This course provides students with a strong grounding in the logic of research design with respect to a wide range of social science research methods. Students will gain practical, hands-on experience with many of the ways that social scientists collect, measure, analyze, and make sense of data collected from people or the everyday routines of social, political, and economic institutions. Examples of methods covered include experiments, surveys, semi-structured interviews, focus groups, coding of online and archival text sources, and social network analysis.

This course explores the landscape of opinion on a variety of political topics to develop an understanding about how the public thinks about issues and why they think the way they do. It also examines how peoples' opinions influence their behavior, and whether or not political leaders follow the "will of the public" or manipulate public opinion to achieve their own aims.

A practicum/internship will help you gain invaluable knowledge and skills that can serve as a stepping-stone to your career. You can find an internship locally, in a major city, or abroad. Seeking an practicum/internship requires a great deal of initiative on your part - you must both find a site where you can work and connect with a faculty member who will support you in your academic efforts related to that work.

A practicum/internship will help you gain invaluable knowledge and skills that can serve as a stepping-stone to your career. You can find an internship locally, in a major city, or abroad. Seeking an practicum/internship requires a great deal of initiative on your part - you must both find a site where you can work and connect with a faculty member who will support you in your academic efforts related to that work.

The relationships among reporters, publishers, and politicians, and how each uses the media. Using historical biographies and other texts, the class will examine past strategies by politicians and media figures. Topics include campaign strategies, Washington politics, day-to-day effectiveness in office, making arguments through the media, and how those not elected use the media.

Not available at this time

Consider independently exploring a topic of interest under the guidance of a faculty member. Once you identify the subject, take time to research our faculty and their publications. It is important to ensure your interests intersect before asking if they will work with you. This work will be graded and may apply to your upper-level Political Science degree requirements.

Power is a central feature of political life and one of the key concepts of political science. This course will examine the main approaches and controversies in the study of power. We will investigate how these approaches help us to better understand how power operates in the real world by engaging with various case studies, including: how power works in prisons, schools, at home, in local and global politics, in an Appalachian mining town, a small village in Malaysia, and in countless ways in every day life. (Gen. Ed. DG, SB)

Power is a central feature of political life and one of the key concepts of political science. This course will examine the main approaches and controversies in the study of power. We will investigate how these approaches help us to better understand how power operates in the real world by engaging with various case studies, including: how power works in prisons, schools, at home, in local and global politics, in an Appalachian mining town, a small village in Malaysia, and in countless ways in every day life. (Gen. Ed. DG, SB)

Power is a central feature of political life and one of the key concepts of political science. This course will examine the main approaches and controversies in the study of power. We will investigate how these approaches help us to better understand how power operates in the real world by engaging with various case studies, including: how power works in prisons, schools, at home, in local and global politics, in an Appalachian mining town, a small village in Malaysia, and in countless ways in every day life. (Gen. Ed. DG, SB)