Students who wish to combine the study of Politics with the study of another discipline or a specific geographic area may design a program allowing them to count three cognates as departmentals. Politics and Religion, Politics and Psychology, Public Policy and Bioethics, and the Politics of the Near East are examples of such programs of study.

Individual programs must be approved by the Department. Normally, a student must submit a written proposal to the Cognate Approval Advisor by the end of the junior year. The proposal should demonstrate how the three cognates relate to one another and form a coherent interdisciplinary program.