Political Studies Major

Requirements for the Major

Satisfactory completion of twelve (12) courses in Political Studies. These must include:

1. Two introductory classes (choose from POST 020 PZ  POST 030 PZ  , POST 040 PZ  , POST 050 PZ  , and POST 060 PZ  ). These introductory courses should be taken at Pitzer.
2. POST 070 PZ -Research Methods in Political Studies  
3. At least one course in each of the four sub-fields: U.S., Comparative, Political Philosophy and Global.
4. At least three upper-level courses in one of the four sub-fields (upper level courses require that appropriate introductory-level courses have been taken).
5. A senior seminar, which includes a major research paper.

Students are strongly encouraged to take the two required introductory courses in their first year. POST 070 PZ  will normally be offered in the Fall and is best taken by students in their sophomore or junior years.

Senior Thesis: Those students who wish to write a senior thesis must present a proposal or paper to the Political Studies Field Group at the end of the prior semester for approval.

Political Studies majors intending to pursue graduate study or careers in politics and public policy are strongly recommended to take:

• Statistics (e.g. POST 091 PZ /ECON 091 PZ  )
• 2 years of language study
• Macroeconomics and Microeconomics
• A survey course in modern world history and another history course appropriate to one’s focus of study
• An off-campus internship in a political organization. Some Pitzer Study Abroad and Community Engagement programs provide such opportunities.

Students may not major in Politics or Government at any of the other colleges in the consortium, as these fields are equivalent to Political Studies.

Honors

Exceptional students with a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or better may be awarded honors in Political Studies on the basis of the excellence of their work in the major and on a senior thesis.