Hello, I'm Scott Wyatt president of Southern Utah University.
Thanks for taking the time to explore majors with us.
We want you to discover your passion and talent, so we created this series for you.
Choosing a major may be overwhelming to some of you, these short interviews with professors begin the process.
What major we spotlighting today Ellen?
This is Spotlight on Political Science with Dr. Michael Stathis.
Thank you so much for being with us today. So tell me, what do you love about your field?
Well, part of the complication of this field and part of the fun is
it involves
everyone who lives in this country and
It is a day-to-day thing.
Every time you watch the news invariably,
the story has something to do with politics.
Politics, of course
involve all of us. This is a country that, at least theoretically,
is government by the people and
that's what politics and political science is all about.
So someone who
would be drawn to this area of study would be curious about how things work, why things work?
What other type of student is drawn to this type of major?
I would love every student to
be a minor or do a certificate in international relations
or maybe even major regardless of
what their ultimate plan is. Two of the best students I have ever had
have gone on to study medicine and yet, they major in political science.
Now one might not see a connection there, but
for them it was important
they felt that there were social
responsibilities and a career would come later in
graduate school.
They felt that political science taught them about reality.
What other types of careers do political scientists go into?
Government jobs of all kinds, foreign service, NSA, CIA,
economic advisers, the list goes on and on and on.
Students majoring in political science and science are not limited to running for office or going to law school
although many do and are very successful, but
what you can do with the degree in political science? Well, it's basically a knowledge of
how this country works.
Is there anything else that you think that we should know?
The only thing that I would add is that
students sometimes are too limiting in thinking of what any major can do.
When we speak of an undergraduate degree it's just that, it's
getting the ball rolling.
It's what you do with that undergraduate degree on the next level or in the next stage of life
that is really going to be important now.
We would like to say that political science majors will always have a leg up on everyone else,
it may not always be true, but we like to think so.
Well, thank you so much for being with us today. This has been a Spotlight on Political Science with Dr. Michael Stathis.
