Political Science Honours, Major and Co-op candidates can opt to pursue a concentration in either “Canadian Government” or in “Global Studies” that, if completed, will be designated on their transcript. This designation may provide students with an incentive to choose courses in their area of interest and may make their degree more marketable as they pursue career options and/or graduate studies. Where applicable the corresponding renumbered course can be used (e.g., the former POSC 2710 may be substituted for 2800). For more information contact the Department’s undergraduate advisor.

Concentration in Canadian Government
When Political Science Honours or Major candidates select their courses they may opt to complete a minimum of eight POSC courses emphasizing public policy (second digit is “6”) and/or Canadian politics (second digit is “8”). Among these eight courses must be 2600 (Intro to Public Policy and Administration) and 2800 (Intro to Canadian Politics and Government), as well as at least two selections at the 4000-level. If these criteria are fulfilled then upon graduation “Concentration in Canadian Government” will be designated on the student’s transcript and may also be henceforth profiled on a résumé.

Concentration in Global Studies
When Political Science Honours or Major candidates select their courses they may opt to complete a minimum of eight POSC courses emphasizing international politics (second digit is “2”) and/or comparative politics (second digit is “3”). Among these eight courses must be 2200 (Intro to International Politics) and 2300 (Intro to Comparative Politics), as well as at least two selections at the 4000-level. Up to two political theory courses (second digit is “1”) at the 3000 level or higher may be included. If these criteria are fulfilled then upon graduation “Concentration in Global Studies” will be designated on the student’s transcript and may also be henceforth profiled on a résumé.

Questions & Answers about the Concentrations
Will the Office of the Registrar automatically notice that I have met the requirements for a particular concentration?
Not necessarily. When applying to graduate students are advised to expressly state in writing that they are also applying for a concentration designation.

Is the "concentration" designation only available to students who enrolled after Fall 2010?
Students may follow regulations in effect the year they completed the first Political Science course above 1xxx OR they may choose to follow any set of regulations that come into effect before they graduate. Therefore students who will be graduating in 2011 or later may be eligible for the concentrations designation, including "grandfathered" students. Students who would like to receive general guidance on this matter may wish to consult the department's undergraduate advisor. To obtain a formal list of required courses, including consideration of any courses under previous numbers (such as 2710 or 3540), interested students should submit a request for a program audit to the Office of the Registrar.

For Co-op students, are the work terms POSC 260W, 360W and 460W eligible towards the concentration in Canadian government designation? After all the second digit is a '6' which means they are public policy courses.
Of the three Co-op work term courses the only one that involves credit hours is POSC 460W and therefore that course may be deemed eligible towards the concentration. However since this is not clearly noted in the university calendar it is possible that a student seeking to avail of this option will need to ask the Head of the Department of Political Science to send a letter of permission to the Office of the Registrar.

Can an Honours student count POSC 4010 and 4011 (Honours Essay courses) towards one of the concentrations?
Yes. The following statement can be located in the Department's calendar entry: "If the Honours essay topic encompasses one of Canadian Government or Global Studies, then POSC 4010 and 4011 may be applied towards the applicable Political Science concentration, subject to permission of the Head of the Department." This means that when an Honours student is nearing completion of POSC 4011 that a letter of permission must be expressly requested from the Head of the Department of Political Science, who will assess which concentration applies to the student's Essay topic, and who will need to send a letter of permission to the Office of the Registrar.