Mission

The mission of the Department of History, Political Science, and Paralegal Studies is to provide students with a professional education as well as experience and training focused on the development of responsible citizens of the global world. The department creates a learning environment where students pursue individual excellence, develop critical thinking, experience creative conceptualization, acquire competitive field skills and demonstrate knowledge acquisition in relevant social science arenas. The Department offers internship and service opportunities, multiple experiential learning experiences and encourages collegiality and networking through multiple student organization and activity sponsorships. The Department serves the University by providing General Education Core courses, departmental honor courses, alongside major and minor concentrations in History, Political Science, and Paralegal Studies. Students taking the department's courses will learn to access, organize, interpret, and communicate information in both oral and written forms; to process information; to investigate questions, construct knowledge, and draw conclusions; and to generate and assess alternative approaches to problems and making decisions that are both well-informed and justified according to democratic principles. With their similar focus on critical thinking skills, each of the programs in the Department prepares its majors for a wide variety of professions and careers in education, law, business, government, and social services.