Our major prepares students very well for graduate and professional school, but our goals also extend beyond the academic realm: we also give students critical and analytical tools toward preparing them for local, national, and global citizenship. 

The discipline relies on different levels of analysis, moving from specific issues or problems faced by individuals or groups in different parts of the world, to theoretical analyses of the overarching political ideologies, theories, and structures that shape everyday life. In addition to the wide range of topics that give focus to the study of politics, political scientists also employ different strategies and tools for understanding political life, from institutional methods of analysis, to cultural, historical, institutional, structural, and theoretical approaches.