<p>What are the differences in emphasis between
the two schools? Which is better when it comes
to US elections, internships...</p>
<p>Many thanks,</p>
<p>Ottoline</p>
<p>I'm sure that Haverford has an excellent Poli Sci department. However, you would be hard pressed to find a better LAC poli sci department than Swarthmore's. Social sciences, across the board, are a specialty at Swarthmore. They produce more future PhDs per graduate than any other college or university in Poli Sci, Econ, and all social sciences combined.</p>
<p>Swarthmore students are politically involved on many levels. A current student ran the internet operations for Joe Sestek's winning House race in November. A Swarthmore grad is chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Another was the Democratic nominee for President a few years back.</p>
<p>Here's the per capita PhD production in Poli Sci for your reading pleasure:</p>
<p>Number of PhDs per 1000 graduates </p>
<p>Academic field:Political Science and Government</p>
<p>PhDs and Doctoral Degrees: ten years (1994 to 2003) from NSF database
Number of Undergraduates: ten years (1989 to 1998) from IPEDS database </p>
<p>
10 Swarthmore College<br>
8 Haverford College<br>
8 Princeton University<br>
7 Pomona College<br>
7 Harvard University<br>
7 University of Chicago<br>
7 Oberlin College
7 Williams College<br>
7 Reed College<br>
6 Wesleyan University
6 Bryn Mawr College<br>
5 University of the South
5 Whitman College
5 Amherst College
5 Yale University
5 College of Wooster<br>
5 Stanford University
5 Georgetown University<br>
5 Claremont McKenna College<br>
5 Carleton College<br>
4 Smith College<br>
4 Middlebury College<br>
4 Franklin and Marshall College<br>
4 Tougaloo College<br>
4 Wellesley College<br>
4 Occidental College<br>
4 Brown University<br>
4 Lawrence University
4 Harvey Mudd College
4 United States Coast Guard Academy<br>
4 Earlham College
4 Kenyon College<br>
4 Knox College<br>
4 Brandeis University
</p>
<p>Dear Interesteddad,</p>
<p>I am most appreciative of your help!
Thanks so much.</p>
<p>Ottoline</p>
<p>Interesteddad or others in the know,</p>
<p>Is there similar data out there about the best environmental studies
depts ... </p>
<p>Appreciate your time and wisdom,</p>
<p>Ottoline</p>
<p>
[quote]
Is there similar data out there about the best environmental studies depts ...
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Just to be clear, statistics about PhD productivity should not be used to make conclusions about "best". There are many factors that contribute to a school producing high rates of future PhDs, not the least of which is the campus culture itself. The data should be viewed as descriptive; it's not a ranking.</p>
<p>Frankly, I don't know of a top LAC with a bad Poli Sci department. That would be like a grocery store with a bad bread aisle.</p>
<p>Swarthmore Poli Sci department has people like James Kurth, Kenneth Sharpe who are known nationally. James Kurth was named as someone with the best political writing in 2004 alongside people like Thomas Friedman, NYTimes Op-ed columnist. And some up-and-coming people (people whose opinions I see in NYTimes op-ed pages) like Dominick Tierney. This latter guy also has a book that has been well-received nationally. My son has a class with Tierney and thinks he is good.</p>
<p>I would also add that the emphasis on public policy related topics extends well beyond the Poli Sci department at Swarthmore. The History department, Econ department, Sociology/Anthropology department, Education department, Engineering department, Religion department, and language departments ALL offer courses that specifically address difficult policy issues both in the US and internationally.</p>
<p>For example, this course in Ethics and Religion. This covers topics including abortion, euthanasia, stem cell research, war, international politics, the environment, gender and sexuality, capitalism. Readings include both liberal and conversative viewpoints as well as politicians as varied as Mario Cuomo and Pat Buchanon. Note that the written assingments are all in the form of weekly "letters to the editor" and major papers in the form of op-ed pieces:</p>
<p>
[quote]
Religious Ethics in the Modern World:
Love, Law, and Justice</p>
<p>Religion 55
Spring Semester 2007
Trotter Room 301
