Political Science, B.A.

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Foreign and National Security Policy Concentration

All requirements for political science majors are outlined below. In addition to the core of required courses, all students must complete course work in one of the three concentrations.

Political Science Major

Core Curriculum Requirements (43-45 credits)

In College Core B , all majors in programs in the College of Humanities and Behavioral Sciences are required to pass a second course in Social and Behavioral Sciences; i.e., CHBS majors cannot fulfill College Core B requirements with a Health and Wellness course. Note: Some concentrations in the major require specific courses to fulfill Core Curriculum requirements.

Total Credits Needed for Degree 120

Note:

POSC electives must be taken at the 300-400 level. Courses transferred in from community college are not eligible for credit as 300-400 level classes.

Concentrations

Public Affairs Concentration (39 credits)

Political Science Foundations (27 credits)

Upper-level courses

Upper-Level Classes (12 credits) chosen from courses with AG, PT, or PA designations. Additionally, upper-level classes may include POSC 485 - Internships in Political Science and Public Administration and POSC 498 - Independent Study (AG; CG; IR; PA; PT: as designated) .

Law, Justice, and Society Concentration (39)

Core Curriculum Requirements:

Core Curriculum Requirements (43-45 credits) of which the following are required:

University Core B:

Humanities: PHIL 112
Social and Behavioral Sciences: SOCY 110 or SOCY 121 or ECON 205 or ECON 206

College Core A:

Global Perspectives: ENGL 201 or ENGL 202 or HIST 101 or HIST 102 or INST 101 or RELN 112
US Perspectives: HIST 111 or HIST 112

College Core B:

Humanities/VP: POSC 110
Social/Behavioral Sciences: HIST 111 or HIST 112 or ECON 205 or ECON 206 or PSYC 121 or SOCY 110 .

Political Science Foundations (15 hours)

POSC 120 - Introduction to American Government
POSC 231 - Comparative Government or POSC 241 - Theories of International Relations
POSC 291 - Political Inquiry or
POSC491 - Scope and Methods in Political Science (PT)
300-400 level Political Theory course
POSC 492 - Mock Trial or POSC 493 POSC 493 - Moot Court

Political Science Electives (9)

Additional Courses (15 credits)

15 credit hours of course work chosen from the list below. Courses must be chosen from 3 different disciplines. At least 9 credit hours must be at 300-400 level.

Foreign and National Security Policy Concentration (39 credits)

Political Science Foundations (24 credits)

Upper Level POSC Classes (15 credits)

Choose 15 hours from 300-400 level classes with a CG or IR designation. Additionally, upper-level classes may include POSC 485 - Internships in Political Science and Public Administration and POSC 498 - Independent Study .

Recommended Courses

We recommend a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree for this concentration. Students will increase their marketability and credibility in international affairs with language training. Particularly useful are strategic languages Radford offers are Arabic, Chinese, Spanish, and Russian.

Recommended Core Curriculum Courses:

GEOG 101 - Europe and the Americas (World Geography) or GEOG 102 - Africa and Asia (World Geography) (Core credit in Social and Behavioral Sciences or Global Perspectives)
INST 101 - Introduction to International Studies (Core credit in Global Perspectives)
HIST 101 - World History to 1500 or HIST 102 - World History since 1500 (Core credit in Humanities)

We also recommend the following course from other departments for students interested in this concentration:

ECON 309 - Comparative Economic Systems — requires both ECON 205 and ECON 206 as pre-requisites
ECON 311 - Economic Development — requires both ECON 205 and ECON 206 as pre-requisites
ECON 340 - Global Economy and Business
HIST 300 - The 20th Century World (A, B, C) — requires 3 hours of History at the 100-level
HIST 313 - History of China (C) — requires 3 hours of History at the 100-level
HIST 317 - National Latin America (C) — requires 3 hours of History at the 100-level
HIST 322 - Middle East in the World: 600-1700 (C) — requires 3 hours of History at the 100-level
HIST 323 - Middle East in the World: 1700-Present (C) — requires 3 hours of History at the 100-level
HIST 326 - 20th Century Africa (C) — requires 3 hours of History at the 100-level
HIST 343 - Europe Since 1890 (B) — requires 3 hours of History at the 100-level

B.A. Requirements (6-8 credits)

The Bachelor of Arts degree requires completion of the B.A. language requirements described here .

Graduation Requirements

To graduate with a major in Political Science, a student must have a grade point average of 2.0 or higher in all courses taken with a POSC prefix.

Teaching Licensure

Students wishing to teach government at the secondary level should declare a social science major (see Social Science, B.A. and/or Social Science, B.S. ). To strengthen credentials as a government teacher, students should consider a double major in both social science and political science.