The Department of Political Science is designed for students who aspire to active leadership roles in promoting a more just society. 

The political science curriculum prepares students for careers in a variety of areas: 

• Teaching and researching at the college level
  
• The legal profession
  
• International affairs 
  
• Foreign service and diplomacy
  
• Public administration and public service
  
• Partisan political activity
  
• African American community grassroots organizations 

Experiential Learning

Political science students are exposed to a variety of experiential learning activities in order to apply the concepts and theories of the classroom to the real world. Students experience the following activities on campus: Departmental meetings, seminars, guest speakers, field trips student newsletters, professional societies, ad club activities.

Internships

Political students are able to take advantage of a large number of internships with agencies located in New Orleans. These internships provide work experience and can be taken for academic credit. Listed below are the various types of internships and examples of placement locations: 

Political Internships: New Orleans City Hall, New Orleans City Council, state and local political campaigns, public service groups. 

Legal Internships: New Orleans City Attorney's Office, Louisiana State Supreme Court, Corporate law divisions, law firms, and public legal defense agencies.

Public Administration Internships: New Orleans city government, Louisiana State agencies in New Orleans and federal government agencies in New Orleans. 

International Affairs Internships: World Trade Center in downtown New Orleans and Port of New Orleans.

Areas of Concentration in Political Science

Political science students can concentrate in one of three areas: 

American National Institutions
Public Law
International Affairs. 

American National Institutions: This provides specialized study in the Congress, the presidency and the courts, as well as political parties, social movements, public opinion, and the mass media.

Public Law: The focus is on law school preparation through courses in the judicial process, mock trial and debate, civil rights and civil liberties, and constitutional law. 

International Affairs: Special study of international relations, comparative politics, foreign policy, and international political economy prepares students for careers in diplomacy. 

Minors

In addition, students may earn a minor in the following fields: 

Public Administration
International Studies
Law and Humanities

The public administration minor requires 18 hours in allied health, business, social sciences, and humanities. The PA minor will learn leadership skills and management techniques in order to pursue careers in government or non-profit business organizations. The curriculum focuses on personnel management, public finance and budgeting, administrative behavior in public organizations, public policy making, program planning, and evaluation. Courses in public administration include: Introduction to Public administration, Public Policy, Environmental Policy, Administrative Behavior, Public Personnel Administration, Public Financial Administration, Program Planning and Evaluation, Seminar and Internship. 

For more information

For more information about majoring in political science at Xavier, please contact the Department of Political Science at 1-504-520-7581 or write us at:

Xavier University of Louisiana
1 Drexel Drive
New Orleans, La. 70125