Undergraduate Program

College of Arts and Sciences and Department of Political Science Undergraduate Admission Requirements

A minimum of 26 credit hours; 23 credit hours must be in courses acceptable toward graduation.

A cumulative grade point average of at least 2.00 on all work.

  • Transfer students must have a 2.00 transfer GPA.
  • Continuing UNM students must have a 2.00 institutional GPA.

Demonstrated academic achievement by satisfying the following:

  • Completion of the University Writing and Speaking Core.
  • Completion of the University Mathematics Core.
  • Completion of the University Foreign Language Core.

Completion of Department of Political Science admission course work with grades of "C" or better:

  • Two POLS courses from 110, 200, 220, 240, 260, 270 or 280.

Major Study Requirements

A total of 36 credit hours is required for a major in Political Science. These credit hours must be distributed among the following:

  • 12 credit hours from the core courses (200, 220, 240, 260, 270 and 280), including at least one course from each of the following groups: (200 or 270), (220 or 240) and (260 or 280).
  • 21 credit hours from courses numbered 300 or above.
  • 3 additional credit hours from any level.

NOTE: Students who have already had courses in political science may not count POLS 110 toward a major. A grade of C or better is required in all political science courses counted toward the major. Only three credit hours of POLS 299 is permitted toward the major. However, students may enroll in additional credit hours of POLS 299 and count them as electives. No more than a total of six (6) credit hours of Internship (291 and/or 491) or Independent Study (499) combined can be counted toward the major.


Distributed Minor for Political Science Majors

With the consent of the department chairperson, a major may offer an American Studies minor as well as a minor in a single department. For requirements, see American Studies.

A Political Science major may pursue a distributed minor consisting of courses in related disciplines, provided the minor program of courses is approved by the department chairperson.


Minor Study Requirements

A total of 24 credit hours, including at least three of the core courses and four courses numbered 300 or above, is required for a minor in Political Science. A grade of C or better is required in all courses counted toward the minor. Only three credit hours of POLS 299 are permitted toward the minor. Additional/excess credit hours of POLS 299 may be counted as Arts and Sciences electives.

NOTE: No more than a total of three (3) credit hours of Internship (291 and/or 491) or Independent Study (499) combined can be counted toward the minor.


Departmental Honors

Superior sophomore and junior students are invited to apply for admission to the Undergraduate Honors Program, beginning in the junior year. Students participating in this program are eligible to graduate with departmental honors if recommended by the faculty on the basis of outstanding performance. Those enrolled in the honors program are expected to complete the following sequence of courses for a total of 9 credit hours: POLS 495, 496 (or, with prior approval, another 400-level course) and 497.


Undergraduate courses in Political Science (POLS) are categorized in content areas. The category for each course appears in parenthesis at the end of the course description according to the following legend:

Introductory and General (I); Core (C); American Politics (AP); Comparative Politics (CP); International Politics (IP); Political Theory (PT); Public Policy (PP).


Courses

POLS 110. The Political World. (3)



POLS 200. American Politics. (3)



POLS 220. Politics Around the World [Comparative Politics]. (3)



POLS 240. International Politics. (3)



POLS 260. Political Ideas. (3)



POLS 270. Public Policy and Administration. (3)



POLS 280. Introduction to Political Analysis. (3)



POLS 291. Internship. (1-3 to a maximum of 6 Δ)



POLS 299. Introductory Political Topics. (3, no limit Δ)



POLS *300. Political Topics. (3, no limit Δ)



POLS 301. The Government of New Mexico. (3)



POLS *302. Comparative State Politics. (3)



POLS 303. Law in the Political Community. (3)



POLS *305. Public Opinion and Electoral Behavior. (3)



POLS *307. The Politics of Ethnic Groups. (3)



POLS *308. Hispanics in U.S. Politics. (3)



POLS 309. Black Politics. (3)



POLS *311. The Legislative Process. (3)



POLS *312. The American Presidency. (3)



POLS 313. Women and the Law. (3)



POLS 314. Women's Contemporary Legal Issues. (3)



POLS *315. Constitutional Law: Powers. (3)



POLS *316. Constitutional Law: Liberties. (3)



POLS 317. Constitutional Law: Rights. (3)



POLS *320. Topics in Comparative Politics. (3, no limit Δ)



POLS 323. The Politics of Global Development. (3)



POLS 324. The Politics of Poverty and Inequality. (3)



POLS 329. Introduction to African Politics. (3)



POLS *340. Topics in International Politics. (3, no limit Δ)



POLS 341. International Conflict and Cooperation. (3)



POLS *342. American Foreign Policy. (3)



POLS 346. International Political Economy. (3)



POLS 354. Introduction to Latin American Society I: Social Sciences. (3)



POLS *361. Ancient and Medieval Political Theory. (3)



POLS *362. Modern Political Theory. (3)



POLS 372. Urban Politics. (3)



POLS 376. Health Policy and Politics. (3)



POLS 377. Population Policy and Politics. (3)



POLS *400. Advanced Political Topics. (3, no limit Δ)



POLS *410. U.S. Campaigns and Elections. (3)



POLS 441. Civil Wars. (3)



POLS 442. International Peacekeeping and Conflict Resolution. (3)



POLS 443. International Politics of Climate Change. (3)



POLS 453. Asian Studies Thesis. (3)



POLS *478. Seminar in International Studies. (3)



POLS 491. Internship. (1-3 to a maximum of 6 Δ)



POLS 495. Junior Honors Seminar. (3)



POLS 496. Undergraduate Seminar. (3, no limit Δ)



POLS 497. Senior Thesis. (3)



POLS 499. Independent Study. (1-3)



POLS 510. Pro-Seminar in American Government and Politics. (3)



POLS 511. Research Seminar in American Government and Politics. (3, no limit Δ)



POLS 512. Topics in Government and Politics. (3, no limit Δ)



POLS 520. Pro-Seminar in Comparative Politics. (3)



POLS 521. Research Seminar in Comparative Politics. (3, no limit Δ)



POLS 525. Pro-Seminar in Latin American Politics. (3)



POLS 540. Pro-Seminar in International Relations. (3)



POLS 541. Research Seminar in International Relations. (3, no limit Δ)



POLS 551 - 552. Problems. (1-3, no limit Δ, 1-3, no limit Δ)



POLS 570. Pro-Seminar in Public Policy. (3)



POLS 580. Introduction to Empirical Research. (3)



POLS 581. Statistics for Social Research. (4)



POLS 582. Survey of Political Science as a Discipline and a Profession. (1)



POLS 584. Interdisciplinary Seminar on Problems of Modernization in Latin America. (3, no limit Δ)



POLS 585. Introduction to Game Theory Research in Political Science. (3)



POLS 599. Master's Thesis. (1-6, no limit Δ)



POLS 681. Advanced Statistical Analysis for Social Science Research. (3)



POLS 699. Dissertation. (3-12, no limit Δ)



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