Degree Requirements

Politics and Public Affairs Major

Requirements

Majors must complete:

A total of seven courses in Politics and Public Affairs, consisting of:

In addition, all majors must fulfill the following requirements:

1. Complete a Major Proposal
2. Complete a Curriculum Plan
3. Complete one statistics course from an approved list of classes available from the PPA office, recommended to be fulfilled by the end of sophomore year.  
4. Declare a Track of Study by the end of Sophomore Seminar (PPA 201). Politics and Public Affairs defines three possible Tracks of Study:

• International Affairs

How are actors in the global domain constrained, driven, or impeded in the international system absent a central authority? To what extent does the international system reflect what Hedley Bull (1977) referred to as an “anarchical society,” and to what degree does collective international governance emerge as a result?

• Policy Analysis

Emphasizes the evaluation of public policy and explores the conditions under which the exercise of political power is most likely to be successful. This track provides a foundation for the evaluation of the efficacy of policy.

• Government and Legal Affairs

How does the structure of government shape the interactions of individuals and institutions? How does debate over public affairs, legal arguments, and/or the political process, generate policy outcomes?

Students may also propose their own Track during Sophomore Seminar, subject to departmental approval.

5. Complete three cognate courses from outside the PPA department geared toward the emphasis of your Track as indicated on your Curriculum Plan:

• International Affairs

  • One additional language course beyond Denison's foreign language requirement.
  • Two additional cognate courses on their “theme” of emphasis (one of these may be a foreign language course).

• Policy Analysis

  • 3 additional courses focusing on the analysis of empirical data

• Government and Legal Affairs

  • 3 cognate courses reflecting the area of emphasis established in Major Proposal

6. Participate in an off-campus experience, PPA 050 - PPA Off-Campus Experience, confirmed by the end of Sophomore Seminar, examples include:

• Semester (or summer) enrollment in a Denison-approved Off-Campus Study program.
• An off-campus internship that advances/enhances the coursework for your selected Track.
• Participation in Moot Court, Model UN, or similar co-curricular activities which augments the focus of your Track of study.

Additional Items of Note:

Cognate courses may also fulfill GE requirements.

No more than two cognate courses can come from a single department or program. Two need to be courses above the introductory level (199).

Because off-campus study is an integral part of the PPA major, courses taken off-campus cannot be brought in to replace any of the seven required PPA courses; however, one course from an off-campus program may fulfill a cognate course requirement.

Politics and Public Affairs Minor 

Minors in PPA would complete six courses: the three introductory courses; the sophomore seminar; and two upper-division electives in PPA. Minors would not declare a track of emphasis nor would an off-campus experience be required.