Political Science
Department of Political Science
Knowles Hall, Third Floor
Telephone: (404) 880-8718
Overview
The Clark Atlanta University Department of Political Science offers both the Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy degrees, the only private HBCU to do so. Over the years, the Department has been among the leading producers of African American political scientists both female and male, and can count among its graduates four college and university presidents, foreign diplomats, heads of international NGOs, and renowned scholars. Also, the department has produced scholars of African, Caribbean, Asian, and European origin, who are working in institutions all over the world.
The Department’s faculty teaches and conducts research on a wide variety of topics: urban politics, public policy, elections and voting behavior, environmental justice, women in development, African politics, Caribbean and Latin American politics, Pan-Africanism, conflict and conflict resolution, democratization, religion and politics, and U.S. foreign policy.
Our graduate curriculum begins with facts and knowledge of the political experience of black people in the U.S., the plight of marginalized and oppressed people; we seek a thorough understanding of global political experiences. The contradictions of the U.S. and other political-economic systems are analyzed from an interdisciplinary perspective that promotes deepened theoretical understandings, a search for alternatives, and positive social changes. Utilizing a scholar-activist paradigm, the department seeks to carry out its program through a pattern of human relationships which stress openness, honesty, and a cooperative spirit.
Mission
In harmony with university goals, the mission of the Department of Political Science is to intertwine rigorous academic study, community involvement, and a progressive global vision through innovative education in political science at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. We cater to a student body that is predominantly African American, but which also includes a significant percentage of international students from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, the Americas, and Europe.
Central to its mission, the Department continues to play a leading role in producing graduates holding B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in political science. Our graduates teach and work all around the world. The Department of Political Science is one of only two such departments in Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) offering the doctorate degree in political science.
Vision
The vision of the Department of Political Science is to be the major center for black political scholarship in the United States and to become a center of political understanding for change for the disadvantaged of the world.