Political Science

Go to: Division of History and Social Sciences

Faculty

Mariela Daby
Comparative politics, distributive politics, social movements, gender, and political participation in Latin America.

Paul Gronke
American politics, elections, public opinion, legislative politics.

Chris Koski
American government, public policy, subnational politics, environmental policy.

Tamara Metz
Political theory, history of political thought.

Alexander H. Montgomery
International relations; network analysis; science, technology, and society.

Fathimath Musthaq
Political economy, central banking, development, financialization, South Asia, Latin America. On sabbatical fall 2025.

Lexi Neame
Political theory, interpretive methods.

Peter J. Steinberger
Political philosophy. On sabbatical 2025-26.

Curriculum

The program in political science is designed to provide a comprehensive introduction to the discipline, viewed as a set of specific strategies for understanding political life. These strategies-which include conceptual, historical, structural, institutional, and behavioral approaches-are considered in the light of their theoretical presuppositions and in terms of their respective research approaches. The emphasis is less on learning the facts of politics than on being able to recognize, evaluate, and use intelligently the intellectual tools of the discipline.

Specifically, the curriculum is designed to provide:

A basic understanding of the modes of inquiry in political science. The department’s distribution requirements and the structure of the introductory course sequence reflect a strong and continuing commitment to this goal. All majors are required to take two of the four empirical introductory courses: POL 220 - Introduction to Global Politics , POL 230 - Introduction to Political Economy , POL 240 - Introduction to International Relations , and POL 260 - Introduction to American Politics and Public Policy . Majors are also required to take at least one political theory course.
Research opportunities. Students are encouraged to explore quantitative and qualitative techniques of data collection and analysis. These efforts may be facilitated by the college’s excellent computer resources and by our access to the vast data archives of the Inter-University Consortium for Social and Political Research.
Specialized knowledge in one or more particular facets of politics. This is provided by the department’s upper-level course offerings and by the senior thesis experience. Students choose two subfields to specialize in by taking at least two courses in each of those subfields (comparative politics, international relations, American politics & public policy, political theory).

Students have found that Reed’s political science program prepares them for careers in academia, government, law, nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations, and other fields. Further information is available in the Center for Life Beyond Reed.

All courses in political science are offered as conferences or lecture/conferences. Some incorporate occasional lectures or a seminar format. Detailed information about advanced placement, transfer credit, study abroad, and other policies is available at reed.edu/poli_sci/.

Interdisciplinary programs associated with political science are environmental studies with a concentration in political science , International Affairs with a Concentration in Political Science , Public Policy with a Concentration in Political Science , and religion/political science .

Programs

Majors

Political Science

Reed College Catalog

Political Science

Faculty

Curriculum

Programs

Courses