Associate Professor Carroll Jones; Assistant Professors Burke, Kuthy, Mead, Mkrtchian, Sinha.
Chair: Celia M. Carroll Jones
Students may major in either Government or Foreign Affairs.
The requirements for a major in Government are a minimum of 37 semester hours in Government, to include the following courses: POLI 101, 140, 370, and 470; two political philosophy courses (POLI 310 and one course selected from POLI 312-315); two American institution courses (POLI 331-333); and one Constitutional law course (POLI 430 or 431). Philosophy 216 may count towards the remaining 12 elective hours. Government students are encouraged to take courses in Classics, Economics and Business, History, Religion, and Philosophy. Government majors are strongly encouraged to participate in off-campus study, either in a Summer Term course, or in an approved Washington Semester or Study Abroad program.
Students considering graduate study in political science, public policy, or public administration are encouraged to take Math 121(Statistics) and POLI 250 (Research Methods in Political Science) before beginning their junior year.
The requirements for a major in Foreign Affairs are a minimum of 37 semester hours in approved courses, 19 to include POLI 101; 140; 310; 440 or 443; 370 and 470 and Economics 101. Students studying Foreign Affairs must complete the major by taking 18 credits from the following: Economics and Business: three to six credits from 103, 210, 261, 262; Politics: at least three credits from 223, 224, 225, 226, 227 and 228; additional electives from 231, 242, 250, 321, 322, 323, 341, 342, 413, 414, 442; Interdisciplinary Studies: 275, 465. Students are strongly encouraged to study abroad either through a Summer Term course or during a semester of foreign study, preferably in the spring semester of the junior year. Students interested in foreign affairs or comparative politics are strongly encouraged to undertake a minor in a foreign language or at a minimum to complete a 300-level modern language course. Foreign Affairs majors should complete their mathematics requirement before the junior year. The degree will not be complete until the student has publicly presented the product of his Senior Seminar paper POLI 470, normally in the fall of the senior year.
updated 7/10/2026