Students may choose to study for up to a year in many countries, from Mexico to Japan. All students take courses in international politics, but Ursinus offers a special track for majors that can include courses in war and revolution, in U.S. foreign policy and in such specialty areas as Japanese and Chinese politics. Important publications put Ursinus professors at the cutting edge of this emerging discipline. Student Research and Publication Majors complete intensive seminars in all four areas of politics, and all qualified students have the opportunity to work on independent projects with a faculty member. Recent projects have included studies of the debt crisis in Latin America and of the impact of American aid and trade on African development.
Students regularly present their work at research conferences.
Majors also edit and publish their own research in the department's Journal of Politics and International Relations. There are no simple boundaries when decisions in one place can affect events half a world away. To understand these dynamic relations, political scientists have developed sophisticated theoretical tools, from economic analysis to game theory. Our graduates are ready not just for a profession but for lives of meaningful service and responsible citizenship.