Political Science, BA
Requirements for Students Matriculating in or before Academic Year 2024-2025. Learn more about University Academic Regulation 3.1.
Minimum Overall Grade Point Average: 2.00
Total Hours: 120
Code | Title | Hours |
---|---|---|
General Education Requirements | ||
English Composition | ||
See Academic Regulation 3.5 | ||
ENGL 1113 | Composition I | 3 |
or ENGL 1313 | Critical Analysis and Writing I | |
Select one of the following: | 3 | |
Composition II | ||
Critical Analysis and Writing II | ||
Technical Writing | ||
American History & Government | ||
HIST 1103 | Survey of American History | 3 |
or HIST 1483 | American History to 1865 (H) | |
or HIST 1493 | American History Since 1865 (DH) | |
POLS 1113 | American Government | 3 |
Analytical & Quantitative Thought (A) | ||
MATH or STAT course designated (A) | 3 | |
Humanities (H) | ||
Courses designated (H) | 6 | |
Natural Sciences (N) | ||
Must include one Laboratory Science (L) course | ||
Courses designated (N) | 6 | |
Social & Behavioral Sciences (S) | ||
SPCH 2713 | Introduction to Speech Communication (S) | 3 |
or SPCH 3733 | Elements of Persuasion (S) | |
Additional General Education | ||
Courses designated (A), (H), (N), or (S) | 10 | |
Hours Subtotal | 40 | |
Diversity (D) & International Dimension (I) | ||
May be completed in any part of the degree plan | ||
Select at least one Diversity (D) course | ||
Select at least one International Dimension (I) course | ||
College/Departmental Requirements | ||
First Year Seminar | ||
(Transfer students with 15 hours exempt) | 1 | |
Arts & Humanities | ||
See note 2.a. | 9 | |
Natural & Mathematical Sciences | ||
See note 2.b. | 3 | |
Foreign Language | ||
See note 3 | 9 | |
Non-Western Studies | ||
See note 2.d. | ||
Upper-Division General Education | ||
Select 6 hours outside major department | ||
See note 2.c. | ||
Hours Subtotal | 22 | |
Major Requirements | ||
Minimum GPA 2.50 with a minimum grade of “C” in each course. | ||
Core Requirements | ||
POLS 2013 | Introduction to International Relations (S) | 3 |
or POLS 2113 | Introduction to Comparative Politics (IS) | |
POLS 2213 | Fundamentals of Political Science | 3 |
POLS 3103 | Introduction to Political Inquiry | 3 |
POLS 4903 | Senior Capstone Seminar | 3 |
At least 18 hours of upper-division (3000- or 4000-level) POLS (excluding core requirements listed above) | 18 | |
Upper-division courses to complete the required 39 may be POLS or any other 3000- or 4000-level courses | 9 | |
Hours Subtotal | 39 | |
Electives | ||
Select 19 hours | 19 | |
May need to include 6 hours upper-division general education outside major department (see note 2.c.), and 7 additional upper-division hour | ||
15 hours in one foreign language recommended for students focusing on International Relations | ||
Hours Subtotal | 19 | |
Total Hours | 120 |
Upper-Division POLS Courses
Code | Title | Hours |
---|---|---|
POLS 3003 | The Soviet Union: History, Society and Culture(IS) | 3 |
POLS 3033 | International Law | 3 |
POLS 3053 | Introduction to Central Asia Studies (IS) | 3 |
POLS 3090 | Teaching Practicum | 1-6 |
POLS 3100 | Political Science Internship | 1-6 |
POLS 3101 | Oklahoma Intercollegiate Legislature | 1 |
POLS 3123 | Russian & Eurasian Politics (I) | 3 |
POLS 3143 | European Politics (I) | 3 |
POLS 3163 | African Politics (I) | 3 |
POLS 3193 | Latin American Politics (IS) | 3 |
POLS 3223 | Asian Politics | 3 |
POLS 3313 | Middle Eastern Politics | 3 |
POLS 3353 | Political Parties | 3 |
POLS 3423 | Voting and Elections | 3 |
POLS 3443 | Pol Campaigns And Candidacy | 3 |
POLS 3453 | U.S. Congress | 3 |
POLS 3483 | The American Presidency | 3 |
POLS 3493 | Public Policy | 3 |
POLS 3513 | Public Opinion and Polling | 3 |
POLS 3523 | Money, Media And Politics | 3 |
