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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 May 2020
Why major in political science? This is a question students often ask. Under the pressure of vocationalism, students in the liberal arts are increasingly searching for connections between their undergraduate major and the world of work. This is a concern not only of students, but necessarily of faculty and institutional planners. Anxiety about enrollment shifts from the liberal arts to vocational training has inspired foundation-funded programs to assess strategies for relating traditional learning to career preparation. At a recent major conference on the humanities and careers in business, corporate and academic leaders urged colleges and universities to pursue excellence in the humanities “without distortion and without faddish ‘relevance’ to business.” At the same time, the need to assist students with career planning of a more comprehensive nature than mere job placement was acknowledged.
1 Rice, R. Eugene, Strategies for Relating Career Preparation and Liberal Learning (St. Paul, Minnesota: The Northwest Area Foundation, 1983)Google Scholar.
2 The Humanities and Careers in Business, Proceedings of the Conference sponsored by the Association of American Colleges and the National Endowment for the Humanities, Princeton, N.J., April 27-29, 1983.
3 Hiley, David R., ed., Careers and the Study of Political Science: A Guide for Undergraduates, 3rd ed. (Washington, D.C.: American Political Science Association, 1981)Google Scholar.
5 Curzan, p.3.
6 The earlier cohort's requirements for the major were 27 hours of political science, a minor sequence approved by the Department, and a comprehensive examination. The new requirements established in 1969 include a core of 15 hours and 21 hours of advanced electives in political science. The core is composed of introductory courses in American Politics, Comparative Government, International Relations and Political Thought; and a Methodology course, Theory and Method of Political Inquiry. In the 1970s, the Department participated in establishing interdisciplinary concentrations in Urban Studies, Environmental Sutdies, and Men and Women: Perspectives on Sex and Gender. In 1979, for both Political Science and Economics majors, the Department introduced a new program in Public Administration and Policy Studies. The Urban Studies concentration was absorbed into this new program.
7 Since the completion of the survey, the Department has added a new major requirement of six hours in Mathematics, including one course in Elementary Statistics, and one of three options: Applied Mathematics, Mathematics and Basic Programming, or a second semester of Statistics.
8 In 1983, the Department joined in the development of an interdisciplinary program in International Studies, in which a student majors in one of four departments (Economics, History, Modern Languages or Political Science) and takes at least 9 hours in each of the other three departments.