The Department

With over 170 declared majors, the Government Department is the largest at Smith College which allows us to offer a wide range of courses. Sixteen full-time faculty members, each one a committed teacher and scholar, lead a wide-ranging and lively conversation about politics and government as it is experienced here in the United States and around the world.

We study public opinion, political development, and political economy. We address the concerns of ethnic, racial and political minorities, the role of gender in politics, campaigns and elections, and foreign policy. We examine such fundamental and controversial concepts as justice, democracy, revolution and equality. The depth and breadth of our course offerings reflect Aristotle's claim (which we examine carefully and critically) that the most sovereign and inclusive association is the political association.

We believe the study of politics, like the political association, aims at the highest good, helping each of us to make better sense of the world around us, even as we seek to improve that world for ourselves and for others.

Updated:

September 24, 2007