Politics, B.A.

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The Department of Politics at Washington and Lee University teaches students to be informed and active citizens of a free society, able to think about politics with rigor and nuance. We offer a wide array of courses in American government, political philosophy, global politics, and statistics and methods. We encourage students to pursue their education in an interdisciplinary manner and we provide opportunities to augment their study in off-campus and experiential learning programs.

Required Courses

Complete all courses in the following list:

Statistics

Choose one course from the following list:

Politics Electives

Choose five additional courses of 3 credits or more in politics, including completion of one of the following four sequences and including at least one 300-level seminar course, which entails an independent research and writing component. All 300-level courses count towards the seminar requirement

General Study

Complete five courses chosen from at least two of the three subfields below, including at least one 300-level seminar course.

American Government

Choose four courses from the following list. Students must ALSO take at least one course chosen from the remaining 200 and 300-level courses in interntational/gobal politics or political philosophy. (5 courses total)

International/Global Politics:

Choose four courses from the following list. Students must ALSO choose one ccourse from the remaining 200 and 300-level courses in American government or politial philosphy. (5 courses total)

Political Philosophy:

Choose four courses from the following list. Students must ALSO choose at least one course from the remaining 200 and 300-level courses in international/global politics or American government. (5 courses total)

Additional Electives

Choose six additional credits which must include courses from two of the following disciplines:

cognitive and behavioral science
economics
history
philosophy
religion
sociology and anthropology