Woodrow Wilson School Undergraduate Program

Senior Thesis Day Celebration, “Fountain of Freedom”

Undergraduate Program

Robertson Hall, Scudder Plaza

Message from the Dean Princeton’s unofficial motto, “In the nation’s service and in the service of all nations,” shapes the Woodrow Wilson School undergraduate experience.

The Woodrow Wilson School is a major center of education and research in public and international affairs. At every level, the work at the Woodrow Wilson School is informed by our commitment to a multidisciplinary approach to policy issues, a global perspective and an emphasis on top-quality research and teaching.

The School offers a multidisciplinary liberal arts major for Princeton University undergraduate students who are passionate about public policy. I hope this brochure provides a sound overview of our program. Please visit wws.princeton.edu for additional information.

Best, Cecilia Elena Rouse Dean

Teaching

Advising

Student Advisory Committee

Public Lectures

The Woodrow Wilson School Major The core curriculum is founded upon WWS courses, cross-listed with multiple departments, which are relevant to the study of policymaking, analysis and evaluation. In addition to a flexible core curriculum, students enroll in policy seminars in the junior year and write a policy thesis in the senior year. Students also can choose electives from a wide range of policy-relevant courses offered by the University.

In order to declare WWS as a major, students must satisfy a number of prerequisites.

When they declare in the spring of their sophomore year, students are asked to describe their primary policy interests and how they plan to meet the WWS requirement for additional language study and cross-cultural or field experience.

Prerequisites

Senior Thesis

Core Curriculum

WWS Major Field Experience

Public Service Internships

Elective Courses

Junior Policy Seminars

Study Abroad

Prerequisites As freshmen, students are given a list of courses that count toward the prerequisites for the WWS major. One class each from the following must be completed prior to the beginning of the fall term of the junior year: • Statistics • Introductory Microeconomics • History • Politics, Sociology or Psychology

Core Curriculum The core curriculum is best described as structured choice. Every student must take one course from each of the disciplines below. There are multiple courses that can satisfy each core requirement.

Each task force helps students develop a variety of skills: • Academic research • Interviewing and field research • Oral presentation before a group • Effective participation in collective discussion and deliberation Each task force addresses an unfinished question of public policy and must go beyond dealing with what “is” to what “should be.”

The culmination is a final report that may be presented to a “client” — a public official or area specialist in the public or not-for-profit sector.

Policy Research Seminar

• Intermediate Microeconomics • Politics • Sociology or Psychology • Science Policy • Ethics

Students must also complete one Policy Research Seminar in the junior year. In these small classes, faculty members supervise small groups of students engaged in research on specific policy topics. In addition, students participate in a research-methods lab designed to teach them quantitative and qualitative research skills.

Elective Courses

Field Experience

Each student must complete four electives, chosen from a list provided by WWS.

Prior to the second semester of the senior year, each student must have completed an approved cross-cultural or field experience. The requirement may be satisfied in a number of ways, including but not limited to:

No more than three courses can come from the same department. Up to three elective courses can be taken in WWS semester-long study abroad programs.

An electronic WWS advising tool helps students pick courses and manage the requirements.

Junior Policy Seminars The Junior Policy Seminars meet Princeton’s requirement for junior independent work.

There are two components to the requirement: completing a Policy Task Force and a Policy Research Seminar.

Policy Task Force WWS students must complete one Policy Task Force during the junior year. The Policy Task Force is the most distinctive feature of the School’s undergraduate program and is different from a course, seminar or independent work in other departments.

• Semester study abroad • Summer study abroad • Policy-relevant summer jobs abroad • ROTC training • Senior thesis research in the field • Extended service in an underserved community • Internship involving public policy work in a nonprofit, government or international agency

Recent Policy Task Force Topics U.S Policy toward Counter-Insurgencies in Sub-Saharan Africa • The Role of Cities and States in Alleviating Poverty • Turkey and the Political Evolution of the Middle East • China’s New Leadership and the Rule of Law • Debt or Safety Net? Financing Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security • Thinking about the Unthinkable: Managing Major Disasters

Recent Policy Research Seminar Topics Money and Influence in U.S. Policymaking • The Politics of the Future: The Economic and Political Effects of Contemporary Technological Change • Maternal and Child Health in the United States • Macroeconomic Prospects and Policies • Informal Governance in World Politics • Foreign Aid and the Politics of Economic Development • Education Policy in Developing Countries • European Integration

Senior Thesis Every WWS student completes a senior thesis that addresses a specific policy question and draws out policy implications or comes to policy conclusions. In addition to the written report, each student presents an oral defense, which satisfies Princeton’s comprehensive exam requirement.

WWS awards several scholarships each year to students from any department for travel and living expenses related to senior thesis research in public policy.

Jennifer Zhou Class of 2016

“The Wilson School’s interdisciplinary approach attracts a diverse group of students and faculty who are passionate about applying knowledge to the greater good.”

Study Abroad WWS encourages students to study abroad during one of their junior year semesters. Locations vary annually.

At each site, students enroll in coursework at the host university and complete a WWS Policy Task Force.

You

Buenos Aires, Argentina

East Asia

Seoul, South Korea; Hong Kong, China; Tokyo, Japan

Paris, France Belfast, Northern Ireland

Oxford, England

Barcelona, Spain

Cape Town, South Africa Check it out!

Public Service Internships WWS students interested in completing an unpaid, full-time internship between their junior and senior year can secure funding from the School. Grants typically range from $3,200 to $5,000.

Internships must be at least six weeks long, in governmental or non-profit organizations and focused on public policy or international affairs. Past internships include:

U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. Department of State

Office of the Lieutenant Governor of Maryland

Amnesty International

Check it out!

Class Day, Princeton

Policy Task Force, Washington, D.C.

Senior Thesis Research, Beijing

Studying Abroad, Cape Town

Class Day, Princeton

Senior Thesis Day, Princeton

Studying Abroad, Oxford

Studying Abroad, South Korea

Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs Princeton University Robertson Hall Princeton, NJ 08544-1013 ugradwws@princeton.edu P. 609-258-4861 F. 609-258-2649 wws.princeton.edu/ugrad

Policy Task Force, Washington, D.C.