PrincetonUniversity
Class of 2004 Sophomore Academic Handbook

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Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs

The Woodrow Wilson School Undergraduate Program offers students the opportunity to study major problems of contemporary public policy by means of an interdisciplinary program rooted in the social sciences. The program is unique in its emphasis not only on the description of social and political reality, but also in its adherence to its foundational principle that rigorous analysis can be marshaled to enhance the well being of individuals and societies. The program thus combines the study of "what is" with "what should be" in the context of public and international affairs.

The most distinctive aspect of the undergraduate experience in the school is the policy task force. The school offers about ten task forces each term; the juniors enroll in one task force in the fall term and another one in the spring term. In each of these exercises, a limited number of juniors (about eight) work together with a faculty director and one or more senior "commissioners" toward proposing solutions to human problems. Each junior conducts a piece of research on a topic carefully chosen to shed light upon the larger problem that is central to the group. Topics for independent work are therefore derived from the overall needs of the task force. The tools students employ in their task force will likewise be a function of the topics to which the group's work is addressed. Woodrow Wilson School students are thus encouraged to use any intellectual discipline or skill that may help solve a problem.

In the policy task force faculty directors and guest lecturers provide background information, bibliographic references, and ideas on possible interviewees, but the students are expected to take responsibility for both the organization and the outcome of the exercise. Each junior's paper is read in draft by the faculty director and by other students, presented and discussed collectively, and then rewritten. The principal collective product is a final report with policy recommendations that is drafted after debates within the entire group.

The second major component of the Woodrow Wilson School academic program is the course work. Students take upper-level courses in politics, history, economics, sociology and/or psychology together with a course in ethics and one in quantitative analysis. Woodrow Wilson School students are also encouraged to take a course or present other evidence that they have thought in a systematic way about the perspective of disadvantaged cultures and groups in contemporary societiesthose whom public policy decisions are likely to affect. Upon admission, students prepare a program of study in consultation with the program director.

Each year the school admits ninety juniors, who are selected on the basis of academic record, strength of preparation, the perspectives and experiences they would bring to the school, and their commitment to
the study of public and international affairs. Among the ninety juniors admitted each year, most will be regular concentrators. A smaller number will be admitted as certificate students. The certificate program enables students with special interest in the sciences or engineering to fulfill the requirements of the Woodrow Wilson School undergraduate program while also being full concentrators in another department. The requirements for certificate students are the same as for regular concentrators in the school with the exception that they have to take fewer courses in the social sciences.

The senior thesis is the culminating experience of a student's work in the school just as in other departmental programs. A Woodrow Wilson School thesis is related to a subject in public or international affairs that
is of greatest interest to the student. Certificate students meet the senior thesis requirement by completing one of the following options: 1) writing a senior thesis in their home department that has a public policy component; or 2) writing a full-length Woodrow Wilson School thesis that is unrelated to the senior thesis requirement in the student's home department.

The school has several endowments to support summer thesis research for students at the end of the junior year. These funds are designated for students with an interest in policy research without respect to the department of concentration.

While there are no specific requirements for admission, it is highly recommended that candidates have taken courses in such disciplines as economics, politics, history, sociology, and psychology. These courses should both reflect the students' interests and demonstrate that they can do well academically in the social sciences. Such courses also enable prospective school students to learn whether they want to pursue further the kind of courses upon which their study in the Woodrow Wilson School will inevitably depend.

The school attracts students with a wide variety of interests, and students spend their lives after graduation in an equally diverse range of careers. Graduates have worked in teaching, journalism, law, medicine, business, politics, nongovernmental organizations, and many other fields.

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