Curriculum Structure
In brief summary, the general government major comprises thirty-six units. There is one prerequisite course, GOVT 1 (or GOVT 150). The four core required classes are one course in each of the four major sub-fields of political science: political theory, public law, international and comparative politics, and American government, politics and policy. Students fulfill the remainder of the thirty-six units with electives in Government, selecting them according to their interest. They may choose to distribute electives across different areas of the curriculum or they may focus their electives in a particular area of interest. The matrices we have prepared Course Matrix 1 | Course Matrix 2 display a list of all the courses in the department and the learning expectations they help our students achieve. These pages display lists of our courses that serve the learning expectations we have identified in (a) substantive knowledge, (b) critical skills, and (c) language and research skills. Our four core required courses have been carefully chosen and designed so that all of them directly serve these major learning expectations.
This course matrix confirms that our curriculum delivers broad training in the many field areas of the discipline of political science. This is evident from Tables 1 and 2 which compile and summarize the data from the course matrix (Course Matrix 2) for our lower and upper division courses. The most important of our “substantive knowledge” learning expectations is our broadest one: knowledge of historical debates and controversies in political science and democratic governance. All three of our lower division courses give this expectation primary or secondary emphasis, as do over eighty percent of our upper division courses. The other four substantive knowledge learning expectations reflect our four core required courses—and the four fundamental field areas of the discipline. As the figures reveal, a substantial number of courses contribute to each of these four learning objectives. In each case some of the courses are clearly designated as field area courses. But there are also many “extra” courses in each category. For example, while only fifteen percent of our courses are political theory courses, fifty-eight percent of our courses in fact emphasize knowledge of intellectual traditions and Western political theory. Virtually the same thing is true in public law, arguably our “narrowest” field, with again fifteen percent of our courses designated as law courses but fifty-eight percent of our courses also stressing knowledge of public law and constitutional issues. As well, forty-eight percent of our courses emphasize American political structures and processes and the same is true for world politics. This overlap in our core areas underscores the department’s commitment to breadth.
In the area of critical skills, every one of our upper division courses is designed to place primary emphasis (it is a main course objective) on students achieving these important skills. For example, achievement of one critical skill, assessing, weighing and applying evidence and assessing contrary evidence with respect to issues and problems, is rated as primary for nearly ninety percent of our upper division courses. In the remaining two areas, theoretical understanding and reasoning, and competence to organize ideas clearly and effectively, at least three quarters of our upper division courses are designed with this as a primary course objective. The remaining twenty-five percent or fewer of upper division courses identify these critical skills as at least a secondary course objective.
In the area of language and research skills, 85% of our upper division courses give primary emphasis to developing competence in language skills to organize ideas and write about them effectively. Nearly half of the courses give primary emphasis to competence in research and another 40% identify these skills as being a secondary course objective. Finally, almost one-third of our upper division courses identify developing skills relating to clear and effective oral presentations as a primary course objective. Moreover, these skills are identified as a secondary emphasis in nearly half of our upper division courses. Overall, the above ratings reveal that, in addition to imparting substantive knowledge across the major disciplinary areas in political science, a key purpose of many of our upper division courses is to assure students will be challenged to develop both their critical cognitive skills and their language and research skills. We refer readers as well to the narrative provided in Teaching and Learning regarding teaching strategies, and the accompanying chart that identifies numerous examples of the kinds of assignments and classroom experiences that students have that serve these expectations.
