Thirteen courses are required: four required introductory–level courses, four required upper–level courses and five electives.
Students are also required to undertake some form of international field research or an internship.
All Pitzer Study Abroad programs and most exchanges provide such opportunities.
Note: Students may not major in International Relations at CMC, which is equivalent to International Political Economy.
Four Introductory Level Courses:
- ECON 051 PZ – Principles of Macroeconomics
- ECON 052 PZ – Principles of Microeconomics
- POST 030 PZ – Comparative Politics
- POST 040 PZ – International Politics
Four Upper-Level Required Courses:
- POST 070 PZ – Research Methods in Political Studies
- ECON 104 PZ – Macroeconomic Theory or ECON 105 PZ – Microeconomic Theory
(Note: MATH 030 PZ – Calculus I is a prerequisite for ECON 104 PZ and ECON 105 PZ.) - POST 141 PZ – International Political Economy
- POST 198 PZ – Senior Seminar in Political Studies
(Note: The senior seminar should be selected in consultation with your adviser.)
Five Elective Courses:
Five elective courses should be selected from the following list. Appropriate courses at Pitzer or the other Claremont Colleges not on the list may be substituted in consultation with your adviser. The five courses must include at least two courses in Economics and at least two courses in Political Studies.
Additionally, at least one course labeled A (or other appropriate course studying low- and/or middle-income country/ies) and one course labeled B (or other appropriate course studying high-income country/ies) must be included. The two Economics electives must be taken within the Claremont Colleges consortium.
- ECON 140 PZ – Development Economics (A)
- ECON 145 PZ – International Trade (B)
- ECON 182 PZ – Economic History of Globalization
- CGS 017 PZ – History and Political Economy of Natural Resources
- CGS 120 PZ – State and Development in the Third World (A)
- CGS 122 PZ – Contemporary Political and Social Movements in the Third World (A)
- CGS 123 PZ – Third World Socialism (A)
- CGS 127 PZ – Environment and Development in the Third World (A)
- CGS 141 PZ – Agricultural Economic Development in the Third World (A)
- CGS 146 PZ – International Relations of the Middle East (A)
- POST 119 PZ – Latin American Politics (A)
- POST 127 PZ – The Rise of Brazil (A)
- POST 131 PZ – U.S. Foreign Policy (B)
- POST 142 PZ – The Third World and the Global Economy (A)
- POST 143 PZ – Global Governance
- POST 144 PZ – Global Security
- POST 174 PZ – U.S. Immigration Policy
- POST 181 PZ – Agriculture & Political Rebellion
- POST 185A PZ – Logics of Political Authority
- POST 187 PZ – The Political Economy of Global Soccer
- POLI 102 SC – Cooperation and Rivalry in the European Union (B)
- POLI 119 SC – Public Policy in the European Union (B)
In addition to required courses, IPE majors are recommended to take (a) a course in World History and (b) an area-focused course (such as ECON 141 PZ – The Chinese Economy or CGS 125 PZ – African Politics) where relevant.
Honors:
Honors candidates will be expected to achieve a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or better in the required coursework and submit a deserving honors thesis. Normally, the thesis readers should include readers from both Political Studies and Economics.
