FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

Political Science

Students inside classroom learning

Message from the Chair

War in Europe. Inflation run rampant. A global pandemic. Fledgling and long-standing democracies around the world being challenged by populists and authoritarians. Famine in Africa. Women, indigenous, minority and gendered rights, never fully realized, are under attack and being retrenched. And then there is that whole destruction of the environment and climate change thing. The range and scope of the crises we face seems not only daunting, but at times insurmountable. Never have two intersecting proverbs “may you live in interesting times” and “everything old seems new again” seemed to be so prophetic, coincidental and concerning. Even a simple sense of the array of forces challenging our perceptions of the world in which we live seems beyond our immediate grasp.

 

Yet, that is what political science does – make sense of and offer explanations for the seemingly inexplicable world in which we live. Whether it is the latest international or domestic crisis or the relatively mundane politics of day-to-day life, our undergraduate degrees provide the background, context and specific knowledges to help understand and critically assess the crises and challenges we face as well as providing practical experiences to further develop relevant skills to make change happen. We also offer two specialized degrees in Global Citizenship and in Public Law and Judicial Studies that cater to a deeper interest and help prepare students for further study or careers in those areas.

 

Our Programs: Cutting-edge research that informs teaching

 

At the graduate level, we offer the best of both worlds – a reasonably sized department that offers close instructor-student contact and support while at the same time covering all of the fields in the discipline. Our Master’s program in Global Politics is unique in Canada. It, along with MA degrees in Public Policy and Public Administration, Canadian and Comparative Politics and Political Theory provide students with theoretically advanced and further critical insights into politics as well as providing in-demand skills in communication, data analysis and management, organization and teamwork. Our PhD program provides all this and the opportunity to make unique, original and meaningful contributions to the state of knowledge in academia and the broader world, while also working in a comfortable and close relationship with dedicated scholars. The breadth of our graduate programs at both MA and PhD levels also mean that students can pursue and specialize in the area of study that is personal to them.

 

It is an exciting time to study politics and to be a political scientist. Our faculty members and graduate students are on the front lines of many of these and other challenges we face as local, national and global communities. We are conducting both leading- and cutting-edge research into a vast assortment of problems and our department provides the opportunity to become involved in and more deeply engage in our collective challenges. Backed by a group of innovative and committed faculty members who bring their research into the classroom, we offer an unparalleled experience for those who want to make change happen and who strive to make the world a brighter and better place.

 

I welcome and encourage you to get to know us a little better by exploring our website and finding out what we offer, what we do and who we are.

 

Greg Flynn, Department of Political Science Chair & Professor