Majors and Specialty Areas

For Liberal Arts Students
30 semester hours

For Secondary Education Students
33 semester hours

For Liberal Arts and Secondary Education Minors
18 semester hours with HIS prefix freely elected

For Early Childhood / Elementary Education Concentration
18 semester hours with HIS prefix freely elected

Pre-Law Program
A comprehensive pre-law specialization is available for political science majors or minors. Six legal courses covering most aspects of American jurisprudence will substantially prepare students for further professional legal study and, when taken collectively, will satisfy the requirements for a minor in political science.

Government Program
For those interested in a career in politics or public service, a six-course program concentrating on all aspects of American political life, public policy and international relations is available. When taken collectively, these courses will satisfy the requirements for a minor in political science.

Generalist Option
All majors or minors may opt for a generalist course and choose any courses in the political science curriculum

For Future Teachers
Education students have the opportunity to specialize in political science at the early childhood and elementary education level. Those interested in teaching at a secondary school can minor in political science.

Our education programs exceed the requirements of the Illinois State Certification Board. In addition, the College of Education is accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education.

For Liberal Arts Students
Are you interested in a strong liberal arts major? Do you enjoy political studies? Maybe you aspire to be a politician, a lobbyist or a legislator. Concordia offers in-depth studies in political science. Students can choose to major or minor in political science within the college of liberal arts.

Philosophy

You may enroll in philosophy courses to fulfill some of the requirements of the core curriculum. You may also use philosophy courses as free electives to develop a major or minor in the liberal arts curriculum. You may also wish to select courses from the philosophy offerings to support interest in other disciplines.

The philosophy major requires 30 semester hours of course work that is distributed among basic courses in logic, ethics, philosophy of religion, social and political philosophy, and the history of philosophy. The program culminates in an independent study course that requires the preparation of a major paper and public presentation on some selected philosophical topic. The philosophy minor requires 18 hours, but does not include an independent study.

A philosophy specialization is of general use to you if you wish to sharpen your intellectual tools and broaden and deepen your understanding of the world in which you live. Philosophy is particularly useful for a student who wishes to do graduate study or prepare for professional studies in law or theology.

A philosophy specialization articulates well with a variety of other programs. For example, when it is a part of pre-seminary study, it can be coupled with a specialization in theology or theological languages, English, communication, or church history. In the pre-law program, it can be taken together with a second specialization in political science, history, sociology, English, or communication.