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DISCIPLINARY AND
MULTIDSCIPLINARY KNOWLEDGE

The Bachelor of Arts offers a structured and progressive education in the

social sciences and humanities.

In the first year, students discover the content and reasoning specific to
each discipline (economics, history, humanities, law, political science,
sociology). In the second and third years, they continue disciplinary study
from a multidisciplinary perspective. Priority is placed on the developing
the following skills:

• Define and analyse key theoretical concepts in each discipline

• Understand the historical background and regional specificities of
contemporary debates
• Acquire methodological rigour and the ability to collect, assess, and
synthesize various types of information (text, graphical, data) in both
written and verbal formats
• Cultivate intellectual agility by engaging with different ways of thinking
and acting as well as drawing links across fields of study
• Build a critical understanding of how knowledge is produced as well as of
social norms

CORE DISCIPLINES

LAW
ECONOMICS

Economics courses at the College offer an introduction to major

contemporary economic issues. They allow students to dig deeper
into basic concepts of economics, current theoretical and empirical
debates within the discipline, and quantitative methods necessary
for further specialization.

Sciences Po has structured its economics course offer such that all
students – even those wishing to pursue other fields of study –
develops a sound understanding of the discipline: historical
elements, economic mechanisms, institutions, and policy debates.
As such, students learn how economic reasoning influences major
political and social debates (globalisation, development, inequality,
unemployment, crises, finance, etc.).

Students BROCHURE
are equipped with a rigorous theoretical foundation,
APPLICANTS GUIDE
enriched by recent empirical research and inclusive of other
disciplines.

Read the course charter for First Year Economics (PDF, 41 KB)

HISTORY

The Undergraduate College offers a wide range of modern and

contemporary history courses. Political history in all its dimensions
(history of politics, public policy, and international relations) is a
central focus with a pronounced international approach.

Courses cover all geographical areas and are closely linked to

research.

Two compulsory core courses provide all students with a common

foundation: “Political History of the 19th Century” in the first year
and “Political History of the 20tth Century” in the second year.

Read the course charter for First Year History (PDF, 64 KB)
POLITICAL HUMANITIES

The Political Humanities shed light on politics as a human

experience by encouraging dialogue between the disciplines of the
humanities and social sciences (history, anthropology,
psychoanalysis, law, literature, art, and philosophy), using current
issues as a starting point. Some examples include : the crisis of
democracy, the dimensions of liberalism, the meanings of justice,
new forms of violence, and so on.

Students acquire core political knowledge and the conceptual skills

essential for interpreting current affairs and expressing opinions as
part of contemporary debate. The courses emphasize critical
thinking and ethical judgment and challenge students to develop a
specific set of skills: contextualization (time and space),
interpretation (analyse, summarise and decode texts and images),
construction (conceptualise, demonstrate, problematise), and
personal expression (writing, speaking, persuading).

Political Humanities students are exposed to a plurality of reasoning

and discursive methods that help them to grasp political reality and,
ultimately, to act upon it.

Read the course charter for First Year Political Humanities (PDF, 41
KB)

POLITICAL SCIENCE

Political science instruction provides students with core knowledge

in the discipline and encourages the mastery of concepts and
analytical models. Major topics covered include: political forms,
regimes, power relations, forms of coexistence, participation and
communities, and the use of violence. Students will also have
exposure to subfields in the discipline: political sociology, area
studies, international relations, public policy, comparative politics,
political institutions and organisations, political theory, and political
economy.
 Students learn to pinpoint the links between political science,
expert knowledge, and public policy (relation between theory and
practice) in order to venture a personal analysis of political
situations (relation between ethics and politics), and to develop
critical thinking skills with regard to contemporary controversies.

Students acquire qualitative and quantitative techniques and

methods allowing them to read, understand, and analyse
contemporary political documents and literature; to build a
comparative approach to studying political phenomena; and to
conduct research.

Read the course charter for First Year Political Science (PDF, 52 KB)

SOCIOLOGY

MULTIDISCIPLINARY MAJORS

ECONOMY AND SOCIETY

POLITICAL HUMANITIES

POLITICS & GOVERNMENT

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