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:
- Understand the main lines of political, legal, and social thought in their historical context through original sources.
- Analyze and evaluate complex texts in political, legal, and social thought through a close reading and critical interpretation of arguments, metaphors, images, and the emotions that drive political arguments.
- Compare different authors and texts and formulate complex arguments across different traditions in the history of political thought.
- Develop and communicate their own arguments about politics, law, and society in research papers, class presentations, and discussions.
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
| Code | Title | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Total Credit Hours Required for the Minor in Politics, Law and Social Thought | 18 | |
Minor Requirements
| Code | Title | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | ||
| SOCIOLOGY OF LAW | ||
| Elective Requirements | ||
| Select 5 courses from the Elective Requirements (see course list below) 1 | 15 | |
| Total Credit Hours | 18 | |
Footnotes and Additional Information
| 1 | Students may use a maximum of 3 credit hours of independent study coursework to fulfill Elective Requirements. See the minor advisor for more 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
| Code | Title | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | ||
| ART, REVOLUTION, WAR: MODERN ART IN VIOLENT TIMES | ||
| 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 | ||
| HUMAN MINDS | ||
| 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 | ||
| FROM DECOLONIZATION TO GLOBALIZATION | ||
| AFRICAN AMERICAN POLITICS | ||
| RELIGION AND DEMOCRACY | ||
| LEGISLATURES AROUND THE WORLD | ||
| 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 | ||
| INTELLECTUAL FOUNDATIONS OF AMERICAN LAW | ||
| 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 | ||
| CRIME, PUNISHMENT AND SOCIETY | ||
| 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
| 1 | Students may use a maximum of 3 credit hours of independent study coursework to fulfill Elective Requirements. See the minor advisor for more 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. 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 their academic program’s transfer credit advisor 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.
- Requests for transfer credit will be considered by the program director (and/or the program’s official transfer credit advisor) on an individual case-by-case basis.
- 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/.
See https://humanities.rice.edu/student-life for tables of fellowships, prizes, and internships/practica that may be relevant to this minor.