The Major /  The Minor /  Faculty /  Department Web Pages

Location: Howley Hall 315
Phone: 401-865-2434
Fax: 401-865-1222

The Department of Political Science provides students with the tools for a careful and systematic study of politics, within the scope of a liberal arts education.  Students are grounded in factual material about governments and politics, and in political philosophy as well.  The department’s program is also grounded in values: we study both what happens and what ought to happen in politics.  We stress the importance of life-long academic skills in critical thinking, writing, and speaking: courses require analytic reading and clear writing.  Classes rarely exceed twenty-five students in size, which means students get individual attention in a variety of ways.

The Political Science Department believes strongly that learning is not limited to the classroom.  The Department encourages community involvement: we are engaged with the International Institute of Rhode Island in a series of voluntary projects, we encourage foreign study, and we support internships, all as part of our academic program.  On campus, the department presents a full range of public events every year, including lectures, films, “teach-ins,” for examples.  Our students are actively involved in campus student government and many other organizations.

In addition, the Department has a chapter of Political Science’s national honor society, Pi Sigma Alpha.  We offer an Honors option for outstanding students, which includes writing an honors thesis during the Senior year.  Our faculty all participate as Academic Advisors for our Majors.  We maintain a small computer lab available to our students.  We invite prospective students to find additional information about our program on the Internet.

The Major
A major is offered in political science which leads to the bachelor of arts degree.

The Minor
A minor in political science is also available.

For detailed information on the requirements for the political science major or minor, as well as course listings and descriptions, please see the  on-line undergraduate catalog. 

The  Faculty
Professors
Anthony D. Affigne, Ph.D.
Richard M. Battistoni, Ph.D., Chairperson 
Mary L. Bellhouse, Ph.D.
Douglas W. Blum, Ph.D.
James M. Carlson, Ph.D.
Rev. Edward L. Cleary, O.P., Ph.D.
Zygmunt  J. Friedemann, Ph.D., Emeritus
William E. Hudson, Ph.D.
Mark S. Hyde, Ph.D.
Susan H. Marsh, Ph.D., Emeritus
Robert H. Trudeau, Ph.D.

Associate Professors
Susan K. McCarthy, Ph.D.
Neil T. Romans, Ph.D.

Assistant Professors
Ruth Ben-Artzi, Ph.D.
Joseph P. Cammarano, Ph.D.
Julia S. Jordan-Zachery, Ph.D.

Instructor
Paola Cesarini, M.A. (Ph.D. candidate)

Visit the Web pages maintained by the Department of Political Science:
http://www.providence.edu/polisci