General Learning Goals

Political science is an expansive discipline that includes American government; international relations/global affairs; comparative politics; classical and modern political theory; public law; urban studies; and race, ethnicity, and gender studies.

Students majoring in political science will acquire a background in its fundamental principles and core literature. They will also acquire a political imagination--a conceptual lens through which to view and analyze governmental institutions, policy choices, political identities, social movements, and competing political and philosophical values.

Among the core issues political science majors should understand are the following: the interactions between institutions and individuals and between different countries and regions of the world; the manner in which regimes influence citizens; the national and international roles played by key individuals and large political and natural forces; the impact of globalization on a state's institutions, culture, and economic well-being; the influence of nationalism, feminism, liberalism, radicalism, and religion; the role of social movements in creating political change; and the tensions between liberty and equality, liberty and order, change and continuity.

Particular Learning Goals

Students majoring in political science at Rutgers University-Newark are expected to acquire the following skills:

The ability to read texts and engage in research: to develop a familiarity with major works in the discipline, to understand primary sources, and to gather and analyze data using qualitative and quantitative methods.
The ability to think conceptually and theoretically: to develop the ability to define concepts clearly and to formulate effective hypotheses, arguments, and theories.
The capacity to think critically: to investigate the sources of information; seek arguments for and against its reliability; determine the extent to which an argument is logical, internally consistent, and supported by evidence; and detect the historical, cultural, or personal biases that might influence an argument, including their own.
The ability to write clearly, effectively, and persuasively.