SUNY Potsdam’s Department of Politics offers a challenging course of study designed to prepare students both to be contributing citizens and to achieve career success.  The faculty – published scholars who are active on campus and in the community ­– are dedicated first and foremost to undergraduate education.  Most of the classes are small in size, and students receive significant individual attention. We offer courses in each of the traditional areas of political science – American government and public law, international relations, comparative politics, and political theory – and our curriculum also includes courses unusual for a Politics program, including Politics of the Family, Bioethics and the Law, and the Politics of Basketball.  These classes provide a less than traditional, but nonetheless important, approach to the study of power and culture.  Another way we open doors of understanding is through our participation in various interdisciplinary programs: Criminal Justice, Women and Gender Studies, Environmental Studies, and Society and Human Services.  Finally, we offer a wide array of internships outside of the classroom.

Our students go on to all walks of life: many attend law school, a smaller number go to graduate school in political science (many are now professors elsewhere), some become high school or grade school teachers, others work for federal, state, or local government, and still others opt to pursue a career working for not-for-profit organizations. On their way to whatever future they choose, our students enjoy membership in our strong academic community, thanks in part to our annual departmental mixer, our annual departmental dinner, visits by guest speakers, the inclusion of students in departmental governance, and, above all, a truly collegial department faculty and staff who thoroughly enjoy working together and with students.