Honors Special Major

All special honors majors must have a designated faculty advisor and the approval of the Chair for the proposed program.

1. Within your approved program, at least 6 credits must be taken in the Department, including one introductory course (POLS 002, POLS 003, POLS 004) and one honors seminar.  Students need at least a course in each of the four sub-fields (American Politics, Comparative Politics, International Politics, and Political Theory).  The Political Theory distribution requirement for special majors can only be met by completing one of the following: POLS 011, POLS 012, POLS 100 or POLS 101.
2. All applicants must have completed one introductory course and one other course in the Department before applying for the Honors Special Major.
3. To be accepted into the Honors Program students should normally have at least an average of 3.67 inside and 3.5 outside the Department, and should have given evidence to the Departmental faculty of their ability to work independently and constructively in a seminar setting. Seminars will normally be limited to eight-ten students and admission priority will go to honors majors, first seniors and then juniors, including honors special majors.
4. Other than courses taken the fall semester of first year, none of the credits needed to complete the major may be taken CR/NC; shadow grades for introductory courses taken CR/NC the fall of first year will be used for GPA purposes.
5. Majors and minors may take one directed reading within the Department for credit with approval from the faculty directing the read and the Department Chair.