Political Science | Baylor University

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Department of Political Science

Department of Political Science

Baylor's Political Science Department is renowned for its high quality teaching and for professors who care about students. Our majors have gone on to become lawyers, journalists, politicians, lobbyists, diplomats, political analysts and teachers. We place students in top law schools around the country such as Georgetown and Harvard, and in top graduate programs such as Yale and Princeton.

Degree Programs

Degree Information

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Undergraduate
Graduate

BA Political Science BA International Studies Prelaw Minor Criminal Justice PhD Political Science MA International Relations MA Public Policy and Administration Joint JD/MA Public Policy and Administration

News

Baylor in Barbados

BAYLOR in Barbados is the newest summer study abroad program at Baylor and the only based on an English speaking Caribbean island nation. Available for only twelve full-time Baylor students, Baylor in Barbados is a 5-week residential program housed at the University of West Indies, Cave Hill Campus. The program features weekend trips to Codrington College (the oldest Anglican Seminary school in the Western Hemisphere) and the Bellairs Research Institute (affiliated with McGill University of Montreal, Canada). The Cave Hill Campus lies just north of the capital, Bridgetown, in Saint Michael parish and is within walking distance of Batts Rock Beach. Baylor in Barbados combines rigorous classroom study, focusing on regional and issue-based topics in the Political Science / International Studies realm, with ample opportunity for cultural immersion and travel -- including multiple faculty-escorted day trips. Planned excursions include: a safari adventure, a visit to the Barbados parliament, an evening at the Oistins Fish Fry festival (food vendors and outdoor dancing), a historical tour of Bridgetown – including a meal at the George Washington House – and a “sandy places expedition” to sample a few of the islands many incredible beaches. Baylor in Barbados allows time for personal travel and the island of Barbados serves as a great rallying point -- after the course is over -- for family and friends to gather and continue one’s summertime Caribbean exploration. For more information click here! Contact: Dr. Curt Nichols Program Manager and Instructor curt_nichols@baylor.edu

"What is America?" Conference

From June 25-July 3, current and former graduate students in the Baylor University Political Science Department attended the twenty-third Jack Miller Center Summer Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, “What is America?” Invited participants included Matthew Brogdon, assistant professor of political science at the University of Texas, San Antonio; Kevin Burns, assistant professor of political science at Christendom College; and Jordan Cash, Pre-Doctoral Research Specialist in the University of Virginia’s Program on Constitutionalism and Democracy. Among the prominent scholars who participated were Michael Zuckert (Notre Dame), James Ceaser (University of Virginia), Benjamin Kleinerman (Michigan State), Peter Onuf (University of Virginia), and Diana Schuab (Loyola University of Maryland).

Baylor students attend Conference on “Moral Foundations of the American Constitutional Order”

On June 11-15, Baylor graduate students from the Political Science Department attended the inaugural summer seminar on “The Moral Foundations of the American Constitutional Order” at Princeton University, co-sponsored by the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions and the Witherspoon Institute. Among the topics covered were the historical approaches to the Founding, religion and the Founding, slavery, and common law. Participants came not only from the United States, but also the United Kingdom, Poland, and China. Baylor invitees were Joseph Griffith, Hannah Norman, Jordan Cash, and Debbie O’Malley. Next year Norman will be completing her second year in our doctoral program, Griffith will teach at the Rochester Institute of Technology, Cash will serve as Pre-Doctoral Research Specialist in the University of Virginia’s Program on Constitutionalism and Democracy, and O’Malley will serve as the inaugural Daniel Patrick Moynihan Postdoctoral Fellow at Assumption College.

Dr. Elizabeth Amato Publishes Book

Elizabeth S. Amato, who received her PhD from Baylor’s Department of Political Science in 2011, recently published “The Pursuit of Happiness and the American Regime: Political Theory in Literature” with Lexington Books (2018). Dr. Amato is an assistant professor of political science at Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, North Carolina. She has also held a postdoctoral position at Michigan State University. She has published articles on Walker Percy (in A Political Companion to Walker Percy, the University of Kentucky Press) and on Tom Wolfe (Perspectives on Political Science).

Upcoming Events

Alumni Profiles

Deborah O'Malley

Doctor of Philosophy
Daniel Patrick Moynihan Postdoctoral Fellow
Assumption College

Deborah is the inaugural Daniel Patrick Moynihan Postdoctoral Fellow at Assumption College. Her research explores the source and scope of the rights of religious institutions in the American legal tradition.

Doctor of Philosophy
Asst. Professor
College of the Holy Cross

Eric is a a visiting assistant professor at College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA. He has taught courses on American Foreign Policy, International Relations, The Cold War, Terrorism, and Diplomacy.

Christine Basil

Doctor of Philosophy
Asst. Professor in the Honors College
Belmont Abbey College

Christine is an Assistant Professor in the Honors College at Belmont Abbey College.

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