Department of Political Science

Offered through the Department of Political Science, the graduate program in public policy and international affairs is designed to provide you with an understanding of the ways in which contemporary public policy crosses and supercedes national boundaries in an increasingly integrated global environment of trade, information and technology, threats to national security, and the global ecosystem.

The program’s interdisciplinary curriculum provides the training you need to become an effective innovator and problem solver by integrating the practical and theoretical, and the domestic and international dimensions of policy making and management. As a graduate of the program, you will be prepared to work in a variety of settings—government and nonprofit agencies, international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), education, business, law, journalism, and social services—or to pursue further graduate studies.

The core curriculum is designed to provide an introduction to the field of public policy making in an era of globalization, as well as to provide you with the qualitative and quantitative tools needed for work in a professional policy environment. After completing the core, you may choose to concentrate your electives in one of two tracks. The public policy and administration track provides courses that prepare you to work in domestic public or nonprofit service and management. The public policy and international affairs track
is for those who want to work in international settings in government, the nongovernmental sector, or business.