Rethinking the Undergraduate Political Science Major
by John Ishiyama, University of North Texas
This essay originally appeared in the Political Science Educator’s Summer 2019 issue
From May 31 to June 2, a major conference was held in Denton, Texas, hosted by the Department of Political Science of the University of North Texas and generously funded by a special projects grant from the American Political Science Association (APSA). The conference had 30 participants from across the country, with 16 presentations on various aspects of the undergraduate political science curriculum. These included presentations on the first day of the conference about the current state of the major nationally, and how various colleges and universities are restructuring their major to meet new challenges and demands. On the second day the conference focused on various models of curricular structure that exist, the need for the reaffirming role of civic education and engagement in the curriculum, and how different departments are addressing the demand for marketable and employable skills.