Course Listings
Political Studies
A Goshen College approach to political studies highlights issues of social justice, global encounters, advocacy for those marginalized by power structures, and working toward positive change.
Minor in Political Studies
18 credit hours
Additional courses from the core list above, or any of the following:
Student learning outcomes
Graduates with a minor in Political Studies will:
- Demonstrate knowledge and application of political science principles and theories.
- Skillfully communicate political arguments in both written and oral form.
- Identify and interpret sources effectively as evidence for political analysis.
- Critically analyze, construct and support political arguments from a variety of perspectives.
- Interpret the moral responsibilities of the political scientist within a professional setting.
Planning and advising notes
The political studies minor takes an interdisciplinary approach, introducing students to the guiding paradigms and questions of political science, while noting how multiple disciplines are engaged with the fundamental questions of government and power relations. Students take a set of core courses on political science and policy, supplemented by politically oriented courses in history; peace, justice and conflict studies; and sociology. Students are encouraged to design a combination of courses in the minor that best suits their career path.
HIST 315 War/Peace 20th Century Europe
Exploration of major European political, cultural, intellectual and economic developments since the 1890s. Major themes include: modernism, the onset of totalitarianism and totalitarian regimes in Europe and the Soviet Union, war as an agent of social change, the Cold War,...
HIST 326 Recent American History
A look at events that shaped the most recent generations of Americans. From grand expectations of the Civil Rights movement, faith in science, and the possibilities of affluence and social reform, society confronted the realities of Vietnam, Watergate and environmental...
HIST 327 U.S. Immigration and Ethnic History
An examination of the development of ethnic and racial identities in the United States, from the colonial period(s) to the present. Immigration patterns, forced migration, assimilation, ethnicization, nativism, family and gender dynamics, immigration and naturalization law and multicultural debates were...
PJCS 201 Violence and Nonviolence
This course addresses the questions, when and why are people violent, and when and why are they peaceful? How does nonviolence address the destructive force of violence and stand as an alternative? A Peacemaking course in the Goshen Core.
PJCS 360 Designing for Social Change
Analyzes different strategies for achieving change in contexts characterized by high levels of complexity and conflict, with particular attention to the role and significance of the relatively new field of dialogue, deliberation, and civic engagement. Students will draw from their...
SOC 322 Social Policy and Programs
(Cross-listed from SoWk 322) Economic and social justice is used as an organizing framework to study the relationship between major social problems and social welfare policy, programs and services. Included are poverty, health and mental-health care, family problems, racism, sexism...
SOC 334 Race, Class & Ethnic Relations
A study of race/ethnic group interaction, gender and class dynamics focusing on marginalized groups in the U.S. Attention is given to social class, power and majority-group dominance as factors in assimilation and culture-loss or collective self-determination and maintenance of cultural...