Department of Political Science
Chair: Albert Samuels
Professors: Kingsley Esedo, Revathi Hines, Albert Samuels
Assistant Professors: Blanche Smith, Christopher Cottrell, Melanie Johnson
The Department of Political Science stimulates curiosity and develops technical proficiency in the areas of politics and government. The department recognizes that its graduates go primarily to graduate or law schools, to state, local or federal governmental agencies or into active politics. It prepares students for these varied career goals through its courses and a series of workshops, seminars, state and federal legislative internships, and work and study in other countries. The curriculum seeks to facilitate an understanding of the patterns of relationships which exist between the citizen and the polity.
Degree Requirements
The Bachelor of Arts in Political Science degree requires a total of 120 credit hours of which 39 semester hours are in political science and 27 semester hours of related social sciences (sociology and economics). Twenty-one of the semester hours in political science must be earned in courses at the 300 or 400 level. Six semester hours from each of the four related social science areas—economics, geography, history, and sociology—are required. All political science majors must pass major courses with a 2.0 GPA. The curriculum includes the University’s general education requirements, these include nine hours of course work in the biological and physical sciences with their appropriate laboratory components. The general education requirements stipulate that six hours of the natural sciences must be in a two- semester sequence. In addition, students must complete the University’s requirements for community service and the African-American experience. Students must also pass the writing proficiency test and the departmental comprehensive examination.
A minor in political science consists of 18 semester hours including the following courses: American Government, POLS-200, Introduction to Political Science, POLS-220, and 12 semester hours of upper level political science courses.