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Independent Study Project

Students who wish to do an independent study project (ISP) can do so using POLS BC 3799. Please follow these steps in order:

  1. Speak to a full-time Barnard Political Science faculty member willing to serve as sponsor, and consult with this professor to determine workload and points of credit;

  2. Complete a "Request for Approval of Credit for Independent Study" (see below) and obtain signatures from your sponsor and the Chair of the department:

  3. File the form with the Registrar by the program-filing deadline for the semester of the ISP. The Committee on Programs and Academic Standing must approve all requests.

A project approved for three or four points counts as a course for the purpose of the nine-course major or five-course minor requirement. No more than two such three or four-point projects may be used for the major, and no more than one for the minor. An independent study project may not be used to satisfy the colloquium requirement.

Each faculty member is limited to sponsoring one independent study project per semester.

Please note that Barnard does not award academic credit for internships per sé, and that the Independent Studies class cannot be used to receive internship credits.

The Registrar will assign a POLS BC 3799 section and call number unique to the faculty sponsor. The Request for Approval of Credit for Independent Study is available (in PDF) from the Registrar's web site.