IPE Major Elective Changes

This is a special announcement concerning IPE major electives.

For students who entered Puget Sound prior to Fall 2007 (and are planning to graduate under the university catalogue requirements from that period), the IPE elective system is unchanged. Your catalogue (and your Cascade Degree Progress Report) includes a list of approved IPE electives. You need to take three courses from this list to satisfy the elective requirement for your IPE major. (Note: approved study abroad courses can also be used to satisfy the elective requirement and you and your advisor can also request that other classes satisfy the elective requirement if they are particularly relevant to your thesis research).

Students who entered Puget Sound in Fall 2007 or later (or who are planning to graduate under university catalogue requirement from this period) have different elective requirements. This new elective system was implemented in response to feedback from IPE graduates who have told us they wished they had chosen their electives more carefully.

There is no list of approved electives. Rather, the requirement states

Elective courses: Three courses (usually upper-division courses) in IPE or related disciplines. Elective courses must be pre-approved by the student’s IPE advisor in consultation with the student. A course used to satisfy this requirement may not also be used to satisfy a university core requirement. Elective classes should be chosen to:

• Broaden or deepen the student’s understanding of IPE theory;
• Provide economic, political, social or historical context for analysis of important IPE issues;
• Provide specific expertise necessary for a student’s senior thesis research;
• Develop analytical tools useful in IPE research;
• Deepen knowledge of a particular country or region.

What this means in practice is that you and your advisor need to have a serious discussion about your goals for the major and then choose the particular classes (usually from IPE but potentially also from Economics, Politics & Government, Comparative Sociology and other departments) that fit your needs.

This elective system gives you enormous freedom to choose electives but combines this with responsibility to think seriously about how elective and required courses will fit together. It also means a bit more work for you -- you will need to look at the Cascade Course Lookup pages for various departments in thinking about your class schedule.

You'll also need to fill out a special multi-part form that your advisor will provide that will help you think through what you want to take and why and help us keep track of your progress toward graduation. The text of this form is provided below.

Thanks in advance for your help in making this new system work.

IPE Student/Advisor Elective Approval Form Text

(get the actual form from your IPE advisor)

IPE majors are required to take three elective courses (usually upper-division courses) in IPE or related disciplines. Elective courses must be pre-approved by the student’s IPE advisor in consultation with the student. A course used to satisfy this requirement may not also be used to satisfy a university core requirement. Elective classes should be chosen to:

· Broaden or deepen the student’s understanding of IPE theory;

· Provide economic, political, social or historical context for analysis of important IPE issues;

· Provide specific expertise necessary for a student’s senior thesis research;

· Develop analytical tools useful in IPE research;

· Deepen knowledge or a particular country or region.

1. Specific course to be approved: give department, number, section, instructor term and year. (For Example, IPE 311A, Political Economy of Third World Development, Kontogeorgopoulos, Spring 2007).

2. Explain how this course builds expertise in international political economy, making specific reference to the criteria above.

3. List any other courses that have been approved as IPE electives. No more than two study abroad classes may be used as IPE major electives.