>>MEREDITH: I think that there's no typical political science class.
>> SEAN: It's about the institutions in which
politics happen. >>MEREDITH:  Looking at different
historical cases to try and understand
how politics has functioned over time.
>> SEAN: Political science is the type of major
where you can study a little bit of
everything. >>MEREDITH:  You can really dive in deep
with your interests. >>MEREDITH: How is this
particular community affected by an
economic policy? >>MEREDITH: Comparing the conflict
in Northern Ireland to Israel-Palestine.
>> SEAN: How different countries choose whether
or not to go to war with each other.
>>MEREDITH: Looking in depth about how campaigns
work and how to win elections. >> SEAN: What's the
best way to enact change, how do you draw
support for that, and how do you work
within the institutions that already
exist to make that happen? A lot of
people think that political science is
just Democrat versus Republican but that
couldn't be further from the truth. It's
a lot about understanding why things are
the way they are. >>MEREDITH: You're constantly
presented with new information and new
ideas and you're not always told what to
think about those ideas. You have to kind
of process it and think critically about
it and reach your own conclusions.
>> SEAN: Understanding who you are as a person,
understanding the society around you and
understanding your relationship to that
society. I really love the political
science department and a lot of that
comes from the professors. You can tell
that they really really love what they
study and they're really eager to share
that with students. >>MEREDITH: There's just this
intense energy. Everyone is really
prepared and really ready to talk. If
students have differing opinions they
also have the opportunity to kind of
have a discussion. >> SEAN: You get that Catholic
identity intermingled with political
science, so you have that understanding
of the dignity of every single human
being: how do you go from there? And
that's something that I've really
appreciated is that students tend to
bring that perspective to class.
Political science isn't just about
learning about politics it's learning
how to write, how to be persuasive, how to
argue, and also how to have a discussion
with someone you disagree with without
arguing, how to reach a consensus and, you
know, achieve a common goal without
conflict. >>MEREDITH: Notre Dame has such a diverse
range of political beliefs on campus.
You're really forced to question the
things that you were told growing up and
make sure that that's actually what you
believe and you can back that up with
evidence and facts based on what you've
learned in your classes. It helps you be
not just an informed citizen but much
more confident in your own world
view and your perspective going forward.
One of the amazing things about
political science is you can really go
anywhere. >>SEAN: I have friends who have gone on
to work for the government, gone into
consulting, have gone into a non-profit,
gone to grad school or go to law school.
>>MEREDITH: With my degree if I choose to change
directions along the path I'll
definitely be able to do that.
