Degree Requirements
Please visit your SOLUS account and download the Progress Report to review where you are in your program requirements. You can also connect with us directly for a check in at any time.
*New* Modular Plans (May 2025)
- Political Studies – Specialization (Arts) – Bachelor of Arts (Honours)
- Political Studies – Major (Arts) – Bachelor of Arts (Honours)
- Political Studies – Minor (Arts)
More details on new Modular Plans
Course Schedule
PLEASE NOTE: Access to the undergraduate course schedule is restricted to those with a »Ê¹ÚÌåÓý's netID. You can log into SOLUS to obtain the schedule or download a version below.
If you are unable to access the schedule, please visit the »Ê¹ÚÌåÓý's homepage, choose the "Sign In" dropdown menu, sign in to My»Ê¹ÚÌåÓý'sU and then return to this page. Please do not request access unless you have followed these steps and are still experiencing difficulty.
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2025-2026 Undergraduate Course Schedule (PDF format) - coming by end of July 2025.
Course Descriptions
Please see the Arts and Science Academic Calendar for brief course descriptions and requirements.
Some Politics courses focus will vary from year to year. The topics and descriptions for those courses for the 2025 - 2026 Academic Year are available below.
POLS 401 Political Theory: Questions and Challenges Units: 3.00 Winter 2026
2025-2026 Course Information:
This course will consider various theoretical writings and topics in political science. The focus of this course will vary from year to year. The focus for Winter 2026 is on civic and social responsibility. We will look at the role of citizens in responding to different injustices in society including historical, systemic, epistemic (i.e., knowledge), economic, and territorial.
Learning Hours: 120 (36 Seminar, 12 Group Learning, 72 Private Study)
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 4 or above and registration in a POLS Specialization, Major, Joint Honours, or POPE Plan) and ([POLS 250/3.0 and POLS 350/3.0] or POLS 250/6.0*) and a (minimum GPA of 2.50 on all units in POLS).
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science
POLS 410 Comparing Canada Units: 3.00 Winter 2026
2025-2026 Course Information:
Comparisons between groups, municipalities, provinces/states, and countries are pervasive. They also have real-world consequences. Policymakers, for example, often question whether policies from one place can be used in other places. Activists mimic the strategies of those in other cities, provinces/states, or countries. And actors in political parties commonly make judgments about whether results in one riding or election can predict what will happen in other ridings or elections. How should we think about comparing across groups, municipalities, provinces/states, and countries? Do we gain useful insights through comparisons? Could we make better comparisons, or should we understand Canada without comparison?
This course explores these questions and others. In the first part of the course, we will consider broad arguments for and against comparison and become acquainted with language about research methods and design. In the second part of the course, we will evaluate and critique a range of comparisons, most of which involve Canada and the United States. These comparisons cover issues ranging from healthcare systems and party politics to issues of disability rights, abortion, same-sex marriage, shifting global race norms, and Indigenous self-government. Throughout the course, you will develop skills in evaluating research, especially research design.
Learning Hours: 120 (36 Seminar, 12 Group Learning, 72 Private Study)
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 4 or above and registration in a POLS Specialization, Major, Joint Honours, or POPE Plan) and ([POLS 250/3.0 and POLS 350/3.0] or POLS 250/6.0*) and a (minimum GPA of 2.50 on all units in POLS).
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science
POLS 451 Seminar in Political Theory Units: 3.00 Winter 2026
2025-2026 Course Information:
Exploitation | What is it, when and why is it bad or wrong, and what if anything should we do about it? The course will start with general theories of exploitation (e.g. Marxist, market-based, Kantian), then turn to specific issues in which the idea of exploitation has played an important role (e.g. sweatshop labour, price-gouging, payday lending, commercial surrogacy, organ markets). The course will be conceptual and normative, to a large extent, but will also engage with economic theory, and students will be encouraged to investigate the empirical details of specific cases.
Learning Hours: 120 (36 Seminar, 12 Group Learning, 72 Private Study)
Requirements: Prerequisite (Level 4 or above and registration in a POLS Specialization, Major, Joint Honours, or POPE Plan) and ([POLS 250/3.0 and POLS 350/3.0] or POLS 250/6.0*) and a (minimum GPA of 2.50 on all units in POLS).
Offering Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Science