Political Science at Providence College
The Department of Political Science is among the most popular programs at Providence College, with about 330 majors and minors. Yet our classes are small, rarely exceeding 25 students, with many seminars, special topics courses, and undergraduate research projects. We offer an Honors option for outstanding students, which includes writing an Honors thesis during the senior year. We maintain a computer lab, online and other electronic data resources, an extensive politics-oriented video collection, and a library of political texts, campaign materials, and memorabilia.

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, and "teach-ins," for examples. Our students are actively involved in campus student government and many other organizations.

Our faculty are teachers and scholars
The department has a diverse full-time faculty of 15 members, who hold Ph.D. degrees from California at Berkeley, Brown, SUNY at Buffalo, Chicago, Columbia, Connecticut, Johns Hopkins, Kent State, Massachusetts, Michigan State, North Carolina, and Rutgers. In recent years political science faculty have directed the College's interdisciplinary programs in Black Studies, Latin American Studies, and Public Administration, and also teach in the Women's Studies, Liberal Arts Honors, Global Studies, Public and Community Service, Asian Studies, and Development of Western Civilization programs. Our teaching faculty also enjoy strong scholarly reputations. They write well-regarded academic books and articles, and are regularly invited to present research in many regions and fields: the American, Western, Midwest, Southwest, and Northeastern Political Science associations, the National Conference of Black Political Scientists, and the Latin American, African, and International Studies Associations. Our faculty all serve as academic advisors for majors and minors, and mentors for students who seek admission to some of the nation's most prestigious graduate, professional and law schools. We invite prospective students to find additional information about our program on this website, or to contact us directly.

Pi Sigma Alpha Induction Ceremony
Epsilon Chi, Providence College's chapter of the Pi Sigma Alpha Political Science's honor society held its annual induction ceremony on April 17, 2010 from 6-8pm in '64 Hall in the Slavin Center. The formal ceremony served to induct all academic year 2009-2010 new members. Existing Pi Sigma Alpha members as well as new members were all invited to attend, each member is allowed 2 guests. For additional information about Pi Sigma Alpha please contact the Pi Sigma Alpha faculty advisor Mark Hyde at mshyde@providence.edu or 401-865-2627.

Senior Reception
The Faculty and Staff of the Providence College Political Science Department welcomed all graduating Political Science Majors and Minors to the Annual Political Science Senior Reception for the Class of 2010, on Friday, May 14th, from 3:00pm-5:00pm in the Aquinas Lounge. Family and friends were also invited. We honored our graduating students for acedemic achievement and recognized student employees who contributed much of thier time and energy to the department.

Prof. Jordan-Zachery title wins Best Book Award at 2009 NCOBPS Black Women, Cultural Images and Social Policy, written by our colleague Dr. Julia Jordan-Zachery, demonstrates how social meanings surrounding the discourses on crime, welfare and family policies produce and reproduce discursive practices that maintain gender and racial hierarchies. Using critical discourse analysis (CDA), she analyzes the values and ideologies ensconced in the various images of black womanhood and their impact on policy formation. Her book was winner of the 2009 W. E. B. Du Bois best book award, from the National Conference of Black Political Scientists (NCOBPS). Dr. Jordan-Zachery is director of the College's Program in Black Studies.

Five department faculty presented new research at Toronto political science conference When 6,000 political scientists converged on Toronto's Convention Centre in September 2009, five of Providence College's own were on hand. The American Political Science Association (APSA) convened its 104th annual meeting September 3-6. William Hudson presided over a panel on "Educating Students to be Global Citizens," a special theme panel devoted to new approaches in political science instruction. Joe Cammarano presented recent research on the U.S. presidency, delivering a paper entitled "From Substance to Symbol: Head Start and the Change From Modern to Postmodern Presidents." Mary Bellhouse displayed her research findings with a paper entitled "Art Against Equality: A Theoretical Approach to the Study of Visual Culture, the Politics of Identity, and the Defeat of Democratic Ideals in Eighteenth-Century France." Julia Jordan-Zachery chaired a Women and Politics panel titled "Elected Officials at the Intersection of Gender and Race." She also took part in a roundtable discussion of her new book (see note at left), and led a "Methods Cafe" discussion of intersectionality research. Tony Affigne chaired the "Roundtable on Complex Models for Latino Politics: Quantitative and Qualitative Innovations." He also presided over the annual business meeting of the Latino Caucus in Political Science, and appeared on a commemorative roundtable celebrating the 40th anniversary of APSA's Minority Fellowship Program.