International and Comparative Policy Studies
The program at Reed in international and comparative policy studies
(ICPS) is designed to meet the academic needs of students interested in
pursuing a major involving interdisciplinary work in the areas of
international relations, comparative policy analysis, and international
economic development. Course offerings reflect the interests of faculty
members working in this general domain. Courses applicable to the ICPS
major come from relevant areas within the departments of anthropology,
economics, history, political science, and sociology; some are selected
courses in foreign language departments (as indicated in the approved
list of ICPS courses, available from the ICPS Committee). 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 Requirements for the Major A. Foreign Language Requirement B. ICPS Core Requirement C. Home Department Requirement ICPS–economics major: ICPS–history major: ICPS–political science major: ICPS–sociology major: D. Junior Qualifying Examination E. Thesis
To
be admitted to the ICPS program, a student must petition the ICPS
Committee for acceptance to upper-division standing. The petition
process is normally initiated in the second semester of the sophomore
year. The petition itself is a formal written statement that is
submitted to the ICPS Committee and 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.
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.
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 220
(Introduction to Comparative Politics) or 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).
Students must fulfill the following course requirements in their
respective home department (these may include courses listed above to
fulfill the ICPS core requirement):
1. Economics
201 (Introduction to Economic Analysis), 313 (Microeconomic Theory),
and either 304 (Intermediate Macroeconomics) or 314 (Macroeconomic
Theory).
2. Three additional economics courses, two of which must be related to international policy.
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).
1. Political
Science 210 (Introduction to Political Behavior), 230 (Introduction to
Political Philosophy), and one of the following courses: 220
(Introduction to Comparative Politics) or 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.
1. Sociology 211 (Introduction to Sociology), and either 357 (Political Sociology) or 280 (Social Movements).
2. Four additional sociology courses, preferably with an international focus.
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.
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.
