Curriculum
For students of political science, Stetson offers a diverse array of courses taught in small-class settings. Courses range from traditional introductory subjects of American Government and Comparative Politics to more specialized classes and seminars in such topics as Russian Foreign Policy and Religion and Politics. Class size in the Department varies from 8 to 30 students.
The requirements for the political science major are designed to allow students to follow their special interests in the discipline while insuring that they obtain a broad education in political science. To achieve this end, majors are required to take five designated courses (including a senior seminar the fall semester of their senior year) and to research and write a senior thesis. The remaining courses in the major are electives. Beginning with the class of 2012, students must complete a total of 10 unit courses of required and elective courses.
To give their major added cohesion and to prepare themselves for the writing of the senior thesis, political science majors may choose to concentrate their elective courses in one or two of the four major areas of the discipline: American government, comparative politics, international relations or political theory. Students may also wish to seek out courses in other departments that relate to their particular interests in political science. Those interested in Latin-American politics, for example, should consider enrolling in appropriate language and culture courses at Stetson. And all political science majors should seriously consider taking a year of economics (macro and micro) and some history. By graduation, majors should understand the outlines of modern world history and have a detailed knowledge of 20th century history in their area of concentration (United States, Latin America, Russia, etc.).
To assist students in designing their major, the following is political science curriculum at Stetson divided by area specialty:
American Government
- POLI 101S - American National Government
- POLI 102S - Florida Politics
- POLI 397 - Political Internship
- POLI 306J - Law and Society
- POLI 312 - Practical Politics
- POLI 314 - Public Administration
- POLI 315 - American Health Care Policy
- POLI 316R.JS - Environmental Politics
- POLI 320 - Congress
- POLI 322 - The American Judicial Process
- POLI 415 - American Constitutional Law
- POLI 318 - The American Presidency
- POLI 426 - American Political Thought
Comparative Politics
- POLI 145S - Politics of the Developing World
- POLI 201S - Comparative Politics
- POLI 340 - Russian Politics
- POLI 346 - Latin American Politics
- POLI 330D - Ethnicity and Politics
International Relations
- POLI 301 - International Relations
- POLI 304 - Russian Foreign Policy
- POLI 338 - Central Asia: Politics and Society in the Russian, Chinese, and Middle Eastern Borderlands
- POLI 353E - International Law
- POLI 451 - Politics of International Trade and Finance
Political Theory and Methodology
- POLI 323E - Western Political Thought: Classical to Medieval
- POLI 324E - Western Political Thought: Modern to Contemporary
- POLI 325 - Political Analysis
- POLI 190 - Special Topics
- POLI 425E - Contemporary Political Thought
- POLI 427J - Democracy and Political Participation
- POLI 485 - Independent Study
- POLI 499 - Senior Research
For course descriptions and information, please refer to the courses page.
