CONCENTRATION REQUIREMENTS
Ten courses are required overall from within the Department of Political Science. Eleven courses are required if the methods requirement is fulfilled with a course outside the department. If you double-count a course for two requirements, then you will also need to add one more POLS course.
In ASK, please fill in the Program Plan tab (not the course plan tab). When complete, check the box for 'My declaration is complete' then click submit.
Faculty information can be found here.
Requirements:
2 Two introductory courses from the following:
POLS 0010 Introduction to the American Political Process
POLS 0110 Introduction to Political Thought
POLS 0200 Introduction to Comparative Politics
POLS 0400 Introduction to International Politics
1 One course in Political Theory taught by a Political Science theory professor 1
1 One methods course from Political Science: 2
POLS 0500 Foundations of Political Analysis
POLS 1600 Political Research Methods
1 One Senior Capstone course taken from the POLS 1820 / 1821 / 1822 / 1823 / 1824 / 1825/offerings or the independent studies sequence POLS 1970 /1971 or the honors sequence POLS 1910 / 1920. The capstone course must be taken at Brown during the senior year. However, with exceptional circumstances and with permission and approval of the course from the DUS, a non- Brown course may fulfill this requirement.
5 Five additional courses from within Political Science and/or taught by a Political Science faculty member 1
10 Total Credits
1 Faculty information can be found here.
2 A comparable course from an outside department (APMA 0650, ANTH 1940, CLPS 0900, ECON 1620, ECON 1630, EEPS 1320, PHP 1501, SOC 1100 or SOC 1120 may also be used). If the methods requirement is fulfilled by an outside department course, it will not count as one of the 10 required POLS courses.
Students who have already declared their Political Science concentrations prior to July 1, 2022 may follow the old requirements found here OR may elect to follow the new requirements. If you have decided to make the switch, please contact suzanne_brough@brown.edu. If you have questions and would like to discuss the new requirements, please contact our DUS nina_tannenwald@brown.edu.
Honors Program
The Honors Program involves writing a year-long senior thesis in close conjunction with a faculty member. Students with an outstanding academic record apply in the late spring of their junior year. Students must complete the methods requirement prior to applying to the Honors program. During their senior year students complete an honors research project and take POLS 1910 and POLS 1920. POLS 1910 and POLS 1920 will count as one credit towards the ten required Political Science courses for the concentration.
Pathways through the concentration
Political science concentrators enjoy flexibility to choose courses based on their interests. You can focus on one or two subfields (for example, American politics) or you can spread your courses across the four subfields. One way to navigate the concentration is to pursue courses within a theme that interests you. Below are some sample thematic pathways that cut across the subfields. While these thematic pathways are optional, we encourage students to explore them (or others you may come up with) in consultation with their faculty advisers.
Some possible pathways:
Black Political Thought
AFRI 1085 The Black Vote: A Critical Interrogation of a Concept
AFRI 0800 Theorizing Racism
POLS1335 Slavery and Freedom: Selections from African American Political Thought
POLS 1530 Gender, Slavery and Freedom
POLS 1820E Pragmatism in Black and White: Race, Domination, and Democratic Faith
POLS1820F Black Protest: Theory and Praxis
POLS0820H Race and Visions of Justice
Ethics and Politics
POLS 0821B Ethics and International Affairs
POLS 1825K Good Government
Foreign Policy
POLS1560 American Foreign Policy
POLS1350 Chinese Foreign Policy
POLS1824T US-China Relations
International Political Economy
POLS1020 Politics of the Illicit Global Economy
POLS1822G Political Economy of Hard Policy Problems
POLS1190 Politics of Climate Change
POLS1822I Geopolitics of Oil and Energy
IAPA1801K From Growth to Green Transition
POLS1420 Money and Power in the International Politics Economy
International Security
POLS1550 War and Politics
POLS1500 The International Law and Politics of Human Rights
IAPA1804 Diplomacy, Crisis and War in the Modern Era
POLS1225 The Politics of Nuclear Weapons
IAPA1804I National Security Decision-Making
POLS1822U War and Human Rights
POLS1821P Political Psychology of International Relations
POLS1821M War in Film and Literature
Law and Politics
POLS 1821 Issues in Democratic Theory
POLS 1820D Civil Liberties: Moral, Political and Legal
POLS 1170 Constitutional Law: Individual Rights
POLS1500 The International Law and Politics of Human Rights
Political Institutions
POLS 1820V Institutions: Questions of Power and Democracy
POLS 1822C Congress
POLS 1130 The American Presidency
Politics of Freedom and Movement
POLS 1823J Freedom Work and Leisure
POLS 1824S The Politics of Migration
Politics of Public Policy
POLS 1435 Politics of Climate Change
POLS 1822 Geopolitics of Oil and Energy
POLS 1824K The American Welfare State in Comparative Perspective
POLS 1825E Health Care Politics and Policy
Promise and Problems of Democracy
POLS 1822H Corruption and Governance Across Democracies
POLS 1825Q The Politics of Democracy and Integration in Europe
POLS 1820F Issues in Democratic Theory
POLS 1820X Democratic Erosion
POLS 0920I The Politics, Ethics, and Art of Corruption
Race and Politics
AFRI 1085 The Black Vote: A Critical Interrogation of a Concept
AFRI 0800 Theorizing Racism
MCM 1507A Film and Politics
POLS 1310 African American Politics
POLS 1315 Social Groups in U.S. Politics
POLS1820F Black Protest: Theory and Praxis
POLS 0820H Race and Visions of Justice
Social Justice and Political Identity
POLS 1085 Injustice
POLS 1335 Slavery and Freedom
POLS 1820F Black Protest: Theory and Praxis
POLS 1820E Pragmatism in Black and White: Race, Domination, and Democratic Faith
POLS 1360 US Gender Politics
POLS 1530 Gender, Slavery and Freedom
POLS 1822Q Identity Politics in Global Perspective