Our goal is to get students to think critically, to understand all sides of issues, to be aware of their own positions and world views, and to recognize the nature and content of political competition.
The Politics Department at Ithaca College challenges students to grapple with complex issues through questions such as:
- Are political parties still relevant?
- Why do wars happen? Is there anything that can be done to prevent them?
- What does it mean to be "conservative" or "liberal?"
- Is "gangsta rap" political?
- Is peace possible in the Middle East?
- Should the United States have pulled out of the Paris Climate Change Agreement?
- Is the "right to a home" a fundamental human right?
- How and why do males become men and females become women?
- What does it mean to be a "citizen" in the 21st century?
- Why is there so much poverty in developing countries?
- Why do democracy and capitalism take different forms in different countries?
- What political lessons can Americans learn from Nigerian films?
- What impact will the COVID pandemic have on the international order?
- Is the United States an expanding "empire?" Is that good or bad?