POLS 3533 | Lobbying: the Art of Influence and Manipulation | 3 |
POLS 3613 | State and Local Government | 3 |
POLS 3663 | Introduction to Political Thought | 3 |
POLS 3683 | Politics in Contemporary Film | 3 |
POLS 3893 | Terrorism & Counterterrorism | 3 |
POLS 3953 | Minorities in the American Political System (DS) | 3 |
POLS 3963 | State Courts and the Bar | 3 |
POLS 3973 | Race, Politics and Sports (D) | 3 |
POLS 3983 | Courts and Judicial Process (S) | 3 |
POLS 3993 | Legal Research And Analysis | 3 |
POLS 4000 | Advanced Topics in American Politics | 3 |
POLS 4010 | Advanced Topics in International Relations | 3 |
POLS 4013 | American Foreign Policy | 3 |
POLS 4020 | Advanced Topics in Comparative Politics | 3 |
POLS 4023 | Security Analysis and Briefing | 3 |
POLS 4033 | Civil Wars (I) | 3 |
POLS 4043 | Global Political Economy | 3 |
POLS 4053 | War And World Politics (I) | 3 |
POLS 4100 | Problems of Government, Politics and Public Policy | 1-6 |
POLS 4113 | International Organization | 3 |
POLS 4223 | Social Movements | 3 |
POLS 4333 | Improving Democracy: How to Reform Government by the People (S) | 3 |
POLS 4353 | Administrative Law | 3 |
POLS 4363 | Environmental Law And Policy | 3 |
POLS 4403 | Urban Politics and Management | 3 |
POLS 4413 | Government Budgeting | 3 |
POLS 4453 | Public Personnel Administration | 3 |
POLS 4553 | American Political Thought | 3 |
POLS 4573 | Democratic Theory | 3 |
POLS 4593 | Natural Resources and Environmental Policy | 3 |
POLS 4623 | Oklahoma Politics (S) | 3 |
POLS 4653 | Contemporary Political Thought | 3 |
POLS 4693 | Gender and Politics | 3 |
POLS 4670 | Advanced Topics in Political Theory | 3 |
POLS 4963 | U.S. Constitution: Civil Rights and Civil Liberties | 3 |
POLS 4973 | U.S. Constitution: Separation of Powers | 3 |
POLS 4980 | Advanced Topics in Public Law | 3 |
POLS 4990 | Independent Study | 1-3 |
POLS 4993 | Political Science Honors Thesis | 3 |
Other Requirements
- See the College of Arts and Sciences Requirements.
- Minimum 2.0 GPA in all POLS courses.
- Upper-Division Credit: Total hours must include at least 40 hours in courses numbered 3000 or above.
College of Arts and Sciences Requirements
- Hours in One Department: For B.A. and B.S. degrees, no more than 54 hours in one department may be required to meet degree requirements. Courses used to satisfy the General Education English Composition, U.S. History, American Government, and Mathematics or Statistics requirements will not count toward the 54-hour maximum required from one department.
- A&S College/Departmental Requirements
- Arts and Humanities are defined as any course carrying an (H) designation or courses from AMST, ART, DANC, ENGL (except ENGL 3323 Technical Writing) HIST, MUSI, PHIL (except PHIL 1313 Logic and Critical Thinking (A), PHIL 3003 Symbolic Logic (A) and PHIL 4003 Mathematical Logic and Computability), REL, TH, and foreign languages.
- Natural and Mathematical Sciences are defined as any course from the following prefixes: ASTR, BIOC, BIOL, CHEM, CS (except CS 4883 Social Issues in Computing), GEOL, MATH, MICR, PBIO, PHYS, and STAT; or courses from other departments that carry an (A) or (N) general education designation.
- Six upper-division hours are required from General Education or any CAS courses outside the student’s major department. This requirement may be satisfied by courses also used to satisfy any part of a student’s degree program (i.e., in General Education, College Departmental Requirements, Major Requirements or Electives).
- Non-Western Studies Requirement for B.A. and B.F.A.; One course in Non-Western Studies (N.W.). This requirement may be satisfied by courses also used to satisfy any part of a student's degree program (i.e., in General Education, College Departmental Requirements, Major Requirements or Electives).
