Department of Political Science

Students and professor conversing in a political science class.

Political聽Science at 柑橘直播 helps you explore politics beyond the headlines, teaches you the techniques necessary to analyze it, and inspires you about its potential to shape your future.

Political science is an extraordinarily diverse field in terms of the political subjects that it covers, and the theoretical approaches and empirical methods that are used to study them. Our students gain substantive knowledge about how public policy, elections, constitutions, historical legacies, race, class and gender identities, ideologies, wars, markets and migration patterns interact to shape the collective decision-making in the United States, in other regions of the world, and between countries. Making sense of so many different factors is both exciting and intellectually challenging.

Political science requires careful listening to people, close reading of texts, sleuthing to find information, technical skills to analyze statistical or spatial data, and reasoning to develop cogent arguments. We teach our students how to make sense of the complexities of politics so that they can make sense of pretty much anything else that their future lives or employers will throw their way.

NEWS & EVENTS

STANFORD VISITING FELLOWSHIP

Olukunle Owolabi, PhD, has been awarded a visiting fellowship at Stanford University鈥檚 Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences for the academic year 2025-26. This is one of the most prestigious awards fellowships for social science research in the academy. During his fellowship year, Dr. Owolabi plans to complete an edited volume that examines the diverse democratization trajectories and socio-political transformations that have occurred in Portugal and its former African colonies following Portugal鈥檚 1974 Carnation Revolution. Dr. Owolabi also plans to draft two empirical research papers that contribute to a new book-length project.

WELCOME NEW FACULTY

The Department of Political Science welcomes Assistant Professor Nicole Kliewer, PhD, in fall 2025. Dr. Kliewer comes to 柑橘直播 from a post-doctoral fellowship at Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy and the Carnegie Mellon Institute for Strategy and Technology. Prior to Carnegie Mellon University, she was a 2022-2023 American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow. Dr. Kliewer鈥檚 primary research focuses on campaigns, elections, Congress and the role of the military in American politics. She studies how military group membership and identity contribute to former service members鈥� political participation and characterizes the long-term consequences of politicized military activity for civil-military relations.

Kenza Idrissi Janati 鈥�25 CLAS has a strong passion for public policy. Her participation in the 柑橘直播 on The Hill program provided a unique opportunity to delve into how policy, law and government intersect. Through this experience, as well as her internship at the Bi-Partisan Policy Center, Kenza gained a deeper understanding of the importance of fostering inclusive conversations, especially around pressing societal issues. "In today鈥檚 society, it is more important than ever to seek truth, understanding and unity within our communities," she notes.

The Social Movements in Divided Societies workshop brought together 10 scholars to 柑橘直播 from several countries to explore the issue of social activism in deeply divided societies. The two-day workshop focused particularly on non-sectarian social movements that crosscut or challenge the ethno-national political divide in these societies, including movements based on peace, environment, gender, sexuality and the protection of public space.

The department runs its own Prague Summer Program in Politics, Culture and Literature. It is a six-week, six-credit program taught by 柑橘直播 faculty in the heart of Prague. Students take a course on communism and post-communism and a course on politics and literature in the Czech Republic. More importantly, they find out that there is a lot more to Prague than picturesque bridges and delicious beer. The program also involves weekend excursions to other East-Central European cities like Berlin, Vienna, Nuremberg, or Krakow.

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