Faculty: Bloeser, Harward, Kirschner, Mattiace, Oliver, Wesoky, Williams

The Political Science minor is a program in the Social and Behavioral Science Area of Study.

Political Science Minor Learning Outcomes

Students who successfully complete a minor in Political Science are expected to be able to:

• Value the rights and responsibilities that spring from membership in a democratic political community. 
• Appreciate the diversity of values and beliefs that constitute different political traditions. 
• Demonstrate an understanding of basic political institutions and processes that shape both domestic and global politics. 
• Demonstrate an understanding of how disciplinary knowledge can contribute to a critical assessment of important public issues. 
• Understand theoretical approaches to the study of power, authority, and justice.
• Critically examine political phenomena, evaluate conflicting arguments, appropriately interpret empirical evidence, make reasoned conclusions from that evidence and connect these conclusions to theoretical approaches and/or practical experiences and considerations. 
• Be prepared to engage in informed and literate conversation, both written and oral, regarding important political issues.

The Political Science Minor

The Political Science minor consists of 20 credits. At graduation, Political Science minors must have a GPA of at least 2.0 in the minor. The calculation is based on the grades of all courses presented for the minor. Only the most recent grade is considered for courses that have been repeated. All courses for the minor taken at Allegheny must be taken on a letter grade basis. A maximum of 12 transfer credits may be counted toward the minor; exceptions must be approved by the department chair.

The minor field program in Political Science requires a minimum of 20 semester hours of coursework, including one of POLSC 110 , POLSC 120 , POLSC 130 , POLSC 140  and four elective courses from POLSC 190 through POLSC 589. Two of the four elective courses must be at the 300 level or above. All courses for the minor taken at Allegheny must be taken on a letter-grade basis. Students who wish to declare a minor should see the chair of the Political Science department, Professor Harward.