Department of Political Science

Message from the Chair

Phil Jos
Department Chair
Welcome to the Department of Political Science. Whether you are interested in American campaigns and elections or international human rights, global climate change or criminal justice, foreign policy or urban planning, Chinese politics or the politics of Africa, intelligence gathering or health policy, public opinion or revolutionary protest, local community groups or international development agencies, the Department of Political Science has the faculty, the courses, and the extracurricular programming for you. read more

Department Spotlight

2011-2012 Annual theme: Cultural Change, Politics, and the Law

If you understand “politics” narrowly, as having to do with nations, institutions, and laws you would miss what both political scientists and geographers understand—the proper study of politics examines changes in the fundamentals of how we live and how these changes shape political institutions and are shaped by those institutions.  Classes in Political Science explore the political implications of many of these fundamentals—how we secure the food we eat, who secures steady work and who does not, religious beliefs, how we raise children, where we live, and how we express our sexuality. This year we will focus on the implications of rapid cultural change for political and legal institutions. The Political Science Convocation of Majors will be held on Tuesday, February 21 at 7 pm in the Physician’s Auditorium and will feature  Lisa Gilinger.  Ms. Gilinger, a lawyer in Santa Barbara, has recently joined the TransYouth Family Allies Board of Directors and has served as a guest lecturer on Gender and the Human experience, covering the implications of the interplay between sex, identity, society and culture.