Political Science - Rutgers University - New Brunswick

Political Science from Rutgers University - New Brunswick is a Campus Bachelor Public Administration degree that prepares you for a Human Services career. Learning Goals: The study of political science at the undergraduate level is intended to achieve the following aims: Expose students to the philosophical and practical problems of political organization, action, and governance. Spur critical thinking about the nature of citizenship, rights, and duties. Encourage students to engage in critical thinking, logical reasoning, rigorous positive analysis, thoughtful and self-conscious normative or moral judgment, critical reading and listening, and effective spoken and written communication. Encourage the habit of questioning, debating, and challenging positive or normative propositions; the habit of formulating alternative understandings, and the habit of testing these competing understandings in a rigorous and logical fashion. Expose students to various methods and approaches used by political scientists to expand our knowledge or understanding of politics. Provide students with the opportunity to engage in original research under the guidance or mentorship of research-active scholars. Provide students with the opportunity to engage in experiential learning in political, governmental, or related settings. Specific learning goals for undergraduate majors: Beyond the general learning goals indicated above, undergraduate majors should acquire: A solid foundational understanding of the critical theoretical issues underlying political life: the individual and community; political obligation and civil disobedience; stability, revolution, and change; legitimacy and justice; and freedom and power. A solid foundational understanding of American political institutions, the interaction between the three branches of government and their roles and operations, the principal political, economic, and social influences affecting American democracy, and major issues affecting federal, state, and local government. A solid foundational understanding of foreign and international politics, including the nature of other political systems or the operation of the international system. A more in-depth, sophisticated understanding of at least one major topic in each of the following three areas of political science: theoretical approaches to political science, American institutions and politics, and foreign and international politics. A first-hand exposure to the process of research and discovery in political science and an understanding of how political scientists develop and test new ideas or explanations. A wider social scientific context for understanding political science and an exposure to at least some of the range of questions that social scientists pose and the tools and approaches they use to develop answers. Experience in designing and completing a research project. Political Science majors will also have the option to engage in experiential learning, under the supervision of a member of the Political Science Department faculty, in an appropriate applied setting. In addition, honors majors in Political Science should have an opportunity to make their own contribution to knowledge in political science by: Working with instructors to acquire the methodological and epistemological tools necessary for political science research. Completing a major piece of independent research. Those majors electing to complete the Certificate Program in Quantitative Political Science Methods should: Acquire an understanding of how social scientists use quantitative methods as they pose research questions, design tests of hypotheses, and analyze quantifiable information. Put their methodological skills to use as part of a supervised research project. Those majors electing to complete the Global Politics Certificate should acquire: Competence in a relevant language. First-hand exposure to and understanding of another political system or culture. A specialized knowledge of foreign and international politics, and of some combination of anthropology, economics, history, philosophy, psychology, religion, and sociology, that permits them to apply these language skills and incorporate this first-hand experience in developing an advanced understanding of or appreciation for some specific element of global politics or some particular region of the world. View more details on Rutgers University - New Brunswick, NJ . Ask your questions and apply online for this program or find other related Public Administration courses.