{"id":1737,"date":"2020-10-02T17:54:06","date_gmt":"2020-10-02T17:54:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/developmenttwo.marymount.edu\/academics\/?page_id=1737"},"modified":"2026-02-26T15:14:46","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T20:14:46","slug":"major","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/academics\/college-of-sciences-and-humanities\/school-of-social-and-behavioral-sciences\/undergraduate-programs\/political-science-and-international-relations-b-a\/major\/","title":{"rendered":"Major"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>The BA in Political Science and International Relations<\/h2>\n<p>The political science and international relations major is 44 credits. About half of our majors began their undergraduate education at Marymount, while the rest begin at another institution and transfer to Marymount to complete their degree.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/academics\/college-of-sciences-and-humanities\/school-of-social-and-behavioral-sciences\/undergraduate-programs\/politics-b-a\/major\/plan\/\" data-cke-saved-href=\"\/Academics\/School-of-Arts-Sciences\/Undergraduate-Programs\/Politics-B-a\/Degree\/plan\">4-year advising plan for students who begin their studies at Marymount<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/academics\/college-of-sciences-and-humanities\/school-of-social-and-behavioral-sciences\/undergraduate-programs\/politics-b-a\/transferring-to-marymount\/\" data-cke-saved-href=\"\/Academics\/School-of-Arts-Sciences\/Undergraduate-Programs\/Politics-B-a\/Transfer\/Northern-Virginia-Community-College\">Advising plans for transfer students<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Many students who major in political science and international relations are able to complete two majors, combining their politics major with a second major or one or more minors. The program is designed for students to complete at least one full semester (and as many as four full semesters) <a href=\"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/academics\/college-of-sciences-and-humanities\/school-of-social-and-behavioral-sciences\/undergraduate-programs\/politics-b-a\/study-abroad\/\">studying abroad<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Requirements for the major:<\/h2>\n<p>Politics majors take the following coursework in a sequence determined in collaboration with an academic advisor:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>POL 102 International Relations<\/li>\n<li>POL 103 Comparative Politics<\/li>\n<li>POL 210 Theory of Democracy<\/li>\n<li>POL 230 American Policy Process<\/li>\n<li>POL 250 Research and Writing<\/li>\n<li>POL 400 Internship<\/li>\n<li>POL 420 Senior Seminar<\/li>\n<li>21 additional credits (7 courses) in <a title=\"Politics electives\" href=\"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/academics\/college-of-sciences-and-humanities\/school-of-social-and-behavioral-sciences\/undergraduate-programs\/politics-b-a\/pol-courses\/\" data-cke-saved-href=\"\/Academics\/School-of-Arts-Sciences\/Undergraduate-Programs\/Politics-B-a\/Course-Descriptions\">Political Science and International Relations electives;<\/a> electives are any course in political science or international relations (or &#8220;government&#8221; or &#8220;politics&#8221; or &#8220;international affairs&#8221;) taken at Marymount or any accredited university, including during a study abroad program.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Students may complete a second internship for academic credit (POL 400) to count as one of their major elective courses.<\/p>\n<p>\u200bAll students also must also fulfill <a title=\"Liberal Arts Core\" href=\"\/Academics\/Programs-of-Study\/Liberal-Arts-Core\" data-cke-saved-href=\"\/Academics\/Programs-of-Study\/Liberal-Arts-Core\">Liberal Arts Core<\/a> requirements.<\/p>\n<p>Students in the political science and international relations major have the option of choosing a specialization in either <a href=\"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/academics\/college-of-sciences-and-humanities\/school-of-social-and-behavioral-sciences\/undergraduate-programs\/political-science-and-international-relations-b-a\/major\/pol-ir\/\">International Relations<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/academics\/college-of-sciences-and-humanities\/school-of-social-and-behavioral-sciences\/undergraduate-programs\/political-science-and-international-relations-b-a\/major\/pol-law\/\">Law and Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Most courses in the major are 3 credits; POL 250 and POL 420 are each 4 credits. Note that POL 420 is typically only offered in the spring semester.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The BA in Political Science and International Relations The political science and international relations major is 44 credits. About half of our majors began their undergraduate education at Marymount, while the rest begin at another institution and transfer to Marymount to complete their degree. 4-year advising plan for students who begin their studies at Marymount [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/academics\/college-of-sciences-and-humanities\/school-of-social-and-behavioral-sciences\/undergraduate-programs\/political-science-and-international-relations-b-a\/major\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":1727,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-templates\/left-sidebarpage.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":"","advanced-sidebar-menu\/link-title":"","advanced-sidebar-menu\/exclude-page":false},"class_list":["post-1737","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Major - Marymount University<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The BA in Political Science and International Relations The political science and international relations major is 44 credits. 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