Political Science

• All students complete a capstone seminar that channels the knowledge they’ve accumulated into a discipline-specific project under close faculty guidance. Chatham is one of the few universities across the country that offers such an independent and student-driven program.
• Graduate with an advanced degree through one of our partnerships, including the Accelerated Graduate Program in Public Policy and Management at Carnegie Mellon University, the 3/3 program at Duquesne University Law School, and the Early Assurance Program with the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh.
• Chatham University is a founding member of PLEN (Public Leadership Educational Network) which offers week-long seminars and summer internships in Washington, D.C. The seminars include sessions with people on Capitol Hill, and feature topics on public policy, pre-law, science policy, women in Congress, and women in international policy.
• Chatham is home to the Pennsylvania Center for Women and Politics, which offers a variety of ways for students to become involved in programming and other efforts.

Campaigns and Elections

What makes a candidate successful? How do you win in local, state, and national politics today? This course will provide a survey of trends in modern U.S. political campaigns and elections, including the effects of political parties, interest groups, the media, campaign finance, election laws, and individual candidates. Special emphasis will be placed on the impact of gender on electoral success. Students will follow one current campaign in detail, comparing it to the literature on campaigning. 

Women and Politics

Does gender make a difference in politics? Are women different from men in their political behavior? Do women contribute different norms, rules, and outcomes within political institutions? Students become familiar with the literature on, and conduct research projects in a specific aspect of, women’s involvement in politics. 

Ethnic Conflict

This course is designed to introduce students to theories about nationalist and ethnic conflict and strategies that have been used to manage them. In the first part of class, we examine sources of ethnic identity and how governments have attempted to reinforce or deemphasize those identities. Second, we examine how domestic factors have and have not worked to suppress ethnic conflict. Finally, we examine how the international community or other third parties have attempted to bring about the peaceful resolution of conflicts.