- Start by visiting the College’s Study Abroad website and the University’s Education Abroad site to familiarize yourself with the wealth of resources available. All students must complete the “Education Abroad Workshop” available there. The steps to follow are clearly laid out in this workshop.
- Once you have decided upon a program—well before you actually go abroad—obtain the necessary College’s Study Abroad Credit approval form and choose the classes you will be taking. Gather as much information (description, syllabus, etc.) about the courses as possible. This step is necessary only for programs that are not “UVa direct credit programs.” Courses taken in UVa programs are treated just like courses taken here.
- Bring or email the form to the Department’s Director of the Undergraduate Program.
- Upon approval the form should be submitted to the College Dean Abigail Holeman.
As stated in our requirements, with approval, up to six credits may be directly applied to the major elective component of your program. An additional six credits may be applied as related courses.
PL** courses that are cross-listed count towards our majors and our minor as PL** courses, even when you are enrolled under the cross-listed mnemonic (e.g. EVSC, MDST, LPPA). To ensure that SIS recognizes this, please email the Undergraduate Program Administrator (Ms. Sharon Marsh, Gibson room S183) with this information. Because cross-listed courses are Politics courses, we do not also count them as related courses. SIS will NOT count credits earned under cross-listed mnemonic towards the related course requirement.
See the section elsewhere on this site for pre-requisites for declaring the major. Briefly, you must complete at least two courses with no grade below C. Your average grades for all Politics courses you complete before declaring must be 2.5.
The forms are available in S183 Gibson Hall. Electronic copies of most departmental forms are also available on our Forms page.
Yes. With the approval of the DUP, and in accordance with College guidelines, the following transfer/study abroad credits may count toward major requirements.
- Up to six hours of PL transfer/study abroad credit may count toward the Government or Foreign Affairs Elective component of your 30-credit major requirements.
- In addition, up to six hours of transfer credit may count toward the 12-hour Related Courses requirement.
See the College Forms website for transfer of credit forms from U.S. Institutions.
For study abroad programs, students should initiate the process of approvals well before the program begins. Refer to the College’s Study Abroad website for vital information.
Yes. With approval of your advisor or the DUP, you can count up to six hours of related transfer credit from domestic or foreign institutions.
We discourage independent studies by undergraduate students in the Politics Department. It almost always better for undergraduate students to find a seminar that meets their interests and enroll in that. We allow very rare exceptions. These are instances when a Politics Department faculty member and an undergraduate student decide together to pursue a particular topic outside of the confines of an established course.
If a faculty member has suggested an independent study to you, then you should consult with her or him about preparing a syllabus for the independent study. You and the instructor will need to create a schedule of weekly meetings outside of faculty office hours and a complete list of readings and assignments you will complete during the term of the independent study. Your readings and assignments should be at least the amount you see in a typical 4000 or 5000 level seminar, meaning at least 150-200 pages of reading a week and writing assignments adding up to at least 2,500 words. Then you will submit your plans to the DUP, who will approve or disapprove your independent study.
Yes. You can count classes that are counting toward your UVA distribution requirement (e.g. “social science”, “humanities”) toward the 30 hours of PL credit required for the major and toward the 12 hours of related credit.
Students may declare a second major in another department or program, in which case the application for a degree must be approved by both departments or interdepartmental programs. Students receive one diploma, but the double major status is reflected on their transcript. Students who double major must submit at lease 18 credits in each major, credits applied toward one major may not be included in the core 18 hours of the major, and no more than two courses can be counted simultaneously for two majors unless one or both majors is interdisciplinary.
Students who major in Government or Foreign Affairs may apply no more than two classes (six credits) toward two majors.
No. You must choose just one of our majors. You can of course take more than the 30 hours required.
If your advisor is on leave for a fully academic year, ou will be assigned a new advisor. If your advisor is gone for only one semester, see any other faculty member or the DUP.
Both of our majors require that you take twelve credits of courses in closely related disciplines other than Politics. No more than six of these credits may be at the 1000 and 2000 levels. SIS will automatically pick up courses with the following mnemonics: AAS, AMST, ANTH, COMM 3410, COMM 3420, EAST, ECON, ETP, GDS, GSGS, GSSJ, GSVS, HIAF, HIEA, HIEU, HILA, HIME, HISA, HIST, HIUS, MDST, MEST, PHIL, LPPA, LPPP (except LPPP 3001 and LPPP 3559), LPPS, PSYC, RELA, RELB, RELC, RELG, RELH, RELI, RELJ, RELS, SOC, WGS. In extraordinary circumstances, your major advisor will consider other courses for approval.
SIS automatically picks up Related Courses based on the mnemonic (see the FAQ, What counts as a related course for my major? for a list), and there is no way to tell SIS not to count one of those courses. You may petition your major advisor to approve courses that are not automatically picked up by SIS.
SIS’s algorithm for identifying major courses cannot be changed; it does not calculate “major GPA.) However, your major GPA does not print on your transcript, so consistent with the honor code you may calculate your major GPA using whichever courses you have taken that meet the major requirements. (See these pages for the Government and Foreign Affairs requirements, and consult with your advisor if you have any questions or concerns about which courses count toward which requirements.)
Most faculty members have regular office hours and prefer that you visit them during those hours if possible. Please note that these are subject to change each semester.
The information contained on this website is for informational purposes only. The Undergraduate Record and Graduate Record represent the official repository for academic program requirements. These publications may be found at http://records.ureg.virginia.edu/index.php.]
