Scholars of biopolitics work at the intersection of the social and biological sciences, studying the political theory of human biological nature, the biological bases of political behavior, biomedical ethics and technology, biological warfare, and the politics and regulation of environmental, health, and safety risks, for example.
Significant political debates of the coming century will involve issues raised by advances in the life sciences that create both promise and questions about transformations in the human condition. Poised to welcome students who wish to study these and related debates, NIU's graduate program in political science offers specialization in Politics and the Life Sciences, or “biopolitics.” For over 20 years, NIU's political science department has been the only one in the country to offer biopolitics as a distinct field of study.
History of the Field:
In the 1980s, NIU's faculty members established the field of biopolitics and also helped found and direct the Association for Politics and the Life Sciences and the association's journal, Politics and the Life Sciences. In the late 1990s administration of the association and journal moved to the political science department atUtah State University and to the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland, respectively. This unique field remains strong at NIU with four faculty members actively doing research in biopolitics and contributing to graduate and undergraduate course offerings in the field.
Research activity is at the core of graduate study. On the right, you will find links to curriculum vitae and brief descriptions of each faculty member's current teaching and research interests.