International and Comparative Policy Studies
The aim of the ICPS program is to provide students a firmer
disciplinary basis within the social sciences and a clearer focus
on the related concerns of international relations, comparative
policy analysis, and international economic development. Students
are expected to combine their ICPS course of study with work in a
home department: economics, history, political science, or another
department with the consent of the ICPS Committee. ICPS majors will
be identified respectively as ICPS–economics, ICPS–history,
ICPS–political science, etc.
Admission to the Major
To be admitted to the ICPS program, a student must petition the
ICPS Committee for acceptance to upper-division standing. The
petition, normally submitted in the second semester of the
sophomore year, must include a rationale for the program to be
pursued, a statement of the student’s concrete educational
objectives, and the list of courses planned for the junior and
senior years. Since acceptance into the ICPS program is not
automatic, applicants should be prepared to pursue an alternative
course of study.
Requirements for the Major
A. Foreign Language Requirement
If appropriate to a student’s proposed course of study, the ICPS
Committee may require working knowledge of a foreign language. This
may be defined as two, or more than two, Reed units in the
language; or passing the Reed language placement examination at the
appropriate level; or passing a special examination under the ICPS
Committee’s supervision.
B. ICPS Core Requirement
1. Economics 201 (Introduction to Economic Analysis) and one of the
following: Economics 342 (International Macroeconomics), 345
(European Economic History), 382 (Economics of Development), 383
(International Trade), 385 (Asian Economies in Transition), or
another unit in economics at the 300 or 400 level as approved by
the ICPS committee.
2. Political Science 210 (Introduction to Political Behavior) and
either Political Science 220 (Introduction to Comparative Politics)
or Political Science 240 (Introduction to International
Relations).
3. Any two history courses, only one of which may be in American
history. (Cross-listed courses may be used for this requirement
only with the consent of the ICPS Committee.)
4. Two units of courses outside the student’s home department, not
including the above courses, that contribute to an understanding of
international or comparative policy issues. Students may use
courses drawn from the approved list of ICPS courses, available
from the ICPS Committee, or other courses as approved by the ICPS
Committee. ICPS–sociology majors may fulfill this requirement with
Sociology 211 and either Sociology 357 (Political Sociology) or 280
(Social Movements).
C. Home Department Requirement
Students must fulfill the following course requirements in their
respective home department (these may include courses listed above
to fulfill the ICPS core requirement):
ICPS–economics major:
1. Economics 201 (Introduction to Economic Analysis), 313
(Microeconomic Theory), 314 (Macroeconomic Theory).
2. Three additional economics courses, two of which must be related
to international policy.
ICPS–history major:
1. Six units of history courses, distributed so as to include,
chronologically, at least one unit before 1800 and one unit after
1800, and geographically, at least one unit in each of the
following three areas: 1) Europe, 2) United States, and 3) areas
outside the United States, Canada, and Western Europe. (The same
course may fill both a geographical and a chronological
requirement. No more than two cross-listed courses from other
departments may be included.)
2. One semester of a junior seminar (which may count as one of the
six units above).
3. Humanities 210, 220, or 230 is recommended, but not required (in
which case it can be used to satisfy the college’s Group A
requirement).
ICPS–political science major:
1. Political Science 210 (Introduction to Political Behavior),
Political Science 230 (Introduction to Political Philosophy), and
one of the following courses: Political Science 220 (Introduction
to Comparative Politics) or Political Science 240 (Introduction to
International Politics).
2. Statistics: one of Mathematics 141, Economics 311, Sociology
311, or Psychology 348.
3. Three additional units in political science, two of which must
be in international relations, comparative politics, or public
policy.
ICPS–sociology major:
1. Sociology 211 (Introduction to Sociology), and either Sociology
357 (Political Sociology) or Sociology 280 (Social
Movements).
2. Four additional sociology courses, preferably with an
international focus.
D. Junior qualifying examination
ICPS students will take the junior qualifying examination required
in their respective home department. In addition, they will submit
to the ICPS Committee a short thesis research proposal (four to six
pages), on which they will have a one-hour oral examination
administered by two members of the committee. In the proposal the
student must define the thesis topic, discuss some of the major
issues involved in it, explain the methodology to be used in
researching the topic, and present a short critical bibliography of
relevant secondary works and/or primary resources.
E. Thesis
Each student must complete a thesis appropriate to the ICPS major,
dealing with international relations or a comparative policy study
involving two or more countries. The thesis adviser would
ordinarily come from the ICPS Committee, or, with the committee’s
approval, from the student’s home department. The ICPS Committee
will approve the choice of first-draft reader.
