Learning Outcomes

Political Science and International Relations Learning Goals

Discipline Knowledge: Graduating students who have had exposure to the core subfields of the disciple, and who thereby have a working knowledge of the basic theories and debates in the discipline, as well as opportunities to explore areas that cross traditional subfield and disciplinary boundaries.

Civic Education: Graduating students who can be competent citizens capable of understanding domestic and foreign issues, evaluating policy proposals, and making educated choices in elections and other forms of participation in political life.

Critical Thinking: Graduating students who are capable of reading challenging material critically by identifying arguments, understanding research methodologies, evaluating evidence, and assessing whether stated conclusions are based on evidence or ideology.

Writing Clearly and Cogently: Graduating students whose writing demonstrates sound grammar and syntax, whose writing reflects their ability to organize and make an argument and support it with evidence; who understand the different expectations for formal and informal writing, who can synthesize material clearly and briefly and write persuasively and elegantly when called upon to do so.

Oral Communication: Graduating students who are capable of speaking in complete sentences when engaging in face to face communication with others; who function well when communicating orally with a small or large group of peers, colleagues, or officials; and who appreciate cultural differences in speech and body language.

Numerical Literacy: Graduating students who can read and correctly interpret numerical data whether it is presented in narrative, tabular or graphic form, whether it is delivered in raw numbers, percentages or index numbers.

Global Awareness and Cultural Sensitivity: Graduating students for whom the world is not a strange place; who are prepared to engage in transnational and cross-cultural contacts; and who appreciate and can critically assess global interdependence whether economic, political, or cultural.

Learning Outcomes for International Relations

Graduates with a major in International Relations will:

• Develop and demonstrate an understanding of the basic theories and debates in the discipline, including those related to some of the following: sovereignty; cooperation and conflict among states and non-state actors in the international system; emerging norms and values that shape the behavior of states, groups and individuals; political economy issues; international law and human rights; and foreign and security policy.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the history and culture, governing structures, issues, and transnational relations of a particular region of the world beyond the United States.
• Demonstrate an ability to understand global issues and evaluate policy proposals related to them.
• Demonstrate the ability to identify the arguments in research articles and books, understand research methodologies, evaluate evidence, and assess whether stated conclusions are based on evidence or ideology.
• Demonstrate the ability to write clearly and cogently, with sound organization, grammar and syntax; to make an argument and support it with evidence; to synthesize material clearly and briefly and write persuasively when called upon to do so.
• Demonstrate the ability to speak clearly in face to face communication in small or large groups through active participation in classroom discussions, presentations, debates, and/or simulations.