PSPS Undergraduate Studies
On this page
- Overview of PSPS bachelor’s degrees
- Learning objectives for PSPS bachelor’s degrees
- The six concentration options
- Getting a head start on the MPA degree
- Minors
Overview of PSPS bachelor's degrees
The UTC Department of Political Science and Public Service offers a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science. All majors take foundational political science courses, a career planning course, research methods, and the senior capstone course. The remaining courses are based on the student's choice of one of the six concentrations described below. Even with the concentration requirements, students have the flexibility to select some coursework from areas of interest outside of their concentrations. Updated, detailed requirements for the major may be found in the UTC catalog (follow the links for the College of Arts and Sciences > Political Science and Public Service).
Learning objectives for PSPS bachelor’s degrees
Regardless of their concentration, all PSPS majors have the opportunity to achieve these learning objectives:
- Students are able to apply key concepts used to study governmental and non-state structures and actors in political systems.
- Students are able to analyze political phenomena and critique arguments in a theoretically informed manner.
- Students are able to apply their disciplinary knowledge to address contemporary, real-world problems.
- Students are able to identify, evaluate, and accurately apply verifiable sources of evidence, including empirical research.
The six concentration options
All PSPS majors select one of the following concentrations. Detailed requirements for each concentration can be found in the UTC catalog (follow the links for the College of Arts and Sciences > Political Science and Public Service).
- American Politics
American Politics is the concentration for students who are interested in the study and practice of American Government. Classes explore such topics as the institutions of government at the state and federal level (executive, Congress, judiciary), elections and campaigns, interest groups, and the political behavior of citizens. In their classes, students will learn how to interpret current events, analyze the news, write coherently, create and consume original research, read and interpret statistics and data, argue a point with clarity and logic, and integrate different sources of information in a meaningful way.
We encourage students in the American Politics concentration to engage in fieldwork, volunteer on local, state, and national campaigns, and intern in governmental offices, nonprofit organizations, or interest groups. Formal semester-long internships are available in the state government and in Washington, D.C.
Through these courses and practical experience, students are able to develop skills that will be translatable to a large number of careers. Graduates of this program work on campaigns, serve as elected officials, are political reporters, work at many levels of government, engage as lobbyists, or pursue careers in the private or nonprofit sectors. Regardless of the career path our students follow, they are equipped to be engaged and active citizens, an essential quality in a representative democracy.
- International and Comparative Studies
International politics affect our daily lives as global markets, business, technology, and travel result in a flood of ideas, people, products, and forms of governance across borders. The International and Comparative Studies track focuses on helping students understand both the governmental and non-state functioning of international politics. Students in this concentration learn about global problems: conflict, ethnic violence, refugee flow, nuclear proliferation, terrorism, and how differing political systems and cultures seek to address these problems in an interdependent world.
Courses within the concentration range from understanding government structures of various regions of the world in an area studies focus to topical courses within broad themes of international security, international law and organizations, and the international relations theory that holds it all together. Courses are designed to enable students to analyze global problems in a manner that is theoretically-informed and conceptually rigorous. Focusing on current issues in global politics placed in historical context, the concentration is designed to prepare students for a variety of related careers in national government, international organizations, law, business, journalism, diplomacy, public service, and academics.
- Public Law
Public law is the study of law and legal institutions through a political science lens. Politics, as Aristotle taught, is a master science because it considers what is good and just for a whole polity. Another way to put this is that the aim of politics is the common good. And it is law that authoritatively coordinates and directs human action toward the common good within polities. Therefore, public law is an indispensable discipline of political science. The Public Law concentration at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga is rich and multifaceted. Students will have the opportunity to study the central features of the American legal system, the structures and powers of the American Constitution, the Supreme Court’s role in our constitutional republic, and the civil liberties and civil rights guaranteed by the Constitution. The Public Law concentration also reflects methodologically and substantively diverse approaches to the discipline and the faculty’s distinctive areas of expertise. Students will have opportunities for advanced study in such areas as race, gender, and the law; church-state relations, free exercise of religion and the law; and jurisprudence. The Socratic method and rigorous reading expectations in Public Law coursework are aimed at cultivating excellent written and verbal communication skills and provide an excellent preparation for students for law school and a wide range of professions.
- Public Policy
Public policy is an academic discipline rooted in political science and branching into the full range of substantive policy areas, such as education, health, crime, economics, and environment. The Public Policy concentration's curriculum mirrors the public olicy discipline itself, with the political science department providing foundation courses in public policy processes, institutions, and theories, and departments from across the university providing courses in a broad range of substantive policy areas. Political science courses include Public Policy Theory, American Government, Controversies in Public Policy, American Public Policy, Introduction to Public Administration, and senior-level public policy seminars.
Policy-related electives offered throughout the university explore policy areas including environment, social welfare, crime, labor, economics, education, technology, urban policy, community health, and immigration. In these courses, students investigate issues like how societal problems come to be addressed by public policy, the strengths and weaknesses of different kinds of policies, how public policy is shaped by policy implementation, why people disagree over what kinds of policies are legitimate, and how all this plays out in specific policy areas they're interested in.
Graduates of the Public Policy concentration are prepared to work in entry-level positions in government and nonprofit agencies related to proposing, implementing, and analyzing public policies; to participate in public policy processes as an informed citizen; and to pursue graduate education in public policy, law, public administration, or specific policy areas.
- Public Administration and Nonprofit Management
The Public Administration and Nonprofit Management (PANM) concentration offers two distinct tracks: public administration and nonprofit management. With a focus on either the public or nonprofit sector, students in the PANM concentration learn the structure of government and nonprofit entities and how to manage people, financial resources and communications to best serve diverse populations.
The PANM concentration is designed to prepare students for management-related careers in fields such as public policy, financial management, program evaluation, social welfare, and the arts. It equips students with the knowledge, skills, and values required for effective public and nonprofit management.
- Politics (the flexible, "build your own concentration" alternative)
The Politics concentration is designed to provide maximum flexibility to students regardless of their career plans in law, public administration, public policy, campaigns or elections, or any of the many fields political science graduates pursue with their undergraduate degree. This concentration is ideal for transfer students bringing a variety of political science courses with them to UTC or students fascinated by all the different subfields of the discipline. Students take the core courses in the discipline and then are able to select the remainder of their curriculum from all of the subfields and concentrations, unfettered by specific degree requirements.
Getting a head start on the MPA degree
UTC undergraduate students within 30 hours of completion of their bachelor's degree and with an overall GPA of at least 3.25 are eligible to get a head start on the MPA program. These options give students the opportunity to complete up to 9 credits of graduate coursework while still undergraduates, potentially saving time and money in earning the MPA degree. PSPS undergraduate majors are eligible to apply to the PS/MPA JUMP (Joint Undergraduate to Masters Program) option. This program allows PSPS majors to count up to 9 credits toward both the undergraduate degree and the MPA. Non-PSPS majors may take up to 9 credits of MPA credit while enrolled as undergraduates, which would then count toward the MPA degree. For more information about either option, contact the MPA Program Coordinator at [email protected].
Minors
We offer an 18-credit minor in political science and an 18-credit minor in public administration and nonprofit management (PANM).
All political science minors take American Politics, World Politics, and four additional selections from a wide range of political science course options.
All PANM minors take two 2000-level introductory courses, three upper-level courses selected from across the PANM curriculum, and the PANM senior seminar course.
For detailed requirements and course descriptions, please consult the UTC catalog (follow the links for the College of Arts and Sciences > Political Science and Public Service).