Minor in Politics, Law, and Social Thought

Program Learning Outcomes for the Minor in Politics, Law, and Social Thought

Upon completing the minor in Politics, Law, and Social Thought, students will be able to:

  1. Understand and convey the main traditions of political, legal, and social thought as they appear in specific contexts.
  2. Analyze and evaluate complex texts in political, legal, and social thought through close reading and interpretation.
  3. Communicate ideas in written, visual, and/or oral form about political, legal, and social thought.

Requirements for the Minor in Politics, Law, and Social Thought

Students pursuing the minor in Politics, Law, and Social Thought must complete:

  • A minimum of 6 courses (18 credit hours) to satisfy minor requirements.
  • A minimum of 4 courses (12 credit hours) taken at the 300-level or above. 
  • A maximum of 2 courses (6 credit hours) from study abroad or transfer credit. For additional program guidelines regarding transfer credit, see the Policies tab. 
  • A maximum of 2 courses (6 credit hours) from the same subject code (i.e., GERM, HIST, etc.) may be used to meet the Elective Requirements.

The courses listed below satisfy the requirements for this minor. In certain instances, courses not on this official list may be substituted upon approval of the minor’s academic advisor or, where applicable, the Program Director. (Course substitutions must be formally applied and entered into Degree Works by the minor's Official Certifier). Students and their academic advisors should identify and clearly document the courses to be taken.

Summary

Total Credit Hours Required for the Minor in Politics, Law, and Social Thought 18

Minor Requirements

Core Requirement
Select 1 course from the following:3
SOCIAL AND POLITICAL THOUGHT IN 19TH CENTURY EUROPE
PRE-MODERN POLITICAL THOUGHT FROM CICERO TO LOCKE
LATIN AMERICAN POLITICAL THOUGHT: IDENTITY, LIBERATION, MODERNITY
MODERN POLITICAL THOUGHT: MACHIAVELLI TO RAWLS
CONTEMPORARY POLITICAL THEORY: RESISTANCE AND SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION
HOW DEMOCRACY FAILS
DEMOCRACY AND POLITICAL THEORY IN ANCIENT GREECE
AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONAL LAW: STRUCTURES AND POWERS
Elective Requirements
Select 5 courses from the Elective Requirements (see course list below) 115
Total Credit Hours18

Footnotes and Additional Information 

Elective Requirements 

To complete the Politics, Law, and Social Thought minor, students must complete a total of 5 elective courses (15 credit hours) from the following Rice departmental course offerings. If a student takes more than 1 course from the Core Requirement list, that extra course may be used toward the Elective Requirements. Ultimately no more than 2 courses (6 credit hours) from the same subject code (i.e., GERM, HIST, etc.) may be used to meet the Elective Requirements for the minor.1 

Elective Requirements
Select 5 courses from the following:15
Anthropology
GLOBAL CULTURES
REVOLUTIONS AND UTOPIAS
SYMBOLISM AND POWER
GLOBAL IM/MOBILITIES: BORDERS, MIGRATION, AND CITIZENSHIP
LAW, POWER AND CULTURE
NEOLIBERALISM AND GLOBALIZATION
CULTURES OF CAPITALISM
MAJOR FIGURES IN CULTURAL AND SOCIAL THOUGHT
ACTIVISM AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS
Art History
JUSTICE AND CINEMA
FROM EXPRESSIONISM TO FASCISM: ART AND FILM IN GERMANY
Asian Studies
CHINESE POLITICS IN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE
Economics
LAW AND ECONOMICS
Environmental Studies
INTRODUCTION TO ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
History
RADICAL MOVEMENTS IN THE AMERICAS
READING HISTORIES OF WORK
AMERICAN LEGAL HISTORY, 1863 TO THE PRESENT
HISTORY OF FEMINISM
THE UNITED STATES IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY WORLD
SOCIAL AND POLITICAL THOUGHT IN 19TH CENTURY EUROPE
THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD: AGE OF EMPIRE AND REVOLUTION
PRE-MODERN POLITICAL THOUGHT FROM CICERO TO LOCKE
DEMOCRACY AND CAPITALISM: THE HISTORICAL DEBATE FROM MARX TO TRUMP
EMPIRE AND INTERNATIONAL LAW
AMERICAN RADICALS AND REFORMERS
DISABILITY AND U.S. LAW
LAW IN THE DIGITAL WORLD
THE HISTORY OF HUMAN RIGHTS
FOUR MODERN REVOLUTIONS: 1776, 1789, 1917, 1989
Humanities
WHO SHOULD VOTE? A BIG QUESTIONS COURSE
COMMUNICATION LAW
Modern and Classical Literatures and Cultures
DEMOCRACY AND POLITICAL THEORY IN ANCIENT GREECE
FROM DECOLONIZATION TO GLOBALIZATION
WORLD WAR TWO IN FRENCH HISTORY, LITERATURE, AND FILM
IMMIGRATION AND CITIZENSHIP IN CONTEMPORARY FRANCE
NIETZSCHE: PHILOSOPHY, POLITICS, HISTORY
NATIONALISM AND CITIZENSHIP
LATIN AMERICAN POLITICAL THOUGHT: IDENTITY, LIBERATION, MODERNITY
Philosophy
FEMINIST PHILOSOPHY
HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY I
HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY II
ETHICS
HISTORY OF ETHICS
SOCIAL AND POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
HISTORY OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
PHILOSOPHY OF LAW
CONTINENTAL PHILOSOPHY
Political Science
WORLD LEGAL SYSTEMS
AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONAL LAW: STRUCTURES AND POWERS
AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONAL LAW: CIVIL RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES
FROM DECOLONIZATION TO GLOBALIZATION
AFRICAN AMERICAN POLITICS
RELIGION AND DEMOCRACY
GENDER AND POLITICS
RACE AND THE LAW IN THE UNITED STATES
POLITICS OF THE JUDICIARY
DEMOCRACY AND DEMOCRATIZATION
WORLD CONSTITUTIONS
CIVIL WARS
CONDITIONS OF DEMOCRACY
Politics, Law, and Social Thought
MODERN POLITICAL THOUGHT: MACHIAVELLI TO RAWLS
CONTEMPORARY POLITICAL THEORY: RESISTANCE AND SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION
HOW DEMOCRACY FAILS
INTRODUCTION TO LAW
THE RIVER AND THE WALL: LAW OF BORDERS AND MIGRATION
AUTHORITARIAN CONSTITUTIONALISM AND DEMOCRATIC DICTATORSHIPS SINCE 1848
IDEOLOGY AND ITS CRITIQUE
RACE AND THE LAW: HOW LAWS AND INSTITUTIONS HAVE PERPETUATED RACISM AND SUPPORTED PROGRESS
CRIME IN THE U.S.
LEGAL PRACTICUM
JUDICIAL PRACTICUM
Sociology
CRIMINOLOGY
SOCIOLOGY OF LAW
CRIME, LAW & JUSTICE IN POPULAR CULTURE
SOCIAL THEORY
LAW AND RESISTANCE IN THE EVERYDAY
CONTEMPORARY THEORY
Study of Women, Gender, and Sexuality
SEX, MONEY, AND POWER AROUND THE WORLD

