Politics at Whitman College

Major Requirements

The departmental aim is to cultivate in students a critical ability to interpret political questions from a variety of perspectives.

A student who enters Whitman without any prior college-level preparation in politics will have to complete thirty-four credits to fulfill the requirements for the politics major. Courses taken for the politics major will fulfill the distribution area of social science.

Major requirements: The major in politics consists of thirty-four departmental credits, distributed as follows:

(a) At least twelve credits of 300 and 400 level courses, exclusive of the required senior seminar and thesis or honors thesis.

(b) Successful completion of the department's senior seminar (four credits).

(c) Successful composition of a thesis or honors thesis; a grade of C- or better is required for the essay (two credits).

The program for the major is to be planned by the student and his or her adviser so as to ensure adequate breadth in the courses taken. No more than eight credits earned in off-campus programs, transfer credits, and/or credits from cross-listed courses may be used to satisfy major requirements. Of these eight credits, no more than four may count toward 300 and 400-level courses. Courses taken P-D-F may not be used to satisfy the course and credit requirements for the major.

Minor requirements: A minimum of twenty credits of departmental offerings. These must include eight credits in courses 300 and above, and must include courses taught by at least two different members of the department. Courses taken P-D-F may not be used to satisfy the course and credit requirements for the minor.

Honors in Major Study: is awarded to graduating seniors who show unusual ability in the field of Politics. For these honors a candidate must attain a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.300 on all credit earned at Whitman and a grade-point average of at least 3.500 in the major, complete a written thesis prepared exclusively for the satisfaction of this program, and file an acceptable copy of this thesis or report on the project in the College library not later than two weeks prior to the beginning of final examination in the semester in which the student is registered for the honors thesis course, earn a grade of at least A- on the honors thesis, and Pass with Distinction on the comprehensive oral examination. To be eligible for candidacy a student must have accumulated at least eighty-seven credits, have completed two semesters of residence in Whitman College, and have attained a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.1 on all credits earned at Whitman and in the major. The student has the privilege of doing preliminary planning on the thesis during his or her third year. To be admitted to candidacy the student must file an application with the Registrar within the first six weeks of the two-semester period in which he or she is eligible. This application must contain a concise description of the candidate's honors thesis project, and it must bear the approval of both the supervising professor and the major adviser and be submitted to the Board of Review for final approval.