- Hi, I'm Dan Disalvo
and I'm a professor
in the Political Science Department here
at the City College of New York.
This is a video to
encourage you to sign up
and become a political science major.
I wanna tell you a little
bit about political science
and about what's happening
here at City College.
Of course, this video shouldn't
replace your coming in
and seeing me
or any other member of the
Political Science Department
to talk about both the major
and what's going on in our department.
The first thing to know about
a political science major is
that there are thousands
of political science majors
all across the country,
studying at almost every
single college or university.
Those graduates go on to work
in a huge variety of fields
that includes business, big and small,
government, which includes, of course,
not just campaigns and elections,
but working for the federal, state,
and local governments
providing a vast array
of services to citizens.
And then, many other students will go on
to work in nonprofit organizations
that provide direct
services to other citizens
and those that advocate for
different policy positions
across the political spectrum.
All political science majors have
to take three required courses.
Those are Introduction to
American Politics, PSC 101,
then students have to take
Political Ideas and Issues, PSC 124,
and third, students have to
take World Politics, PSC 104.
Those courses, of course,
can be taken in any order
and they're the introductory courses
to the four major sub-fields
of political science,
which are American Politics,
International Relations,
Comparative Politics,
and Political Theory.
After that, students have
to take another nine courses
for a total of 12 courses or 36 credits.
The remaining nine courses
that students must take
include four electives,
which can be any political science course
that a student is interested in,
and then, the other five
courses must be distributed
across the four major sub-fields.
An advisor can help you figure out
which courses fit for which sub-field,
but just to give you an idea,
for the American Politics segment,
students taking courses on
Congress, the Presidency,
political parties and interest groups,
constitutional law,
or the judiciary will find that any
of those courses count.
Students taking Comparative Politics
can study Latin American
political systems,
political systems of Asia
or Europe, or Africa,
any of those courses will count
for the Comparative Politics
distribution requirement.
Students studying international
relations can look at
for offerings such as
International Law and the Model UN
to fulfill that distribution requirement.
And students interested in
Political Theory will have
to take courses that include
Classical Political Thought,
where they'll study Plato and Aristotle,
Modern Political Thought,
where they may read Hobbes and Locke,
and Contemporary Political Thought,
where they're likely to encounter thinkers
such as Nietzsche and Marx.
There are no prerequisites
for any course in political science,
so if you want, you can
jump right into the deep end
of the pool
and take advanced courses if
they fit in your schedule.
However, the department
encourages students
to take the three introductory
courses to begin with.
So, if you choose to become
a political science major,
I strongly encourage you to come
and meet with me.
Again, I'm Dan Disalvo and I'm a professor
in the Political Science Department
and the undergraduate student advisor.
So, I thank you for watching this video,
but remember, it's no
substitute for coming
to see me in person.
