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undergraduates to study a variety
of comprehensive analytical frameworks that have been
developed to understand and justify political and
economic structures, particularly constitutional
democracy and the market system.
The major is intended to prepare
its graduates for careers in public policy, public
service, business and law. It also offers valuable
preparation for graduate study in any of the
participating disciplines.
Physics and Astronomy
Physics and astronomy are
fundamental sciences aimed at discovering the basic
principles that govern our universe. Physicists study
the interplay between space, time, matter and energy.
Complex behavior in nature is explained in terms of
elementary relations between constituent elements and
the forces that bind them. The phenomena examined by
physicists occur over distances ranging from subatomic
scale, as in nuclear and elementary particle physics,
to human scale, as in condensed matter physics, to
cosmic scale, as in astrophysics and cosmology. The
subject matter of astronomy encompasses the entire
physical universe beyond the earth: the solar system,
stars, galaxies, galaxy clusters and superclusters,
quasars and the large-scale structure of the universe.
In both physics and astronomy, new instruments and
technologies are revealing unexpected phenomena that
present exciting scientific challenges.
The basic tools in physics and
astronomy are mathematics and experimental
investigation and observation of the world around us.
The forte of a physicist or astronomer is the ability
to analyze and reduce a complex problem to basic
concepts. Learning to do this provides the major with
an intellectual versatility that can serve well in a
variety of future activities ranging from research
and/or teaching in physics or astronomy and related
sciences to careers in law, health, commerce, etc.
Political Science
The political science major is
designed to explore systematic approaches to
understanding politics. These include a wide range of
topics, from American political institutions to the
politics of various countries or world regions, the
study of order and change in international relations,
and ancient and modern political thought. These topics
are addressed in courses typically classified under the
four standard fields of American politics, comparative
politics, international relations, and political
theory. Students either declare a general major or a
major with a concentration in one of the four subfields
or in the area of political economy. In addition,
students may select a world region for an area studies
concentration or pursue specialized concentrations on
particular topics (such as political leadership or
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gender and politics), although these
require the student to meet more substantial specific
requirements. The major also has an honors program in which
qualified seniors may write an honors thesis in order to be
considered for departmental honors.
Psychology
The psychology major provides an
opportunity to study the principal areas of scientific
psychology. It is designed to introduce students to
contemporary understandings of how organisms perceive,
learn, think and interact with one another, how they
develop, how they are motivated and how, individually
and as members of species, they may be compared with
one another. The major program provides a balanced
treatment of the central phenomena of the field, taking
into account the particular methods of inquiry from
which our knowledge is derived and the conceptual
frameworks that organize the factual basis of the
discipline.
At Penn, psychology may be
studied as a scientific discipline in its own right or
in conjunction with many other fields of inquiry,
including cognitive science, biology, philosophy,
linguistics, anthropology and sociology. The major
program is designed to provide a coherent and
integrated intellectual experience that can serve as a
foundation for advanced graduate work or as a basis for
careers in many fields. Many students who complete the
psychology major at Penn go on to further training as
scientists and scholars. Others undertake professional
training in clinical, counseling, industrial or
educational psychology, in the legal or medical
professions, in schools of business, or enter directly
into the workplace.
Religious Studies
Religion is a complex network of
ideas and actions (ethical and ritual) that express a
group’s sense of the ultimate meaning of life.
The academic study of religion examines how the beliefs
and values of contemporary and historical cultures
shape and are shaped by societal factors, long-standing
traditions, and distinctive forms of literary and
artistic expression. Religion scholars ask not whether
certain beliefs are true but what they mean to those
who hold them to be true, how they came to have a
particular form and content, and what impact they have
on their intellectual and social environments.
Skill in close reading of texts
and critical analysis of concepts and historical
relationships are among the benefits of such study,
which has been found helpful by many preparing for
careers in law, medicine, journalism, international
business and government, and which can be useful as a
foundation for graduate work in many disciplines of the
humanities and social sciences.
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