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FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
What makes political science at Millikin different from political science anywhere else? We think there are three things that make us distinctive. (1) We are a community of scholars. Over time, students and faculty together have created an atmosphere which is both friendly and challenging. You'll sometimes face tough assignments from your professor and tough questions from your peers, but you know that the hard work is worth it – and sometimes you'll be asking the tough questions so that others can learn. (2) Our courses emphasize life-long learning objectives. Being a more critical thinker, a better writer, a stronger negotiator, or a more well-informed citizen is just as important as all the the political science stuff you learn. In some ways, it's more important – chances are good that the analytical skills you sharpen in Constitutional Law will be much more important to you five years after you graduate than a thorough understanding of McCulloch v. Maryland. Each of our courses emphasizes certain learning objectives; you choose which objectives need the most improvement and we will work with you to develop your full potential. (3) Faculty hold themselves to the same high standards asked of students. We want to know how well we are doing – we survey our alumni, asking them what skills they are using and what skills they should have developed but didn't get. We survey our majors, asking them what they like and dislike about their coursework and the department. We compare responses to university-wide and nationwide surveys. Department faculty regularly visit each other's classes to offer constructive criticism and to learn new teaching methods or ideas. There are strong political science programs throughout the state of Illinois and elsewhere in the midwest. We encourage you to visit the web sites of other programs and compare: University of Illinois, Champaign/Urbana Know a program that we should include above? Let us know! Are all political science majors headed for law school? No, certainly not. Many majors are interested in law, and our students have a good track record of being accepted to law schools and doing well once they get there. Although our major is not specifically designed to prepare students for law school, we do prepare students to think critically, research productively, work efficiently, cooperate effectively, and advocate persuasively. Those assets are helpful not only in law, but in dozens of other professions. Our alumni have successful careers in business, policy analysis, advocacy, social work, law, education, politics, and many other fields. I'm thinking about coming to Millikin and I'd like to talk to some current students who are majoring in political science. Can I do that? Yes, absolutely. Contact the department and we would be happy to put you in touch with one of our students (if possible, one who shares some of your interests) by email or phone. How come there are two different course descriptions for some courses? The descriptions in the catalog offer a general overview of the overall content and goals of each course. Although these descriptions stay pretty much the same from year to year, our courses do not -- we change them all the time in response to new ideas from students, important current events occurring nationally and internationally, or the availability of new texts or online resources, just to name a few reasons. So during registration period, we hand out and put online a set of "up-to-the-minute" descriptions that provide more specific information about the courses being offered the following semester. How long have the faculty been here? How many of them have tenure? How many of the courses are taught by adjunct faculty? Prof. Royden joined the department in 2006 and is completing her PHD thesis in international relations this fall. Prof. Ono – who holds a PHD from Georgetown University – joined the faculty as an assistant professor in 2007 and focuses on media and politics and participation. Prof. Wrighton – whose PHD is from the University of Iowa – came to Millikin in 2007 as the department’s chairperson and a tenured associate professor; his research interests include congressional elections and legislative institutions. Adjunct faculty members occasionally assist in augmenting the department’s offerings. Do political science students get together for any special events? We hold a departmental picnic every fall and spring; in election years, we usually host an election-night party. We also frequently host campus speakers on a wide variety of political topics. Many of our students take part in the Model Illinois Government and the Model UN simulations, preparing together for several weks ahead of time, then traveling together to the simulations. How often are the courses listed in the catalog taught? Under the current schedule, required courses are offered every year. Most other courses are offered on a four- or five-semester rotation. If a student misses the opportunity to take an attractive course (for example, because the course was offered while the student was at the Washington Semester), he or she may be able to explore the topic through independent study with a faculty member. Will it be difficult to get into the courses I need? Are courses crowded? We schedule courses so that our majors should find those they need to complete their degree requirements. We do our best to accomodate non-majors as well; however, in some situations a course is so popular that some students must wait for the course to be offered. Like any department, some of our courses are more popular than others. Got a question that isn't answered anywhere on our website?
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