Political Science, with specializations in General Political Science, International Relations, Middle East Politics, and Political Economy (B.A.)

For all Political Science students:

General Electives

Students may use 15 hours of elective credit to minor in a discipline of their choice. Minoring is optional. Courses taken as collateral requirements may count towards the minor.

Students have the choice to use the 18 elective credits in Political Science (or 15 elective credits if they had to take POLS 2003  to fulfill their concentration requirements) to obtain BA in Political Science in:

1. General field in Political Science
2. Specialization in International Relations
3. Specialization in Middle East Politics
4. Specialization in Political Economy

Three courses are required for each specialization as specified below.

Students opting for a double specialization need to be encouraged to take a combination of courses from the two specializations rather than having to stick to the History courses required for one of the specializations.

1. Requirements for the General Political Science field:

Students must take five or six Political Science courses, one of which must be a seminar.

Collateral Requirements (6 credits)
General Electives (29 credits)
Depending on the number core curriculum credits taken to make up 120 credits total.

2. Requirements for the Specialization in International Relations

To specialize in International Relations, Political Science majors must, as a minimum, take the following three courses:

3. Requirements for the Specialization in Middle East Politics

To specialize in Middle East Politics, Political Science majors must, as a minimum, take the following three courses:

4. Requirements for the Specialization in Political Economy

To specialize in Political Economy, Political Science majors must, as a minimum, take the following three courses:

Dual Degree Option in Political Science (B.A.) and International Human Rights Law (M.A.)

The Dual Degree option combines a BA in Political Science and an MA in International Human Rights Law. It is a dual degree, creating a synergy between the existing BA in Political Science and the existing MA in International Human Rights Law.

The dual degree option enables good students to prepare for a postgraduate degree while completing the requirements for the BA in Political Science. Non-law students who achieve a MA Degree under the auspices of the Law Department at AUC qualify for better jobs in Egypt or abroad, or pursue a legal education at prestigious law schools in the United States and elsewhere. The MA degree also provides students with the necessary expertise in international human rights law and with the intellectual, analytical and communication tools needed to intervene critically and effectively in the global policy debates confronting their societies as policy makers, academics, activists and international civil servants.

By the end of the sixth semester of the political science BA at AUC, and after successfully completing POLS 4371 , the student has to declare her/his intention to pursue the Dual Degree by submitting a graduate admission application. The student should follow the application procedures for graduate studies. Admission decisions will be made by the Law Department’s Admission Committee. Successful applicants will be admitted pending the fulfillment of two conditions: i) finishing the requirements of their undergraduate degrees with at least B (GPA 3); and ii) obtaining an average of at least a B+ (GPA of at least 3.3) across the three cross-listed ‘Dual Degree’ Law courses. Places are limited.

Students enrolled in the dual degree will receive a political science BA degree certificate upon the completion of their undergraduate course requirements. Many students feel the need to work in parallel to the pursuit of an MA degree. We believe that students who fulfill the pols BA requirement should not be denied the opportunity to do so.

Under this structure, dual-degree students will be required to take three 400-level courses that are cross-listed under LAW and POLS. These three “Dual Degree” cross-listed courses (see below) will count for credit towards both the BA in Political Science and under the MA in International Human Rights Law.

The three ‘Dual Degree’ Law courses to be offered to undergraduates in the Political Science Department are the following: (a)

Tentative Plan for Full-time Students

SEMESTER VI (POLS undergraduate program)

LAW/

SEMESTER VII (POLS undergraduate program)

LAW/

SEMESTER VIII (POLS undergraduate program)

LAW/

SEMESTER IX (MA IHRL program)

SEMESTER X (MA IHRL program)

LAW Electives**
LAW Electives**

SEMESTER XI (MA IHRL program)

** Lists of LAW elective courses will be provided to students in the program prior to registration for each semester.