Requirements for the Major in Government and Legal Studies

Courses within the department are divided into four fields:

American government: Government 11, 13, 15, 16, 21, 25, 150, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 208, 209, 210, 211, 212, 213, 215, 216, 217, 255, 302, 303, 304, 306, 307, 308, and 309.

Comparative politics: Government 14, 19, 120, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 226, 227, 228, 229, 230, 231, 232, 233, 234, 236, 237, 238, 268, 284, 321, 322, 324, 330, 332, 333, 335, 337, 362 and 365.

Political theory: Government 12, 17, 22, 24, 26, 28, 29, 240, 241, 242, 243, 244, 245, 246, 248, 249, 250, 341, 345, 346, and 347.

International relations: Government 10, 11, 14, 18, 20, 160, 225, 226, 228, 233, 236, 238, 260, 263, 265, 266, 267, 268, 270, 274, 281, 282, 284, 302, 321, 330, 335, 337, 361, 362, 363, 365, 366, and 367.

Every major is expected to complete an area of concentration in one of these fields.

The major consists of nine courses, no more than two taken at Level A, and no more than one first-year seminar, and distributed as follows:

  1. A field of concentration, selected from the above list, in which at least four courses including one Level C course and no more than one Level A course are taken.
  2. At least one course in each of the three fields outside the field of concentration. These courses may be at Levels A, B, or C, though only two Level A courses may count toward the major and no more than one of these may be a first-year seminar.
  3. Government 214, 219, 239, 262, 264, Environmental Studies 240, while not fulfilling the requirement for any of the four fields of concentration, can be counted toward the total number of courses required for the major or minor.
  4. Students seeking to graduate with honors in government and legal studies must petition the department. Interested students should contact the honors director for specific details. Students must prepare an honors paper, which is normally the product of two semesters of independent study work, and have that paper approved by the department. One semester of independent study work may be counted toward the nine-course departmental requirement and the four-course field concentration. Students who hope to graduate with honors in government and legal studies thus normally must complete at least ten courses in the department.
  5. To fulfill the major/minor requirements, a grade of C- or better must be earned in a course. Courses taken on a Credit/D/Fail basis may not be used to fulfill major/minor requirements.

Requirements for the Minor in Government and Legal Studies

A minor in government and legal studies consists of five courses from at least three of the departmental fields. No more than two Level A courses and no more than one first-year seminar may count toward the minor.