Our students develop the following valuable skills:

Solving Real-World Problems

Courses in topics related to public policy, national security, and political systems give students the skills to analyze important problems and develop effective solutions.

Understanding Complex Systems

Courses in American, comparative, and international politics and interdisciplinary programs in national security and public policy show students how citizens, institutions, and governments interact; how policies emerge from both political systems and ideas; and how states interact in peacetime and at war.

Analyzing Ideas and Arguments

Courses in political theory, public policy, national security, and research design enable students to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of claims related to politics and policy.

Building Quantitative Skills

Courses in methodology, data analysis, and empirical politics help students understand and carry out rigorous and objective scientific research on political phenomena and public policy. Students in the national security major can develop additional skills in computing and engineering that are needed to understand national security problems and build effective solutions.

Becoming an Active Citizen

Our curriculum teaches students how to develop their own arguments and interact with government and other political actors through instruction on effective writing and public speaking and through mastering tools of data analysis.