Message from the Chair

Welcome to Political Science at Northwestern University

Welcome to the web site of the Department of Political Science at Northwestern University. We are located on the historic and beautiful Evanston Campus, just north of America's great city, Chicago, and just west, as the waves break, of Lake Michigan. The images on our web site hope to give you a sense of our immediate learning and working environment in Scott Hall—with the ivy at its most verdant!

Our department is an intellectually engaged and engaging place. Political science has been a prominent course of study and arena of scholarship since shortly after the founding of Northwestern. As a collectivity, we are committed to the highest standards of teaching and research in the areas of political theory, international relations, comparative and American politics. We are recognized for these commitments around campus, nation, and world. Our faculty and lecturers frequently win awards for their books, articles, and dedication to teaching. Our graduate students are among the finest and most internationally diverse in the United States with an impressive record of subsequent placement. Our undergraduates—including nearly 600 majors—play prominent roles in the intellectual, political, and social life of Northwestern and, once they have become alumni, are renowned for their generosity and commitment to public service.

One of the most exciting and distinctive aspects of Political Science at Northwestern is our interdisciplinary connections. We collaborate with colleagues in the humanities and social sciences in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. We have formal and informal connections with other colleges: the Law School, the Kellogg School of Business, the School of Communication, and the School for Education and Social Policy. Our faculty is especially active in energizing the Comparative-Historical Workshop, the Institute for Policy Research, the Gender Studies Program, African-American Studies, the Buffett Center for International and Comparative Studies, the Program of African Studies, the French Interdisciplinary Group, and the Chicago Field Studies. Graduate students in political science routinely win fellowships to participate in the Interdisciplinary Cluster Initiative of the Graduate School.

I hope that this web site answers some of your questions about us—and raises further ones. We are pleased to have the chance to answer them.

Best Wishes,

James Farr
Professor and Chair