A minor in political science provides students with the ability to think critically about challenges facing the world today. Students develop research, writing and analytical skills to prepare them for careers in fields such as:
- Government
- Civil service
- Journalism
- Business management
- Legislative analysis
- Criminology
- City planning
- Population studies
Students can combine the minor with teaching credentials and study in an affiliated field to teach government, political science and civics in secondary schools. If a student plans to go on to the graduate level, the political science minor is an excellent complement to fields such as law, economics and a number of other social science disciplines.
Career Services offers a number of programs and services designed to help political science students plan their career, including workshops, internships and placement services after graduation.
Requirements
Declaration of a minor in political science is open to any student enrolled at CU Boulder, regardless of college or school.
Students must complete 21 credit hours of political science to complete the political science minor, of which 9 credit hours must be in upper-division coursework. All 21 credit hours must be completed with grades of C- or better and an overall GPA of 2.00. None of the required credit hours may be taken pass/fail.
Required Courses and Credit Hours
| Code | Title | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Lower-Division Courses | ||
| PSCI 1101 | Introduction to American Politics | 3 |
| Select two of the following: | 6 | |
| Introduction to Comparative Politics | ||
| Introduction to International Relations | ||
| Survey of Western Political Thought | ||
| Quantitative Research Methods | ||
| Upper-Division Courses | ||
| 9 credit hours in a minimum of two of the following primary fields: 1 | 9 | |
American | ||
Comparative | ||
International Relations | ||
Political Theory | ||
Empirical Theory and Research Methodology | ||
Public Policy | ||
| Lower- or Upper-Division Political Science | ||
| 3 credit hours of lower- or upper-division political science | 3 | |
| Total Credit Hours | 21 | |
| 1 | PSCI 4938 will not fulfill a primary field area in the minor. |
International Affairs Majors
International affairs majors who wish to minor in political science must apply the following additional rules:
- No more than 9 credit hours toward the PSCI minor can come from courses that count toward another major.
- International affairs majors must take at least one upper-division course in American politics and one course (lower- or upper-division) in political theory, in addition to the regular minor requirements.