Politics plays a part in almost every aspect of our lives, from the courtroom to the boardroom to the living room. Politics is not only about power and authority, but also about holding those in power accountable, exercising democratic rights and engaging in active citizenship.
Our program is relevant, dynamic and applicable in today’s world. Our location in one of the fastest growing and most diverse places in the globe enriches our unique learning environment, which combines scholarly work and hands-on experience. You’ll learn alongside a diversity of students with a wealth of experiences and world views.
Join our vibrant, internationally recognized community of educators, scholars, practitioners, activists and engaged citizens. Our instructors are leading in several research frontiers, offering the kind of depth and breadth few departments in the world can match. You’ll see them frequently in the public sphere and media, contributing to current debates.
Read our Land Acknowledgment, which recognizes the unique and enduring relationship of Indigenous people and their traditional territory.
Join a dynamic, creative and impactful scholarly community with a mandate to educate for democracy, a clear and demonstrated commitment to student success, and a teaching and learning environment filled with innovation and opportunity.
Critical Thinking
While earning a degree in Political Science, you will understand how to think in a theoretical context and learn how to interpret the meanings of social events as they relate to the political process. You will begin to think critically as you study relevant issues and learn how to assemble data to further your arguments and thought processes.
Political Analysis
Led by our esteemed faculty, you will learn the important themes of the political process and through our diverse course selections you will discover how to analyze social and political trends. A political science degree will teach you the values and processes of political life.
Democratic Awareness
With an emphasis on having an open forum for you to engage in discussions over the most pressing political issues, our political science program is aimed at empowering you with an awareness of how the democratic process works. With this knowledge base you will learn to identify the possibilities that exist to potentially act and bring positive change.
Successful Graduates
Our alumni have pursued graduate studies or established successful careers in law, public service, the private sector, international agencies, advocacy organizations, the media and active politics.
What is politics and why should you study it?
Politics is the continuing contest over the terms on which we live together. It shapes our institutions, our economies, our communities, and the possibilities open to different people. Studying politics means learning how those terms were established, why they endure, and how they might be renegotiated.
Democracy is one of our central concerns. Why are democratic institutions losing legitimacy? How do authoritarian movements gain ground? What would it take not only to preserve democracy, but to make it more inclusive, participatory, and responsive? Across our courses, students investigate the histories and structures of capitalism and economic inequality; colonialism and Indigenous dispossession; racialization, gender, and sexuality; nationalism, war, migration, and borders; environmental crisis; and relations between the Global North and South. They also consider how changing technologies and media are reshaping public life.
With 45 full-time faculty members and more than 150 undergraduate courses offered each year, our department provides students with room to explore widely, develop a concentrated area of study, or pursue questions that cross the usual boundaries within political science.
We do not expect students simply to absorb accepted answers. We invite them to examine how arguments are constructed, test ideas against evidence, engage seriously with disagreement, and arrive at positions they can defend. The aim is not to tell students what to think, but to make it impossible for them to think about politics in quite the same way again.
— Hannes Lacher
Chair, Department of Politics
