The student learning outcomes for this degree are located at http://www.niu.edu/assessment/clearinghouse/outcomes/index.shtml.
Check departmental information for any additional requirements.
Field Distribution Requirement
To ensure that all political science majors are familiar with a variety of approaches, subject matter, and perspectives within the political science discipline, each student, regardless of the degree program or emphasis they select, must take at least one course in each of five of the following seven fields.
American government
Comparative politics
Empirical theory and behavior
International politics
Political theory
Public law
Public policy/public administration
In fulfilling this requirement, a particular course may be counted in one field only, even if it is crosslisted in more than one field. Related courses from other departments may be substituted for political science courses with the prior written approval of the department chair.
POLS 100 satisfies the field distribution requirement for American government and is a prerequisite for certain upper-level courses. Numbered courses ending in 90-99 vary widely in content and often do not deal with a single or specific field of political science. Such courses cannot be used to meet the field distribution requirement except in special cases with the written permission of the department chair. All other political science courses, whether taken to satisfy the B.A. or B.S. degree requirements or the requirements in a particular emphasis, are included in meeting the required distribution.