Political Science - Department of Political Science - Christopher Newport University
CNU students standing in the gallery of the Virginia General Assembly during the Captains in the Capitol event.

Department of Political Science

The Department of Political Science has three affiliated centers: the Wason Center for Civic Leadership, the Reiff Center for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution, and the Center for American Studies. These centers provide countless opportunities for students to learn from the top experts in politics and research. Each year, the Wason Center brings students to the Virginia Capitol (shown above, students top right) in Richmond to speak with legislators and learn about the legislative process.

The Degree Plan

In political science, you’ll choose between two majors: political science and international affairs. In both, you get a basis in the discipline's subfields through required intro courses in political thought, American politics, and comparative and international politics, plus a required course in methods and a required senior seminar. Then, students can select the remaining seven courses that will make up their major from upper-level courses that build upon the required courses.

Structured like this, you can take some degree of ownership of your educational path and choose the subfield or subfields you wish to concentrate on. And because you’re not tied down to taking one specific upper-level course, there should be no issues with graduating in four years, given the variety of upper-level courses offered each semester.

Outside of the Classroom

Our students have:

  • Earned internships at the White House, in Congressional and Senatorial offices in Washington, D.C., and several local offices and campaigns.
  • Presented research at conferences and co-authored research with faculty that was published in leading political science journals.
  • Studied abroad in the UK, India, Ireland and Northern Ireland.

The opportunities are endless.

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