- The College of Arts & Sciences requires a minimum 2.0 GPA in all major requirements and a minimum 2.0 GPA in all major-prefix courses applied to the degree.
- Foreign Language Proficiency
- The foreign language requirement for the B.A. may be satisfied by 9 hours college credit in the same language, which must include 3 hours at the 2000-level, or equivalent proficiency (e.g., passing an advanced standing examination; TOEFL exam; presenting a high school transcript which demonstrates the high school was primarily conducted in a language other than English; etc.). Computer Science courses may not be used to satisfy this requirement. Currently Arabic and Mvskoke are not offered at the 2000-level at OSU.
- The foreign language requirement for the B.S., B.M. and B.F.A. may be satisfied by presenting a high school transcript which demonstrates two years of study of a single foreign language (passing grades at second-year level of study). It may also be satisfied by 6 hours college credit in the same language, which must include language courses 1713 and 1813, or equivalent proficiency (e.g., passing an advanced standing examination; TOEFL exam; presenting a high school transcript which demonstrates the high school was primarily conducted in a language other than English; etc.). Computer Science courses may not be used to satisfy this requirement.
- In addition to a. and b., students pursuing teacher certification must meet novice-high foreign language proficiency by presenting a high school transcript which demonstrates two years of study of a single foreign language with no grade below B. Or, students may complete 3 hours college credit in a single language with no grade below C (or pass an advanced standing examination, College Level Examination Program (CLEP) exam, or Oral Proficiency Interview developed by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, equivalent to 3 hours of college credit.) Or, students may meet the requirement by transfer of documentation of meeting the foreign language competency from one of the teacher education programs in the State of Oklahoma approved by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education.
- Exclusions. Courses with ATHL or LEIS prefixes and leisure activity courses may not be used for degree credit.
Additional State/OSU Requirements
- At least: 60 hours at a four-year institution; 30 hours completed at OSU; 15 of the final 30 or 50% of the upper-division hours in the major field completed at OSU.
- Limit of: one-half of major course requirements as transfer work; one-fourth of hours earned by correspondence; 8 transfer correspondence hours.
- Students will be held responsible for degree requirements in effect at the time of matriculation and any changes that are made, so long as these changes do not result in semester credit hours being added or do not delay graduation.
- Degrees that follow this plan must be completed by the end of Summer 2030.
Finish in Four Plan of Study
The plan below is an example of how students can successfully complete degree requirements in four years. This suggested class schedule plan may be used as a guide and can be adjusted based on individual needs. Students are required to meet with an academic advisor prior to enrollment each semester to plan their class schedule, and students are ultimately responsible for completing all degree requirements.
Freshman | ||
---|---|---|
Fall | Hours | |
MATH 1483 |
Mathematical Functions and Their Uses (A) or Applications of Modern Mathematics (A) or College Algebra (A) or Elementary Statistics (A) or Elementary Statistics for the Social Sciences (A) |
3 |
POLS 1113 | American Government | 3 |
General Education courses | 8 | |
Hours | 14 | |
Spring | ||
POLS 2013 or POLS 2113 |
Introduction to International Relations (S) or Introduction to Comparative Politics (IS) |
3 |
General Education courses | 13 | |
Hours | 16 | |
Sophomore | ||
Fall | ||
POLS 2213 | Fundamentals of Political Science | 3 |
1713 First Semester Foreign Language | 3 | |
General Education courses | 9 | |
Hours | 15 | |
Spring | ||
POLS 3103 | Introduction to Political Inquiry | 3 |
1813 Second Semester Foreign Language | 3 | |
College and Elective courses | 9 | |
Hours | 15 | |
Junior | ||
Fall | ||
2000-level Foreign Language | 3 | |
Major, College, and Elective courses | 12 | |
Hours | 15 | |
Spring | ||
Major, College, and Elective courses | 15 | |
Hours | 15 | |
Senior | ||
Fall | ||
Major, College, and Elective courses | 15 | |
Hours | 15 | |
Spring | ||
POLS 4903 | Senior Capstone Seminar | 3 |
Major, College, and Elective courses | 12 | |
Hours | 15 | |
Total Hours | 120 |