Why liberal arts colleges can often do political science better than big research institutions: A reflection from an Americanist

Abstract

By supporting new course development and by encouraging cross-disciplinary conversations and collaborations, liberal arts colleges can often help political scientists expand their capacities beyond narrow disciplinary "silos," with benefits for faculty and students alike. At the same time, it is important to teach political science students what our own discipline has to offer, to help students understand our discipline's strengths, and to borrow when confronted with moments when explanatory frameworks of the discipline fail. Liberal arts departments begin the training of many future Ph.D.s; however, our job is not only to equip students to do further work within the discipline but also to use its tools to become engaged and astute democratic citizens who can analyze, interpret, and evaluate policies and political developments around them. © 2014 Northeastern Political Science Association.