POL Spring 2025 Courses
Check out some political science (POL) courses being offered spring 2025, including boutique classes and courses with a Liberal Education designation. Find all POL courses for spring 2025 on Schedule Builder.
Boutique Classes
Boutique classes are smaller classes, with enrollment caps around 25 students. The small, boutique offerings are designed to give students a more personal experience in the classroom, with greater opportunities for connection with the instructor and peers.
- POL 3310: Topics in American Politics: The Psychology of Polarization
- POL 3409: Introduction to Authoritarian Politics
- POL 3410: Topics in Comparative Politics: Democracy and Dictatorship in Central Asia
- POL 3431: Politics of India
- POL 3833: The United States and the Global Economy
- POL 4463: The Cuban Revolution Through the Words of Cuban Revolutionaries
- POL 4487: Democracy and the Class Struggle from Athens to the Present
- POL 4766: Culture War Politics in the United States and Beyond
Liberal Education: Diversified Core
UMN undergraduates admitted to a degree program in fall 2010 or later are required to complete liberal education diversified core requirements. The diversified core guides you through the "why" and "how" of different academic disciplines. These classes equip you with a broad range of tools that can be used to approach problems in everyday life & work, and help you make a positive difference within communities, society, & the world. Students are required to satisfy all seven core requirements.
Arts/Humanities
Historical Perspectives
Mathematical Thinking
Social Sciences
- POL 1025: Global Politics
- POL 3435: Political Dynamics in the Horn of Africa
- POL 3752: Chicana/o Politics
- POL 3769: Public Opinion and Voting Behavior
- POL 3835: International Relations
Liberal Education: Designated Themes
UMN undergraduates admitted to a degree program in fall 2010 or later are required to complete liberal education designated theme requirements. The designated themes are topics central to an understanding of contemporary life. Investigating these themes helps students prepare to become knowledgeable, ethical, and engaged public citizens. Students are required to satisfy four of the five themes.
Civic Life and Ethics
- POL 1201: Political Ideas
- POL 3065: Political Engagement Careers: Planning and Preparing For Your Future
- POL 3252W: Revolution, Democracy, and Empire: Modern Political Thought
- POL 3767: Political Psychology of Elite Behavior
- POL 4502W: The Supreme Court, Civil Liberties, and Civil Rights
Race, Power, and Justice in the United States
Global Perspectives
- POL 1025: Global Politics
- POL 3431: Politics of India
- POL 3435: Political Dynamics in the Horn of Africa
- POL 3476: Chinese Politics: History and Contemporary Issues
- POL 3479: Latin American Politics
- POL 3835: International Relations
- POL 4403W: Constitutions, Democracy, and Rights: Comparative Perspectives
- POL 4463: The Cuban Revolution Through the Words of Cuban Revolutionaries
- POL 4497W: Patronage & Corruption
Liberal Education: Writing Intensive
UMN undergraduates admitted to a degree program in fall 2010 or later are required to complete liberal education writing requirements, including four Writing Intensive (WI) courses. These courses help students understand what it means to write in various disciplines. Two of the four courses must be completed at the upper-division level, and one of the two upper-division courses must be within a student's major field of study.
- POL 3252W: Revolution, Democracy, and Empire: Modern Political Thought
- POL 3843W: Night Raids, Detention, Torture, and Drones: Methods of War
- POL 4403W: Constitutions, Democracy, and Rights: Comparative Perspectives
- POL 4497W: Patronage & Corruption
- POL 4502W: The Supreme Court, Civil Liberties, and Civil Rights
- POL 4525W: Federal Indian Policy
