Study Abroad Courses to Count Toward PPEL Major

The following courses toward the PPEL major must be taken at the University of Richmond: PPEL 261, PPEL 262, PPEL 363, and PPEL 401.

Requirements toward the PPEL major that students may be able to fulfill through courses taken in study abroad fall into two main categories: (1) Philosophy, Political Science, or Economics electives that count either toward your concentration or as an elective in one of the other two concentration fields (for a list of requirements for the PPEL major, please click here); or (2) one of the three Area requirements.

For the first category, electives within one of the three concentration fields: You will want to contact the Chair of the relevant department (Philosophy, Political Science, or Economics). If the relevant Chair indicates that the department would be willing to accept a particular course as a department elective, then PPEL will accept the course toward your PPEL major. Thus, if you forward by email the approval received from the relevant Chair to the PPEL Coordinator, then when you return to campus, the Coordinator will sign the form indicating that the class should count towards your PPEL major.

Regarding the second category—Area requirements—students should email the PPEL Coordinator with the following: (1) the specific Area requirement that you are seeking to fulfill; (2) the specific course that you would like to fulfill that requirement; and (3) the syllabus for that course. The PPEL Coordinator will then let you know whether PPEL will accept the course as fulfilling the requirement. (If you have a course description but not a syllabus, the PPEL Coordinator may be able to provide an idea of whether there is a possibility that the course would fulfill the requirement, but the determination will be based on a full syllabus.) If approval of the course toward a specific Area requirement is indicated, then when you return to campus from study abroad, the PPEL Coordinator will sign the form indicating that the class should count towards your PPEL major.