Courses of Study 2011-2012 
    
    Mar 28, 2024  
Courses of Study 2011-2012 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Government


In the College of Arts and Sciences .


 Course Offerings 

“Government” is what Cornell calls a department that elsewhere might be termed political science. The focus of this discipline is power applied to public purposes. Some faculty concentrate on purposes, some on applications. Some engage in the close reading of great texts of political philosophy, while others analyze the behavior of power-wielders and publics in this and other societies. Government is divided into four subfields: U.S. politics, comparative politics (other nations), political theory (philosophy), and international relations (transactions between nations).

Website: government.arts.cornell.edu

Faculty


N. van de Walle, chair; R. Bensel, assoc. chair; J. Frank, director of graduate studies; A. Mertha, director of undergraduate studies; C. Anderson, S. Buck-Morss, V. Bunce, A. Carlson, B. Corrigan, P. Enns, M. Evangelista, G. Flores- Macias, R. Herring, M. Jones-Correa, M. Katzenstein, P. Katzenstein, J. Kirshner, I. Kramnick, S. Kreps, A. Levine, T. J. Lowi, S. Martin, S. Mettler, K. Morrison, Y. Orlov, D. Patel, T. Pepinsky, K. Roberts, D. Rubenstein, E. Sanders, M. Shefter, A. M. Smith, S. G. Tarrow, N. T. Uphoff, C. Way, J. Weeks.

The Major


To be admitted to the major, a student must pass two Cornell government courses.

To complete the major, a student must:

  1. pass two of the introductory government courses (GOVT 1111 , GOVT 1313 , GOVT 1615 , GOVT 1817 );
  2. pass an additional course in one of the remaining subfields (American government, comparative government, political theory, or international relations). This course may be any course offered in
    the government department, including introductory courses, upper-level courses, or seminars but must be a minimum of 3 credits. Students are strongly advised to take at least one course in each of the four subfields;
  3. accumulate an additional 28 credits of government course work at the 3000-level or above;
  4. complete at least one seminar-style course in government that may be applied toward the 28 credits. These courses include those numbered 4000.XX to which students are admitted by application only; or other 4000-level GOVT courses in which no more than 15 students are enrolled.
  5. accumulate 11 credits in upper-level courses in related fields (e.g., anthropology, economics, history, science and technology studies, psychology, and sociology). Upper-level courses are usually courses numbered at the 3000-level or above (2000-level courses are not considered upper-level). Students should consult with their major advisor to choose appropriate courses. All choices of related courses must be approved by the major advisor or the director of undergraduate studies;
  6. all courses used to fulfill a government major must be passed with a letter grade. No S–U grades accepted.

To summarize, a total of 10 government courses and three additional courses (11 credits) of upper-level related courses are required to complete the major. For more information about the government major, please visit our website: government.arts.cornell.edu.

Cornell in Washington Program. Government majors may apply to the Cornell in Washington program to take courses and undertake a closely supervised externship during a fall or spring semester.

European Studies Minor. Government majors may elect to group some of their required and optional courses in the area of European studies, drawing from a wide variety of courses in relevant departments. Students are invited to consult Professors P. Katzenstein and S. G. Tarrow for advice on course selection and foreign study programs or visit www.einaudi.cornell.edu/Europe/academics/concentration.asp.

Model European Community Simulation. Undergraduates with an interest in the European Union, public affairs, or debating may participate in an annual European Union simulation held, on an alternating basis, in April at SUNY Brockport or in January in Brussels. The simulation provides an opportunity for participants, representing politicians from the members states, to discuss issues and resolutions of current concern to the European Union. For more information, contact the Institute for European Studies at 120 Uris Hall, (607) 255-7592.

International Relations Minor. See the description under www.einaudi.cornell.edu/initiatives/irc.asp.

Honors. Application to the honors program is made in the early spring of the second semester of a student’s junior year. For more information about the honors program and an application form, please visit government.arts.cornell.edu.

First-Year Writing Seminars. Consult the John S. Knight Institute website for times, instructors, and descriptions.

Major Seminars. Fall or spring. 4 credits. These seminars, emphasizing important controversies in the discipline, cap the majors’ experience. Thus preference in admission is given to majors over nonmajors and seniors over juniors. Topics and instructors change each semester. For more information, please visit “Guide to the Undergraduate Major in Government” on government.arts.cornell.edu/undergraduate/program/#seminars.

Course Subfields. Courses in the Department of Government are broken down into four subfields: American government, political theory, international relations, and comparative government. To determine in which category (or subfield) the following courses fall, please note the two-letter reference at the end of the descriptions. The key is as follows: AM = American, PT = theory, IR = international relations, and CO = comparative.