About Political Science
- About the Department
- Giving Opportunities
- Mission Statement
- Political Science Alumni Connections
- Political Sciences Student Learning Outcomes
About the Department
The Political Science Department at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, offers B.A. degrees in Political Science and Political Science Pre-Law, as well as a one-year M.A. in Political Science. Political Science at OHIO is a vibrant and diverse community, with more than 400 political science and pre-law majors and minors and more than 20 graduate students. As a department, we are strongly committed to excellent teaching and innovative scholarship, as well as a culture of diversity, dialogue, and engagement.
Our courses explore important and timely questions on themes such as freedom, equality, justice, power, and protest. Courses engage students in the nuts and bolts of government and public administration, everyday political experiences and struggles, and the enduring theoretical puzzles that accompany the study of politics.
Faculty in Political Science teach and conduct research in a wide variety of areas, including American politics; African, Asian, and European studies; comparative politics; electoral politics; environmental studies; international relations; political theory; public administration and public policy; public law; queer and gender studies; and the politics of race, religion, and ethnicity. Many of our faculty also direct and participate in interdisciplinary programs, such as Environmental Science and Sustainability and Women's, Gender & Sexuality Studies, as well as programs in the Center for International Studies; the Center for Law, Justice & Culture; and the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service.
Our faculty maintain a strong commitment to our students, as evidenced by an outstanding record of teaching awards. We focus on both academic and professional development of our students, with a public affairs internship program that enables students to earn academic credit while gaining valuable work experience in legal settings, state and local government, and non-profit organizations. We offer several vibrant honors programs, an affiliated undergraduate student association, and opportunities to participate in study abroad programs. Our students also find opportunities to interact with accomplished alumni working in government, business, and public affairs.
Ohio University Political Science graduates are regularly admitted to the nation's most prestigious law schools and graduate programs. Our students also go on to a variety of careers in areas such as political organizing and campaigns, education, law and law enforcement, public administration, business, non-profit work, and international affairs. With preparation in political science, the career possibilities are endless.
- From Dr. Matthew Layton, Professor and Chair of Political Science
Mission Statement
The Department of Political Science's mission complements Ohio University's larger mission of teaching, research, and outreach in a learning-centered community. Through its teaching mission, the department advances the liberal arts by offering the bachelor's and master's degrees to a diverse community of students. We seek to instill a lifelong commitment to learning, which empowers students to meet their responsibilities as citizens, leaders, and professional political scientists in a democratic society and interdependent world. Through its research mission, the department faculty advances disciplinary and interdisciplinary research that is fundamental, applied, and theoretical. This research reaches a wide audience through books, scholarly journals, popular media, and professional conferences. Through its outreach mission, the department and its faculty members are leaders in the college, the university, the community, and profession. Across all of these missions, the Political Science faculty is committed to advancing diversity and human understanding.
Political Sciences Student Learning Outcomes
Student learning assessment at the program level is intended to promote and maintain program excellence and improve student learning. Each department in the College of Arts & Sciences has developed a set of learning outcomes for their programs and engages in faculty-led assessment activities to help inform curricular and program review and development. Student learning is assessed in different ways across A&S departments, informed by disciplinary standards and the specific learning outcomes of the program.