Whither the Political Science Major at Liberal Arts Colleges?

1990 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy V. Kaufman-Osborn
2008 ◽  
Vol 41 (03) ◽  
pp. 575-578 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lanethea Mathews-Gardner ◽  
Michelle D. Deardorff ◽  
Grant Reeher ◽  
William Hudson ◽  
MaryAnne Borrelli ◽  
...  

The December 2006 APSA report, “Trends in the Political Science Profession” (Sedowski and Brintnall 2006; Brintnall 2005), noted that the number of political science jobs posted on eJobs reached an all-time high for the academic year. Thirty-six percent of those jobs were in B.A.-granting institutions, institutions most likely to include a focus on liberal arts teaching. Similarly, results from the most recently available department chairs' survey show that almost one-third of all graduates in 2002, including those in non-academic employment, obtained jobs in B.A. institutions (Lopez 2003). In response to these circumstances, the Political Science Education Section has, at recent APSA annual meetings, including 2007's meeting, sponsored a short course titled, “Getting a Job at a Teaching Institution—and Then Succeeding!” For this article we have drawn on our experiences in the short course—and in interviewing, hiring, mentoring, and evaluating colleagues at a range of liberal arts colleges—to compile a list of frequently asked questions and their answers. B.A.-granting institutions are highly diversified, as evidenced by the authors' own affiliations. Still, after much discussion, we are confident that the advice offered here is broadly applicable to colleges focusing upon the liberal arts and undergraduate education. However, applicants should always research the mission and the corresponding commitments of the institutions at which they are seeking employment.


1983 ◽  
Vol 38 ◽  
pp. 15-16
Author(s):  
Frank Whelon Wayman

The political scientists at the University of Michigan, Dearborn, concerned about what becomes of political science majors in today's job market, have completed a survey of the occupational status and quality of life of recent alumni. This paper examines the potential contributions of that survey as a model for future evaluations of political science programs and other liberal arts programs. In the paper, I will discuss the design of the study, its findings, and the lessons that might be useful to those who would wish to do such studies on their own campuses.DesignThe University of Michigan, Dearborn evaluation was done primarily by, and for the benefit of, the political science faculty. Thus, the evaluation was tailored to particular faculty interests and concerns.


1947 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 314-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Landon G. Rockwell

Recent concern with the liberal arts curriculum as evinced by the report of the Harvard committee on General Education in a Free Society, Colgate's adoption of a core curriculum, and a thorough reëxamination of their entire educational program by scores of other institutions sharpens the recurrent problem of attempting better integration within the constituent parts of the curriculum. Whenever political scientists, talking shop, lapse into general principles, there is inevitable discussion concerning the nature and focus of political science itself. Much hard thinking has been done on the subject. There is, however, as in every profession where individual specialties are earnestly pursued, a tendency toward intellectual myopia, a tendency to miss, by default rather than consciously, a synoptic view of the subject. This has resulted in a lack of integration, of comprehensive design, of sense of balanced purpose, in many political science curricula.The miscellany of unrelated, overlapping courses which one sometimes encounters in college or university catalogues, to say nothing of the neglect of important aspects of government, indicates that the political science curriculum has received inadequate analysis. Political scientists who teach are educators as well, and thereby have a dual professional responsibility to present their field of inquiry as an integrated, comprehensive whole, elucidated by specific course offerings. Only thus can political science realize its richest contribution to liberal education as well as to an understanding of the political process within and beyond academic halls.


2012 ◽  
Vol 45 (02) ◽  
pp. 238-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin C. Cassese ◽  
Angela L. Bos ◽  
Lauren E. Duncan

The New Research on Gender in Political Psychology Conference brought together new and experienced teachers with interests in gender politics. The conference session “Teaching Gender throughout the Curriculum” generated a great deal of discussion concerning the pedagogical practice of gender mainstreaming. Gender mainstreaming—the integration of gendered content into courses required for a major—was recognized as one of 11 recommendations for reforming the undergraduate political science curriculum in the 1991 APSA report “Liberal Learning an The Political Science Major: A Report to the Profession” (popularly referred to as the Wahlke Report). Little information is available on the prevalence of gender courses in the undergraduate curriculum, but the data that does exist suggest such courses are uncommon (Brandes et al. 2001). We found virtually no data on the practice of gender mainstreaming in political science and little data in the way of assessing the impact of gendered content when students are exposed to it. This absence of data suggests gender mainstreaming has not emerged as a serious priority for curricular reform.


1957 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 1178-1182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Herbert Garfinkel ◽  
James F. Tierney

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document