Government
Government, elsewhere known as political science, is part of the larger liberal arts learning experience and, in company with the General Education program, has for its goal the development of "students' general intellectual abilities-curiosity, powers of critical analysis, aesthetic appreciation, and creativity." The goal for study in a Government major is to maximize students' capacity to analyze and interpret the dynamics of political events and governmental processes and their significance.
There has been a long-standing consensus in the Department of Government that we want to provide our students a broad liberal arts education. We do not see our role as training for a particular profession or those who want to pursue graduate work. Instead, we see our goal as creating an intellectual environment where students can develop their academic skills, think more critically about their world, and prepare to become thoughtful citizens and productive members of society.
We believe that part of a liberal arts education is providing our students with a diverse and pluralistic curriculum. Pluralism also fits quite well with the larger political science discipline. Unlike some social science disciplines, political science has never been dominated by one epistemology or set of theories. In fact, by its very nature political science deals with current debates and controversies. This has allowed our discipline to draw on many approaches and fields. The department's curriculum reflects this diversity and dynamism and we think that it should continue to do so into the future.
The department also believes that pluralism and diversity are not possible without some degree of instructor autonomy. We agree that all faculty members should have latitude over their own courses and syllabi. Although we require some courses for our majors, we would not expect everyone who may teach them to approach them in exactly the same way. Each person has his or her own perspectives and areas of expertise, and we should allow even required courses to reflect these faculty strengths. This also means that our curriculum should not be so rigid that we cannot incorporate new faculty members and their areas of expertise into it.
We also realize that we need to provide opportunities for our students to explore how they can apply their education once they leave school. There are several common career paths associated with government and political science, including law school, graduate school, politics, government, and business. Although we do not see our role as a training ground for any of them, we do want to create opportunities for students to pursue these interests. The department provides these opportunities through advising, internships, and clubs.
The final element of our departmental vision has to do with the substance of the curriculum. Although we believe in pluralism and instructor autonomy, we also think that students should have a common base of knowledge. In political science this includes knowledge of the development of political ideas as well as being able to follow and understand current political controversies. This balance is also inherent in our discipline. Politics is an ancient area of study, but it is also highly relevant to students' lives today. Our students should understand both the old and the new and the connection between them.
