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Honors Program

See also: Honors Program Application

The Department’s Honors program, leading to a Bachelor of Arts degree is designed to emphasize the ideals of a superior liberal education and to give students a more rigorous and intensive preparation in Political Science. Admission is selective. The Honors concentration is normally a two-year program. Political Science 101 (United States Government & Politics) or 107 (Honors United States Government & Politics) and 102 (Introduction to Political Science) are prerequisites to the major.

Admission

To receive Honors in Political Science students must:

  1. Apply for and be admitted to the program by the Honors Director; Students are encouraged to apply for the program during the Spring Semester (by mid-March) before their Junior Year.
  2. Maintain a minimum 3.3 GPA in Political Science and a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 for all university coursework;
  3. Complete 27- hours of credit in Political Science courses numbered 300 or above. Included within these 27-hours a student must complete at least one course in each of the four areas of political science:
    1. American/Public Administration;
    2. International Relations;
    3. Comparative Government;
    4. Political Philosophy, and
  4. Complete 6-hours of Honors Seminar work (387 and 388) and 6-hours of Honors Thesis work (487 and 488). Political Science 387 and 388 may be used to satisfy the area requirement via petition.

Honors Courses

Political Science 107 Honors: United States Government and Politics (3)
Analysis and exploration of the American political system for students with superior ability. Admission by permission of the department for students with at least a B average; entering freshmen accepted on basis of strong placement scores and high school record. This course is highly recommended, but not required, for students considering applying for the departmental Honors Program.

Political Science 387 and 388 Junior Honors Seminar (3, 3)
Required of honors majors; admission with consent of department. The topic for each seminar changes from semester to semester.

Political Science 487 Senior Seminar (3) and 488 Senior Thesis
Required of honors majors; admission with consent of department. To meet the requirements of the 487 Senior Seminar, students must: (A) Faithfully attend and participate in seminar meetings; (B) Submit a thesis prospectus to the Honors Director at midterm; (C) Submit a draft of the first chapter of the thesis to their thesis director at the end of the semester. To meet the requirements of Political Science 488 Senior Thesis Seminar students must: (A) submit a complete draft of the thesis to the Honors Director no later than four weeks before the end of the semester and (B) Submit the final thesis manuscript for the evaluation of the Honors Director at the end of the semester.