Department of Political Science

There are five of us who teach political science full-time at RU. A sixth faculty member teaches
     political science part-time and oversees the university’s inter-disciplinary International Studies
     Minor. We are an eclectic group in terms of backgrounds, sub-fields, personalities and political
     outlooks. However, each of us is committed to a vision of undergraduate education that emphasizes
     asking students to read, think, and write about the world around them. We believe in liberal
     education—education in what it means to be a human being and in the relationship of human beings
     to the material world, to other human beings, and to the transcendent.

Without this type of education citizens cannot speak with one another in a friendly manner
     about important things.  Without this kind of education students learn how to do things, but not
     why they do them or whether they should do them.  Aristotle differentiated between the education
     of the slave and the education of a free citizen.  The slave was taught a trade.  The citizen was taught
     to think not only about how to solve practical problems, but also how and when to ask herself
     questions and how to discover a standard according to which one can measure the incredible
     variety of opinions in this world. 

Jobs are important and, yes, the market does drive career demand. But, remember, the market does
     not care about hearts and minds and souls.  And the market really does not care about democracy. 
     In democratic politics freedom is not an end.  It is a means to a far more important end, to becoming
     a flourishing human being in both a metaphysical and a physical sense.  Liberal education does not
     impart knowledge; it teaches a way of life that realizes, like Thomas Mann’s character Joseph, that
     truth is “endlessly far” and that no human being will ever own it.  This kind of education commits
     one to a search, not an answer.  And it prepares one to participate in democratic politics—to being
     a citizen rather than a subject.

That does not mean our students leave here unprepared to earn a living. Political science majors
     get hired and make good starting salaries in a variety of jobs. However, we also want them to
     understand that how they live their lives is just as important as how they earn a living.  As a
     department we seek to help students explore a wide range of political thinking about comparative 
     government, American government, political philosophy, public administration and international
     relations. Our majors learn to:

·         Explain the importance of the search for the proper role of the individual within
   the political community;

·         Demonstrate the investigative skills needed to address new problems and find
  meaningful solutions;

·         Demonstrate the analytical and communication skills required to analyze ideas and
   use them in explanatory and persuasive arguments;

·         Demonstrate the ability to think critically about key political concepts;

·         Apply material studied to contemporary issues; and

·         Demonstrate understanding of the importance of diversity in understanding key political 
   concepts.