Mission, Vision and Outcomes

The Political Science and Public Administration Department seeks to provide students with a learning experience that will equip them to face the challenges of an increasingly complex job market and prepare them to become active and engaged citizens at the local, national and international levels. The political science program provides students with a broad-based political education that is grounded in the field's theoretical traditions. This includes a strong background in the fundamental branches of our discipline: American politics, comparative politics, international politics, political theory and public administration. Political science students acquire practical experience and develop connections in the community through a variety of legal internships. Our extracurricular activities, such as the Political Science Society, help students become engaged in local politics. Students gain abilities to critically assess contemporary political events and identify practical solutions to social problems. Political science majors develop analytical and methodological skills that will serve them well regardless of their chosen profession.

Training Indiana’s future political and civic leaders.

Commensurate with the University’s mission of “preparing students to live wisely,” the mission of the Philosophy Program is to acquaint students with the ideas and tools necessary to live a thoughtful and examined life in a diverse world. The study of philosophy clarifies and deepens students’ understanding of foundational ideas and issues such as the possibility of knowledge and wisdom, the requirements of rationality, the existence of divinity, the nature of morality and justice, and the relationship between mind and body. The Philosophy Program also gives students an opportunity to familiarize themselves with important critical thinking tools including the application of theory to practice, the development of a reasoned argument, the evaluation of claims, the appreciation of diverse perspectives, a healthy skepticism, and the organization and communication of information. Ultimately, the Philosophy Program seeks to prepare students to deal with the complexities of life, which offers challenges that are often neither simple nor obvious.

The vision of the Philosophy Program at the University of Southern Indiana is to acquaint students with the ideas and tools necessary to live a thoughtful and examined life in a diverse world.