Penn State Department of Political Science: News

Penn State’s Political Science Department is widely recognized as one of the nation’s most active centers for empirical research into a wide range of political science questions from the causes and consequences of war to why some diseases get more political attention than others.  Our faculty members are among the nation’s most active, publishing a mix of books and articles in the discipline’s premiere outlets.

With over two dozen faculty, but only about 50 PhD students in residence, our graduate students are assured close attention from their faculty mentors.  Our graduate program emphasizes rigorous methodological training, ensuring that our students have the skills to publish in the top journals.  Seminars are the place for extensive review of the existing literature, close discussion of the texts, active engagement by all the students, and the development of critical skills.  At the same time, our students learn from involvement in a variety of projects how to conceptualize and build a successful research project on their own.  Generous fellowships are available, and students typically accumulate significant teaching and research assistant experiences during their graduate education.  Our students have recently been placed at top research universities such as Syracuse, American University, LSU, Arizona, and Florida State as well as high-level teaching colleges such as Hobart and William Smith Colleges and Bard College.  Click on the links on this web site to find out more about faculty research projects, publications, graduate student placement record, the nature of our program, and other topics.

Our undergraduate programs are extraordinary as well.  Many political science classes emphasize research-based writing projects, and students get lots of feedback on their writing.  Upper-level classes are typically capped at just 35 students per class.  Political Science and International Politics students are among the most active in the College of the Liberal Arts in taking advantage of various overseas studies opportunities, and we encourage our students to do so.  We have one of the most active and highly structured Honors Programs in the University.  In sum, whether you are interested in international relations, law school, the political systems of other countries or what is going on in Harrisburg, our undergraduate offerings cover the globe.  Recent graduates from the department have gone on to study at Harvard, Georgetown, George Washington, and Dickinson law schools, among others; some have gone for graduate education at Stanford, Princeton, Harvard, Cornell, Yale and other PhD and Masters-level programs.  Still others have opted to work directly after graduate in such places as the US government, state governments, in Teach for America and other public service positions, and in a variety of private sector positions.

Our Department has over 5,000 alumni across the globe, and the active involvement of many of them provides many opportunities for mentoring and financial support to current Penn Staters.

For more information about any of our programs, use the links at our web page to contact the Head, the Director of Graduate Studies, or the Director of Undergraduate Studies.