studies for questions about POL 599 courses not listed in
the Bulletin.
Minor
A minor requires 15 credits of political science, three of
which must be from POL 201, 202, or 203. To qualify for the
minor at least 9 credits must be earned in residence.
To count toward a minor, each course must be completed with
a grade of C- or higher, with an overall GPA of 2.0 or higher.
POL 213 does not count toward the minor.
DEPARTMENTAL HONORS
The Department of Political Science offers the opportunity
for outstanding majors to earn the graduation designation
"Departmental Honors in Political Science." Pursuing
Departmental Honors provides superior students the opportunity
to intensify and deepen their knowledge of political science,
to permit closer associations with professors in their areas
of concentration, and to prepare them for graduate level work
in political science.
To be considered for Departmental Honors a student must:
- Have an overall GPA of 3.60.
- Have a political science GPA of at least 3.75 at the end
of the junior year. This GPA must be based on at least four
300- or 500-level political science courses in addition
to the introductory courses required for the major.
- Be admitted to POL 563: Senior Honors Thesis I and POL
564: Senior Honors Thesis II and earn a grade of B or above
in each. (See below for admission requirements.)
- Complete a senior honors thesis that constitutes significant
original research. Students are responsible for collecting
their own data and the thesis must be analytical, not descriptive.
The thesis must also be well written, clearly organized,
and devoid of grammatical mistakes, misspellings, or other
errors. Sources must be properly cited. Political science
honors theses are generally fifty or more pages in length.
Interested students should apply to the Director of Undergraduate
Studies for admission to POL 563 by April 1st of their
junior year. (For students planning a December graduation,
the deadline is November 1st of their junior year.) An
application consists of the student’s ACE and a
one-page description of the student’s research interests.
This statement of interest should include an explanation
of how the student’s coursework to date prepares
him or her to undertake the proposed research. Students
should also state which tenure-track faculty member(s)
they are most interested in working with as a thesis advisor.
In most cases, the thesis advisor should be a faculty
member with whom the student has already taken a class.
If a student wishes to work with a faculty member he or
she has not previously had as an instructor, the student
should additionally submit a writing sample (preferably
a social science research paper) and the name of at least
one political science professor who can serve as a reference.
The Director of Undergraduate Studies will then work to
pair Honors candidates with appropriate faculty members
in a way that both meets the students’ academic
needs and equalizes the advising burden across faculty
members.
- The thesis must be approved for Departmental Honors by
at least one, preferably two, tenure-line political science
professors.
- Complete all requirements for the POL major with a GPA
of at least 3.75.
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