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Department of Political Science
School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Professors: G. Gerhart, E. Hill (Chair), I. Ivekovic, W. Kazziha (Graduate Coordinator), B. Korany, E. Sullivan (Provost), D. Tschirgi
Associate Professors: B. Baktiari, S. Elmusa, T. Parfitt, C. Reed (Director of Office of African Studies)
Assistant Professors: L. Goodson, E. Shahin (Undergraduate Coordinator), M. Kassem
Lecturer: J. Allain
Political Science is the systematic study of structures and processes pertaining to governing, policy making, and political life. It concerns ideas about governing and political participation, about rights and duties of governors and governed. Political science includes the study of modern state, its historical evolution, variations in its present configurations, and relations between and among nations, including institutions that organize these relations. It seeks to understand relationships between politics, the economy and society. The scope of Political Science is local, national, regional, international, and global. The program at AUC includes major fields and subfields of Political Science, vis: Comparative Politics, Development, International Relations, Political Economy, Political Theory and Philosophy, and Public and International law. The Middle East, Africa, and the Third World generally are emphasized in the program. As extra curricular enhancement, the Political Science Department sponsors a Model Arab League each year in the Fall and a Model United Nations in the spring.
Bachelor of Arts
Political Science at AUC is taught as a humanistic discipline with the overall objectives of fostering understanding of the contemporary world and developing knowledge about, and an appreciation of, the complex mechanisms, authoritative structures, and the allocation of values, which characterize contemporary human communities. Political Science at AUC requires students to develop abilities of comprehension and analysis, and skills for oral and written presentations. The graduate of Political Science is thus well equipped for life in the modern world, and to follow those professions and lines of work that require independence of thought, initiative, creativity in solving problems, and continuing self development. AUC graduates of Political Science are presently found in business, journalism, research, analytic writing, and public contact work. They occupy positions in public, private, development agencies, the diplomatic service, governmental ministries and agencies, and university teaching. A significant number of past graduates have subsequently completed MA and PhD. degrees.
Students wishing to declare a major in Political Science must have taken POLS 201 or be registered in it. Students wishing to remain Political Science majors must take POLS/HIST 206 and a 300 level POLS course the following semester. Students wishing to transfer from another major after their sophomore year will be considered on a case by case basis. Junior-year (300-level) courses are required in four subfields and are prerequisite to the more advanced courses and seminars (400-level). Each semester a selection of 300 and 400 level courses and seminars is offered from which students may choose courses to complete the requirements of the major. A total of 120 credits is required for the bachelor's degree in Political Science:
Core Curriculum (40 credits)
Concentration Requirements (45 credits) |
