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.

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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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Jesuit Organizations Lead the Way in Aiding Refugees Worldwide
Samer Naeem was in his early 20s when he lost his eyesight. He’d been born with a genetic disorder that caused high blood pressure inside the eyeball. One day, while walking the streets of Baghdad, a student hit him in …
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Washington Semester Award Winner to Discuss Impact of Gender in Political Elections
The Center for Interdisciplinary Studies at the College of the Holy Cross has selected Caitlin Daniels ’18, a political science major with a concentration in gender, sexuality, and women’s studies, as the Maurizio Vannicelli Washington Semester Program award recipient for …
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Political Science Professor Explains the History Behind Presidential Hypocrisy
In a piece for Fortune, Alex Hindman, visiting assistant professor of political science at the College of the Holy Cross, writes about Donald Trump’s efforts to represent the interests of the American people, but explains that Trump’s lavish lifestyle reduces …