Program Requirements
Required Courses for the Political Science Major
| POSC 111C | P3 Introduction to American Government | (3) |
| POSC 200 | Doing Political Science | (3) |
| POSC 208D | CC Introduction to Comparative Politics | (3) |
| POSC 209C | P2 Introduction to Political Thought | (3) |
| POSC 218 | P3 International Relations | (3) |
| POSC 499 | Senior Seminar in Political Science | (3) |
| POSC Electives* | (12) | |
| POSC 300-level Electives** | (6) | |
| Total | (36) | |
*STATS 160 may be applied as a Political Science elective
**Excludes internships.
Majors are required to complete POSC 499 Senior Seminar during their senior year, unless an alternative course is approved by the department chair.
For students majoring in Political Science, all courses designated as Political Science (POSC) that may be applied to the major are included in the determination of the grade point average in the major.
Transfer Student Requirements
Students transferring to Fisher with 60 credits are required to complete the following as part of the total 36 credit hours for the major:
| POSC 200 | Doing Political Science | (3) |
| POSC 499 | Senior Seminar in Political Science | (3) |
| POSC Electives * | (24) | |
| POSC 300-level Electives** | (6) | |
| Total | (36) | |
*STATS 160 may be applied as a Political Science elective
**Excludes internships. All or part of these six hours may be accepted in transfer.
Program Goals and Student Learning Outcomes
Goal #1 Students will demonstrate subject matter competency to a degree and in the manner appropriate to the course level.
- Demonstrates learning of facts and terms
- Demonstrates learning of concepts and theories
- Demonstrates an understanding of different perspectives
- Demonstrates a capacity to synthesize and integrate information and ideas
- Demonstrate a capacity to rad and comprehend course relevant discipline based literature
Goal #2 Students will demonstrate an ability in critical thinking to a degree and in a manner appropriate to the course level (and all the outcomes associated with Goal 1).
- Identify the arguments and conclusions in the work(s) under study.
- Student is able to contextualize the argument to debates in the discipline.
- Provide a cogent critique of the conclusions in the work(s) under study.
Goal #3 Students will demonstrate an ability in analytical thinking to a degree and in the manner appropriate to the course level (and in all the outcomes associated with Goals 1 & 2).
- Identify how the work (e.g., scholarly work or student project) presented fits into the larger literature
- Identify how the work (e.g., scholarly work or student project) presented contributes to the development of the literature
- Ability to collect and synthesize information
- Ability to view a problem from a variety of perspectives and to propose several alternative answers to this problem
- Ability to gauge alternative answers by analyzing their internal logic or by analyzing relevant empirical evidence
Goal #4 Students will demonstrate an ability to employ and understand social science research methods to a degree in the manner appropriate to the course level (in addition to the outcomes associated with Goals 1, 2 & 3).
- Explain the methodologies, i.e., how the scholarship progressed from argument to conclusion
- Demonstrate the ability to identify and use appropriate types of data in the methodology
- Explain the advantages and disadvantages of various methods
Goal #5 Student will demonstrate professional skills to a degree and in the manner appropriate to the course level (in addition to the outcomes associated with Goals 1, 2, 3 & 4).
- Written work follows the rules of conventional English and the norms of the discipline
- Student is capable of making an effective oral presentation
- Student is capable of making an effective argument
- Student demonstrates the ability to advance an original argument that is supported by evidence
Goal #6 Students will demonstrate “workplace readiness” in experiential learning opportunities, e.g. internship simulations at a level appropriate for juniors and seniors.
- Dependability
- Respect for others
- Work productively with others
- Follow directions, instructions and plans
- Speaking skills
- Writing skills