Welcome to the Department of Political Science at Northern Illinois University -- a dynamic student-centered research department committed to excellence in teaching, scholarship, and service.
Our 26-member professorial faculty includes nationally and internationally recognized scholars as well as award-winning teachers. Our faculty have developed expertise in a broad range of approaches to political science, topics within the discipline, and geographic regions. Our curriculum emphasizes concerns that lie at the center of twenty-first century governance and informed citizenship. With the valuable assistance of capable instructors and supportive professional staff, the political science faculty serves a diverse student body of more than 500 undergraduate majors and minors and 200 graduate students.
At the undergraduate level, political science is an ideal liberal arts major for successful careers in such fields as law, government, business, education, policy analysis, journalism, public service, and international affairs. The department offers two undergraduate degree programs (Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science) structured around four attractive emphases: politics, public law, public administration and service, and international politics.
The major affords students opportunities to explore cutting edge issues, broaden their perspective as educated citizens, and further develop analytic abilities and refine oral and written communication skills. Moreover, undergraduate majors benefit from the department's longstanding reputation for teaching excellence, high-quality undergraduate advising, active learning in the classroom, enrichment opportunities for the most gifted students, established conduits for student feedback, and diverse extracurricular activities.
For more information about our undergraduate program, contact our director of undergraduate studies, Professor Matt Streb (mstreb@niu.edu, 815.753.7046).
At the graduate level, the department offers three advanced degree programs. The Master of Public Administration (MPA) program, administered by the department's eight-member Division of Public Administration, boasts longstanding success, including consistently high national rankings in city management and public finance. The Master of Arts (MA) program offers students the choice of six fields of specialization: American government and public law, comparative politics, international relations, politics and the life sciences, political theory, and public administration. Graduates of the program have pursued successful careers in politics, law, the military, local and national government, national security, foreign affairs, and business. Many students continue studies for a Ph.D.
The Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) attracts high quality students from many parts of the United States and around the globe. Countries represented by our current student population include Azerbaijan, Burma, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Korea, Laos, Mexico, Morocco, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Turkey.
Doctoral students may choose from the same six fields of specialization as the MA program. Within the field of comparative politics, the department has a longstanding national and international reputation for excellence in the study of Southeast Asia. The political theory field with its emphasis on the history of political philosophy constitutes another area of perennial strength. The department is the only political science program in the country that offers politics and the life sciences (or biopolitics) as a distinct field of study. The international relations field has considerable faculty resources in security studies and is an emerging area of national strength. The American government and public law field has expanded its faculty in recent years and provides particular depth in public opinion, women and politics, and political behavior. In addition to the MPA degree program, faculty in the Division of Public Administration offer an outstanding doctoral field and a certificate in public management.
Overall, Ph.D. students benefit from the program's challenging curriculum, a supportive learning environment, faculty mentoring, opportunities for financial support and independent teaching experience, and solid graduate placement record. For more information about our graduate program, contact our director of graduate studies, Professor Kurt Thurmaier, (kthur@niu.edu, 815.753.0311).
For more information about our academic programs and lively department, please browse our website and review our newsletter posted on this site. Please feel free to direct other inquiries to me (cmjones@niu.edu, 815.753.7040) or my assistant chair, Professor Mike Peddle (mpeddle@niu.edu, 815.753.7039).
Thank you for taking the time to visit the Department of Political Science at Northern Illinois University.
Cordially,
Christopher M. Jones
Department Chair