Political Science

Program Info: The study of politics is among the oldest of human achievements. If Socrates was the father of political philosophy, then surely Aristotle was the first political scientist, who judged politics as “the queen of the sciences.”

But modern political inquiry is as fresh as the 21st century, with its growth from a focus on philosophy, history, and law to the scientific examination of political behavior and public policy. Today scholars of politics employ a wide array of methods and approaches to extend our understanding of how politics works and how political actors behave. Politics at Earlham is taught from a rich variety of perspectives as we seek to illuminate political things, and all for a common set of purposes: we study politics to concern ourselves as citizens and as human beings with understanding and improving our lives together in peaceful and productive civil societies.

We in the Department of Politics take the Mission Statement of Earlham seriously:

“At Earlham College [the teaching-learning process] is carried on with a concern for the world in which we live and for improving human society. The College strives to educate morally sensitive leaders for future generations. Therefore Earlham stresses global education, peaceful resolution of conflict, equality of persons, and high moral standards of personal conduct.”