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Political Science

Bachelor of Arts

Program Overview

Political science is a discipline that encourages students to think systematically about and evaluate critically our political life.

The program’s goal is to prepare majors for a life of informed and critical citizenship and to encourage them to creatively and independently engage politics.

The study of politics entails more than how governments work. It includes the analysis of how communities and citizens interact with each other and the government to shape the kind of country in which they live. Unlike most other political science departments that have a central focus on U.S. politics, our emphasis is on comparative politics and international relations. Topics studied in various courses, in addition to U.S. politics, include migration, warfare and globalization, as well as the politics of various geographic regions of the world—Asia, Latin America and Africa.

An Agnes Scott political science major student listens and looks ahead in class.

What You'll Learn

The department offers courses on a variety of topics that range in format from introductory lecture-discussion classes to participatory seminars. 100 and 200 level courses introduce students to the subfields of political science and to selected topics of interest to non-majors as well as majors. Upper level courses offer depth as well as breadth and address specific topics of special interest to instructors and students. You'll learn:

  • The way political science works as a discipline: how it structures its research about political issues, and how it works with and among contested explanations about politics
  • To identify and explain the way political actors, ideas, and movements shape political life
  • The major broad approaches used in the discipline, including behavioralism, critical theory, comparative analysis, and discourse analysis

Program Highlights

Internship Opportunities

Agnes Scott’s location in Atlanta means there are plenty of internship opportunities available to political science majors. Examples of previous internship experiences students have participated in are: The Carter Center, CNN, the Southern Center for International Studies and the Georgia State Capitol.

Off-Campus Study

Our students enroll in programs such as: Washington Semester program, in which students can spend either the fall or spring semester at American University in Washington, D.C. They can choose from nine offerings, including American government, foreign policy, economic policy, justice, international business, trade and journalism. Each of these programs consists of a seminar, an internship and either a research project or a course taken at American University. Students may attend during either their junior or senior year.

PLEN (Public Leadership Education Network)

PLEN is a consortium of women’s colleges that prepares women for public leadership roles. Students have opportunities to study the process of public policy with women leaders in Washington, D.C., and abroad. Students can choose from two-day mentor sessions, longer seminars or the PLEN Public Policy Semester.

Meet the Faculty

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Autumn Cockrell-Abdullah

Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science

Eleanor Morris

Eleanor G. Morris

Associate Professor of Political Science, Director of International Relations

Headshot of Enrique Quezada with a natural background.

Enrique Quezada-Llanes

Assistant Professor of Political Science

Working in Political Science

With a political science degree, you will acquire a broad knowledge of the political process as well as subfields of political science, including world politics, political theory and comparative and U.S. politics.

The skills of how to examine written documents and other forms of communication and the ability to create comprehensive strategies for meeting the challenges of social issues can apply to virtually any business or organization. While they are especially important for political organizations and private companies, you'll also be prepared for advanced study in graduate school.

  • Journalist
  • Lobbyist
  • Political Analyst
  • Legal Aide
  • Graduate Study

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