Footnotes and Additional Information

Practica

Students may count one practicum with 3 credit hours toward the Elective Requirements for the minor, as long as the practicum substantively reflects the thematic focus of the minor in PLST. As general guidance, acceptable practica are concerned with the public dimension of law or fall into the area of public policy. Proposed practica have to be approved by the director before the official start date of the practicum. Practica must adhere to the requirements and policies governing practica as they have been established by the School of Humanities and/or the School of Social Sciences.  

Policies for the Minor in Politics, Law, and Social Thought 

Program Restrictions and Exclusions

Students pursuing the minor in Politics, Law, and Social Thought should be aware of the following program restriction:

  • As noted in Majors, Minors, and Certificates, i.) students may declare their intent to pursue a minor only after they have first declared a major, and ii.) students may not major and minor in the same subject.

Transfer Credit 

For Rice University’s policy regarding transfer credit, see Transfer Credit. Some departments and programs have additional restrictions on transfer credit. Requests for transfer credit must be approved for Rice equivalency by the designated transfer credit advisor for the appropriate academic department offering the Rice equivalent course (corresponding to the subject code of the course content). The Office of Academic Advising maintains the university’s official list of transfer credit advisors on their website: https://oaa.rice.edu. Students are encouraged to meet with the applicable transfer credit advisor as well as their academic program director when considering transfer credit possibilities. 

Program Transfer Credit Guidelines

Students pursuing the minor in Politics, Law, and Social Thought should be aware of the following program-specific transfer credit guidelines:

  • No more than 2 courses (6 credit hours) of transfer credit from U.S. or international universities of similar standing as Rice may apply towards the minor.
  • Transfer credit received via the articulation of approved exam credit, such as Advanced Placement (AP) credit, International Baccalaureate (IB) credit, or A-level credit will not be considered towards minor requirements.

Distribution Credit Information

The determination of distribution credit eligibility is done initially as part of the new course creation process. Additionally, as part of an annual roll call coordinated each Spring by the Office of the Registrar, course distribution credit eligibility is routinely reviewed and reaffirmed by the Dean’s Offices of each of the academic schools.  

Faculty and leadership in the academic schools are responsible for ensuring that the courses identified as distribution-credit-eligible meet the criteria as set in the General Announcements. Students are responsible for ensuring that they meet graduation requirements by completing coursework designated as distribution-credit-eligible at the time of course registration. 

Distribution courses from Politics, Law, and Social Thought (PLST) are designed to provide students with the tools for thinking critically about politics, law, and society, and for using those tools to participate in the life of our society and polity. 

Additional Information 

For additional information, please see the Politics, Law, and Social Thought website: https://politics.rice.edu/.

Opportunities for the Minor in Politics, Law, and Social Thought

Academic Honors

The university recognizes academic excellence achieved over an undergraduate’s academic history at Rice. For information on university honors, please see Latin Honors (summa cum laude, magna cum laude, and cum laude) and Distinction in Research and Creative Work. Some departments have department-specific Honors awards or designations.

Additional Information 

For additional information, please see the Politics, Law, and Social Thought website: https://politics.rice.edu/.