Political Science

Political Science: Major

Holy Cross students who major in political science gain in-depth understanding of the American political system, other political regimes, the international system, and political philosophy. In uniformly small classes, students also improve their critical and analytical skills and competence in oral and written expression.

Political science is one of Holy Cross’ most popular majors. The major is rigorously structured so as to ensure breadth as well as depth, with courses required in each of the discipline’s four subfields. Department faculty conceive the most fundamental purpose of the major as helping students to become thoughtful, well-informed, and ethical citizens of a constitutional, self-governing republic. Political science majors have gone on to successful careers in local, state, and federal government, academia,  law, journalism, business, high-school teaching, nonprofit organizations, the armed forces, and the priesthood. 

Program Highlights

Students majoring in political science take courses in four main areas:
 
  • American government
  • political philosophy
  • comparative politics
  • international relations
students and a professor in a class
Subfields

Learn more about the political science department’s four subfields.

students in a classroom with a powerpoint
Charles Carroll Program

The program brings guest lecturers to campus, funds a sophomore seminar and provides paid summer research internships.

Group of students in Washington DC
Washington Semester Program

Many political science majors spend a semester working, studying, and conducting research in Washington, D.C.

Political Science News

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Holy Cross Students Reflect, Find Tranquility Through Off-Campus Retreats
When Christine Church ’20 told her friends last spring that she was taking part in a five-day silent retreat, the reaction was anything but quiet. “They said, ‘oh, I could never do that. I could never be silent for five days.’” …
Emma Powell stands on the steps of Dinand Library
Holy Cross Senior Emma Powell ’20 Presents Award-Winning Thesis on Repairing Racial Injustice in America
As a classics and history double major at College of the Holy Cross, Emma Powell ’20 knows how significantly the power of memory affects both the present and the future. Powell earned the Maurizio Vannicelli Washington Semester Away Program Award …
Holy Cross campus scenic. Photo by Avanell Brock
Holy Cross Ranks Among Top Undergraduate Fulbright Scholarship Producers
According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, the College of the Holy Cross ranks once again as one of the top undergraduate producers of Fulbright students during the 2019-2020 academic year. This year, Holy Cross students are spanning the globe, …