Students who want to complete the Political Science major with secondary teacher licensure must complete both the Secondary Education and Social Studies minors.
Major (36 hours)
Political Science Foundation Courses (9 hours)
- POLS 1310 American National Government (Also counts toward the core)
- POLS 2303 Introduction to International Politics (Also counts toward the core)
- POLS 3350 Arkansas Government and Politics
American Politics (3 hours)
- POLS 3300 American Political Parties
- POLS 3303 American State and Local Government
- POLS 3305 Elections and Public Opinion
- POLS 3320 The American Presidency
- POLS 3325 Legislative Processes and Behavior
- POLS 4350 Constitutional Law: Governmental Powers
- POLS 4351 Constitutional Law: Civil Liberties
International Politics (6 hours)
- POLS 3360 Comparative Governments: Western
- POLS 3365 European Union
- POLS 3370 Comparative Politics: Developing Areas
- POLS 4320 American Foreign Policy
- POLS 4331 International Organizations
- POLS 4340 International Relations
Normative and Empirical Analysis (3 hours)
- POLS 3302 Methods of Political Inquiry
- POLS 3304 Qualitative Methods in Political Science
- POLS 3390 American Political Thought
- POLS 4380 Classical Political Theory
- POLS 4390 Modern Political Theory
- POLS 4395 Research-Intensive Seminar
Field Experience
Students must complete one of the following. Coursework taken to satisfy this requirement may also be used to satisfy a subfield or elective requirement for the major.
- POLS 3338 Cooperative Education in Political Science I
- POLS 3339 Cooperative Education in Political Science II
- POLS 3348 Internship I
- POLS 4348 Internship II
- Any POLS course with a service learning component
- Any travel course or study abroad program
A paid or volunteer position of at least 15 weeks with a government agency, elected official, campaign, interest group, or other politically-oriented organization. (Students taking this option will not receive course credit, but will have the requirement waived.) In order to use this option to satisfy the requirement, students must provide evidence of the position and submit a paper describing the work that they did to the internship coordinator for approval.
Electives (12 hours)
- Four upper-level political science courses.
Secondary Education Minor (18 hours)
Block I: Career Awareness Semester (3 hours)
- Praxis Core: Reading, Writing, and Mathematics
- SCED 3210 Instructional Skills and Assessment
- SCED 3110 Instructional Skills Practicum
Block II: Mastery of Principles of Learning and Teaching (6 hours)
- Praxis II: Principles of Learning and Teaching 7-12
- Praxis II: Social Studies Content Knowledge
- Praxis II: Analytical Essays
- SCED 4321 Teaching Diverse Adolescents
- SCED 4122 Adolescent Diversity Practicum
- SCED 4123 Adolescents with Special Needs
- SCED 4124 Classroom Management
Block III Course Requirements: (9 hours)
- TCED 4600 Student Teaching
- SCED 4330 Reflective Teaching
Social Studies Minor (21 hours)
- ECON 2301 Survey of Economics
- SOCI 2300 Introduction to Sociology
- GEOG 2310 World Regions
- GEOG 2312 Cultural Geography
- HIST 4355 Arkansas History
- HIST 2311 U.S. History to 1877 or 2312 U.S. History from 1877 (must be a course that is not taken as part of the University Core)
- POLS 4397 Social Studies Teaching Applications
For additional requirements, students should contact the Secondary Education Undergraduate Program Coordinator, Dr. Karina Clemmons at krclemmons@ualr.edu, and the Social Studies Content Advisor, Dr. Kristen Mann at kdmann@ualr.edu.
In addition to completing the POLS coursework, all students must also meet the following requirements to graduate:
- University Core Requirements (35 hours)
- Second Language Proficiency (see the undergraduate handbook for specifics)
- Completion of 12 hours of upper level courses outside of the program
- Completion of a minimum of 120 hours total (45 upper-level hours, and at least 30 hours taken from UA Little Rock)
- Students must have a GPA of at least 2.0 to graduate
