In our courses, you’ll learn about many dimensions of political life. Our majors are flexible, offering a wide variety of courses for you to pursue. You can explore topics from voting and political psychology to racial and ethnic politics; from wars and revolutions to the politics of Europe and the Middle East; from constitutional law to the politics of food.
Learning about political systems and the interaction of law on politics and policy has been invaluable.
Megan Parker, B.A. 2013, Political Science, Deputy Attorney General for the State of Indiana
This course introduces students to comparative politics. The rise of social inequality, misinformation, and authoritarian values in modern day democracies begs the question: how long can they last? This course will explore the differences between democracies and autocracies, focusing on political systems, elections, protest, and propaganda. What systems prevail and why?
This course covers “big” topics, and it offers a broad, panoramic overview of the history of American democracy from 1776 to the present—a long historical time span. The course’s primary purpose is to highlight a few core questions related to the meaning of American citizenship; to expose students to a set of readings that help to illuminate these questions; and to encourage students to think for themselves, in a serious and self-reflexive way, about these questions. What does it mean to be an American? Who is an American citizen? What does it mean to be an American citizen?
Analysis of problems of governance and corruption in developing and/or more developed countries. Examines conditions for effective governance and challenges to economic growth and provision of public goods. Addresses political causes and consequences of corruption. Case studies will vary and may be drawn from Asia, Latin America, Africa, Central and Eastern Europe, and North America.
Determinants of voting behavior in elections. The nature of public opinion regarding major domestic and foreign policy issues; development of political ideology; other influences on the voting choices of individuals and the outcomes of elections; relationships among public opinion, elections, and the development of public policy. Credit not given for both Y316 AND Y317.
Examination of the American presidency both in historical setting and in contemporary context. Topics such as presidential elections, roles, and resources of the president, structures and processes of the presidency, presidential elections, structures and processes of the presidency, presidential leadership and behavior, relationships of the presidency and other participants in policy making.
Examination of the socioeconomic conditions and political ideologies leading up to the Holocaust, and the political, administrative, and social context for the genocide from the vantage of perpetrators, victims, and bystanders. Fucus on the individual, national, and international responses to and responsibilities for the Holocaust. Consideration of the Holocaust's legacies for the postwar world.
The College of Arts