Educational Excellence in Political Science

The political science faculty shares a vision of the goals and purposes of teaching within the department. Simply stated, the faculty’s teaching vision is that educational excellence in political science should be focused on cultivating in students the following "core competencies."

Core Competencies

  1. Professor Ali Ahmida teaching a political science classA political imagination. By this we mean a capacity to approach problems and issues as a political scientist. A mature political imagination includes an ability to envision what constitutes an important political question/issue; to understand the various ways in which a political scientist might address such a question/issue; to conduct social inquiry into that question/issue employing methodologies and techniques appropriate to a political scientist; to recognize the partiality of political science questions, explanations and forms of social inquiry and the importance of insights from other disciplines; and an ability to think critically and creatively about the political choices confronting humanity today.
     
  2. A theoretical sensibility premised on a sound understanding of the major theoretical trends, perspectives, concerns and debates that have shaped the evolution of the discipline and/or its constituent sub-disciplines over the past several centuries. Related to this would be an ability to engage the world – whether as political scholars or political actors – with a certain degree of theoretical sophistication and confidence.
     
  3. A mastery of essential facts relevant and necessary to the study of global political life. This involves a working knowledge of the key actors, structures, institutions and historical dynamics that constitute the contemporary political order. It would also suggest a broad familiarity with the historical roots of that order.
     
  4. And, most importantly, a well-developed ability to think critically, analytically and rigorously about the world of politics.

Ancillary Competencies
Political science majors are encouraged to develop a number of "ancillary competencies," which are defined as skills that are important in their own right, but that also support and deepen mastery of the core competencies articulated above. These are:

An informed sense of the historical dimension of the various political issues, developments, trends, theories and forms of inquiry relevant to the students’ interests.

An enlightened understanding of the multicultural nature of global (but especially American) political life.

A broad knowledge of the civilizations, cultures and languages of varied geographic regions as they are relevant to the study of politics in an era of unprecedented globalization.

Practical Competencies
Third, the major is committed to helping political science students develop a set of "practical competencies," including:

  1. An ability for close and critical reading of (formal and popular) political texts.
     
  2. An ability to convey information, analyze results and persuasively argue in written form clearly and effectively.
     
  3. An ability to conduct sound and rigorous social inquiry using a variety of methodologies and techniques.
     
  4. A capacity to communicate clearly and effectively in a variety of contexts.
     
  5. A capacity for effective collaboration with others.
     
  6. A facility with relevant information technologies.
     
  7. A capacity for effective and meaningful civic engagement involving the practical application of these core, ancillary and practical competencies in the "real world" of politics.

These competencies are cultivated through a variety of pedagogical approaches, strategies and techniques. Notwithstanding this commitment to pedagogical pluralism, however, these competencies will be pursued within the context of challenging, rigorous and intellectually engaging curricular/co-curricular experiences involving:

  1. Active teaching/learning.
     
  2. Demanding writing/research exercises.
     
  3. Experiential learning that exploits the opportunities inherent in the College’s rich urban setting.
     
  4. High expectations based on widely agreed upon and clearly understood standards of academic excellence.

Finally, the department works toward educational excellence, personal qualities of leadership, civility, ethical behavior, respect for diversity and civic engagement.    
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