Concentrations

All students already registered in the Political Science Honours, Combined Honours, or 3-Year Degree programs may select a concentration. The maximum number of Political Science credits that can be counted towards your degree is 12.0 credits for an Honours program, 8.0 for a 3-year degree program and 9.0 for a Combined Honours program. Your concentration credits are included in this number.

Each concentration requires 3.5 credits in a given area or field. However, this does not necessarily mean that you will have to complete additional courses to finish your degree. Honours students can fulfill program and concentration requirements simultaneously, since many courses will count toward the degree requirements and the concentration.

For example, PSCI 2101 (Comparative Politics of the Global North) would count toward the program requirements for credits in Comparative and International Politics and toward the requirements for the concentration in Comparative Politics. However, note that the course would only count once in the total number of credits you require to graduate.

Note that students in the 3-year degree program may need to take more than the 8.0 credits in Political Science in order to fulfil concentration requirements.

All concentrations include at least one introductory course at the 2nd year level. Then, a variety of options are given to fulfill the remaining credits at the 3rd or 4th year levels.

The Department of Political Science offers concentrations in each of the following eight areas. Please click on the links provided below to view the courses that you can select within a given concentration.

Canadian Politics
Comparative Politics and Area Studies (Global North)
Comparative Politics and Area Studies (Global South)
Gender and Politics
International Relations
North American Politics
Political Theory
Public Affairs and Policy Analysis

Please note, when making adjustments to your program elements, we strongly encourage you to meet with an advisor in the Registrar’s Office.

You can add a concentration by logging into Carleton Central and scrolling down to the section heading “Student Online Applications.”

• From there, select the Change Program Elements (COPE) online form. This request form is for making changes to your program elements, such as adding a concentration, changing your program from Honours to General, adding a Minor, or changing your Major.
• Make sure that you are changing or adding the right thing! It is easy to make mistakes. To add a concentration, you must change your major to “Political Science with a concentration in [the area that you have chosen]”.
• These requests usually take a few days to process. If you are approved for your COPE changes, you can view your new degree requirements by running an audit. You will not receive any written confirmation that this has processed, so make sure to check your Carleton Central account to view the status of your application.

More detailed instructions on how to change your program elements, including adding or changing a concentration can be found here, on the Registrar’s Office website.

Ideally, you should start your concentration in the second year of your program. The earlier in the program you start, the more likely you will be to finish the 3.5 credits required for its completion and enrol in the courses you really want to take.

You should note that choosing a concentration does not allow you to bypass course-specific prerequisites and restrictions. For example, some courses have a GPA requirement (e.g., Honours Research Essays and Internships), some have limited enrollment, and some courses require you to secure a supervisor before you can enroll (e.g., Tutorials in Selected Fields). All of the pre-requisites and restrictions listed in the calendar still apply.

Finally, note that the Honours Research Essay (PSCI 4908) may be used in fulfillment of all eight concentrations. It is your responsibility to ensure that the work that you do for the Honours Research Essay is consistent with the theme of your concentration.

Only one concentration can be formally recognized. You can do many courses outside your concentration, however, as long as you don’t forget to meet your requirements for graduation.

You are not locked in. You can change your concentration later by completing the Change Program Elements form in Carleton Central. However, we recommend that you consult with us before doing this to ensure that you are still on track to graduate on time.

No! Studying Political Science provides you with a great deal of flexibility, so you can create your own path through the program, tailored to your own interests and strengths. Here are some topics and related courses you can explore without a concentration:

Gender and Politics
The Global Politics of Migration
Globalization, Wealth and Poverty
War, Peace and Security
State and Society
Human Rights and Individual Liberty