Spring 2022 Advising Guide

The course list for Spring 2022 is shown below. Classes marked with an asterisk have a topic, which are listed below the course list.

For Spring 2022 courses, the modality (i.e., remote, Flex, or in-person sessions) that currently appears in PAWS may change prior to the start of the semester based on CDC guidelines, State of New Jersey guidelines, and/or local health conditions.

Winter 2022 Course List

Summer 2022 Course List

Spring 2022 Course List

Course Descriptions

Major Requirements and Program Planner

Special Topics & Seminars

POL 270-01 & 02: Politics of the Civil Rights Movement

Dr. Maxwell Burkey

“Politics of the Civil Rights Movement” examines different iterations of civil rights protest in American Politics. Beginning with the Black Freedom Struggle, we will analyze the connective tissue between social movements, exploring how the quest for racial justice has often demanded and inspired activism on other fronts. Students will explore primary texts that speak to the meaning and underlying humanism of resistance politics. 

POL 390-01: Security in the Asia-Pacific

Dr. Hyun-Binn Cho

This junior tutorial examines major security issues in the Asia-Pacific region. The course will cover topics such as U.S.-China relations, North Korea’s nuclear program, the South China Sea disputes, and U.S. allies in the region, including South Korea and Japan. By the end of the course, students will develop an independent research paper that employs political science research methods.   .

POL 390-02: Politics of Health and Healthcare Systems

Dr. Brittany Holom-Trundy

POL 498-01 & 02: Globalization: surge and decline

Dr. Brian Potter

This seminar will allow students to build on their multidisciplinary coursework in international studies to write a capstone research paper on the ebbs and flows of globalization. Economics globalization refers to the accelerating exchange of goods, capital, people, and ideas across borders. Such flows generate significant social, political, and economic change. The study of countries’ choices in embracing or resisting globalization focus the seminar’s inquiry while allowing each student a broad range of potential research topics.

Course Descriptions

POL 110: American Government

Examines the strengths and weaknesses, problems and promise of representative democracy in the United States. Surveys the relationships of citizens to Congress, the president and the courts through political parties, elections, interest groups, and the media. Considers the constitutional framework of government and the rights of the individual against governmental intrusion.

POL 130: International Relations

An examination of contemporary patterns of international interaction and their historic roots with attention to competing theoretical perspectives. Topics studied include foreign policy, international law and organization, and international political economy.

POL 150: Comparative Politics

Introduces students to some of the most important concepts, themes and approaches in the comparative study of politics. Comparative Politics is the study of the domestic or internal politics of particular countries. By comparing the processes, institutions and other political phenomena of one country in relation to others, those engaged in the study of comparative politics isolate the primary causes and consequences of these political phenomena and are thus able to create and test theories of politics around the world.

POL 200: Political Analysis

The course familiarizes students with the basic statistical, conceptual, and technical skills needed for research in political science. Topics include research design, hypothesis testing, statistical methodology common in the social sciences, and practical experience examining and analyzing quantitative data. This course provides students hands-on training with Stata, a commonly used statistical software package. Should normally be completed by the end of the sophomore year prior to taking POL 390.

POL 220: Judicial Politics & Process

This class is intended for students who are interested in law and politics and serves as a foundational course to prepare students for upper-division political science law classes.  The purpose of this course is to introduce students to types and foundations of U.S. law and the organization and jurisdiction of US courts in the federal system, with an in-depth focus on understanding the Supreme Court of the United States.  The course is intended to give students a broad understanding of the U.S. judiciary, as well as specific training in reading and briefing cases.  The class will also explore how politics and non-judicial actors’ impact judicial processes.

POL 275: Western Political Philosophy

Selected political questions that have intrigued Western society from time immemorial and theoretical solutions presented by some of the great political philosophers from classical Greece to the modern era.

POL 300: Politics and Public Management

An examination of the field of public administration focusing on the external and internal factors that shape the performance of public agencies, the interaction of public agencies and their leaders with the presidency, Congress and the courts, and the administrative skills public administrators need to manage a public organization.

POL 315: Political Parties, Interest Groups, and the Media

An examination of the role of political parties, interest groups, and the media as intermediaries between citizens and formal governmental institutions. The course will focus on the role of parties, interest groups, and the media in leadership recruitment, issue formulation, and public policy making.

POL 322: Constitutional Law II: Civil Rights and Liberties (please note, the course number and name were recently updated. The course was formerly POL 321/Civil Liberties.)

An analysis of how the U.S. Supreme Court interprets the Constitution, focusing on the rights of the individual, including freedom of expression, freedom of religion, the right of privacy, due process of law, and equal protection of the laws.

POL 328: State & Local Government in NJ

This course provides an analysis of the institutions, the political processes, and the resultant policies of state and local government in New Jersey. Particular attention is given to the structure of state, county, and local government, related political organizations, the nature of politics in New Jersey, and the impact of the state’s cultural, economic, political, and social characteristics on political decision-making and public policy at the state and local level.

POL 345: Human Rights in International Relations

Examines the evolution of human rights movements since World War II and their influence on the behavior of nation states and other transnational actors. Includes discussion of human rights in American foreign policy, and the role of non-state actors such as intergovernmental institutions, multinational corporations, and non-governmental organizations, selected regional and current topics such as: women’s rights, terrorism, self-determination, globalization, and humanitarian intervention.

POL 351: Politics of the European Union

This course explores the historical foundations, consequences, and scope of European political and economic integration since 1948. We will examine the historical trajectory that the European Union has followed over the past 70 years, how national political considerations have shaped the direction and pace of European integration, the variety of policies that the EU implements, and some of the ways that the EU has impacted the policies and economies of its member states. We will also consider the challenges faced by the European Union: the dilemmas generated by the single currency, the ongoing refugee crisis, and the potential fragmentation of the Union.

POL 365: Origins of the U.S. Constitution

An examination of the political theories, people, social and economic forces, events, and political context that influenced the framing and ratification of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights.

POL 380: International Political Economy

A study of the politics of international economic relations. Economic theories of international trade and finance are presented in the context of their political origins and implications. Includes review of primary analytical perspectives, historical developments, and major contemporary institutions and processes bearing on the politics of international economics.