Government Department
Advising Tips for Prospective Majors
In the Government Department,
we recommend that our three introductory courses (Introduction to American
Government, Introduction to International Relations, and Introduction to
Comparative Politics) be taken as soon as possible, often in the first year.
Any two of the three are required for all majors, but a student may take all
three introductory courses if they choose to. Introduction to American
Government and Introduction to International Relations are offered in the fall,
while Introduction to Comparative Politics is offered in the spring.
All 100 level courses (except
Research Methods) are usually fine for first year students, but 200 level
courses in our department should be avoided by first year students.
Since most of our classes have
very heavy reading loads, students should be cautious about taking too many
courses in our department in any given semester. We encourage our students to
take PLS courses or gateway courses for minors or concentrations in the first
year. Since we require one History course for our majors, those focusing in
American Government should take an American History course while those focusing
on International Relations or Comparative Politics should take a world history
course.
Students or advisors with
questions should feel free to contact Mark Miller, Chair of Government, or any
of the other members of the department.
Our majors choose their own
advisors, with an attempt to match the sub-field focus of the advisor with the
sub-field focus of the student. Thus American Government majors should contact
one of the Americanists. International Relations students should contact an
International Relations faculty member, and Comparative Politics students should
contact a Comparative Politics faculty member.
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