11:30-12:20
Instructor: Elliot Ratzman</p>
<p>The Purpose of this Course:
This course will introduce you to a limited number of debates within contemporary Christian (and Jewish) ethics. It is my hope that you will leave the course with a sense of the rich intellectual tradition of Christian and Jewish moral reasoning and a sense of how it has (or does) translate into political action. </p>
<p>Goals:
By the end of this course, you should be conversant in the major themes, figures, and language of contemporary Christian (and some Jewish) ethics. You should be able to rehearse some major arguments and identify the positions of the major players. You should also be able to write a good letter to the editor, and an insightful op-ed piece.</p>
<p>Ideology:
Religious commitment is not a prerequisite for this course, and is not required to succeed. We will be listening in on debates within contemporary religious ethics. The field is huge, so I have narrowed it down to a taste of mostly American and Christian positions. I have chosen materials that are interesting and off-beat. With such a short semester, I couldn’t fit everything in. If there is an issue you want to learn about I will help provide materials, even lead an extra session. My position on the material is not relevant for your grade. My positions on the issues, if you can figure them out, will not serve as an ideological measuring stick for grading. I do, however, expect that the language of the assignments be responsible. The life and work of Paul Farmer will serve as our backdrop and we will be referring to him throughout the semester. </p>
<p>Writing:
This will be an exercise in public writing. Most of the assigned readings are primary sources, academic articles, or religious academics writing about ethics. Your writing, however, should be geared towards a public. It should aim for clarity, accuracy, insight, wit, and brevity. Your letters to the editor will be addressed to the various articles, chapters, and books we are reading. Letters should be posted, with name, on the Blackboard site by the assigned day and time. Within the next few class sessions, I will provide more information on writing op-eds, letters to the editor, etc.</p>
<p>** Letters to the editor should be posted on blackboard by Thursday evening, giving everyone a chance to view the letters and comment on them by Friday’s class. **</p>
<p>Classroom Experience:
This course will also be an exercise in civil discourse. The instructor will be taking on a variety of voices, playing the ventriloquist, in order to provoke learning. This means that “offense” should be expected, greeted as a challenge, and worked with creatively. Between students, however, you will be expected to speak with the highest forms of civility and grace to each other and with each other. This may mean saying things like “well, if one holds that abortion is murder, than one etc. etc.” Though these issues should provoke your passionate engagement, your flesh-and-blood fellow students and fellow citizens deserve civility and respect. </p>
<p>Class time will be partially lecture – I will discuss some of the intellectual and historical background that I didn’t have you read – and partially discussion and debate. These issues are hot so I expect lively discussions. </p>
<p>Extra
For Those students who are up for the challenge, I will be offering an optional reading session of Jeffrey Stout’s Democracy and Tradition. This is a difficult, but rewarding book by a secular commentator on Christian ethics and culture. Sometime near the end of the semester, we will have a session with Stout on his book. </p>
<p>Grading:
Participation/Attendance: 15%<br>
Weekly “letters to the editor”: 20%
First Op-Ed (750 words): 20%
Second Op-Ed (750 words): 20%
Final Comprehensive Exam: 25%</p>
<p>Required Texts</p>
<p>Tracy Kidder, Mountains Beyond Mountains.
Stanley Hauerwas, The Peaceable Kingdom: A Primer in Christian Ethics.
Dionne, Elshtain, Drogosz (eds), Is the Market Moral? A Dialogue on Religion, Economics, and Justice.
Michael Walzer (ed) Law, Politics, and Morality in Judaism.
Wiegel, The Cube and the Cathedral.
Dionne, Elshtain, Drogosz (eds) Liberty and Power: A Dialogue on Religion US Foreign Policy in an Unjust World.
Portmann (ed) In Defense of Sin.
[/quote]
</p>