Political Science

https://polisci.utk.edu/

Richard Pacelle, Head

Professors
Fitzgerald, M.R., PhD – Oklahoma
Folz, D.H., PhD – Tennessee
Freeland, P.K., PhD – Wisconsin - Milwaukee
Houston, D.J., PhD – State University of New York (Binghamton)
Kelly, N., PhD – North Carolina
Morgan, J.M., PhD – North Carolina
Nownes, A.J., PhD – Kansas
Nunnally, S., PhD – Duke
Pacelle, R.L., PhD – Ohio State
Prins, B., PhD – Michigan State
Scheb, J., PhD – Florida
Tonn, B., PhD – Northwestern
Zhong, Y., PhD – Kentucky

Associate Professors
Buehler, M., PhD – Texas
Down, I., PhD – North Carolina
Han, K., PhD – UCLA
Hwang, W., PhD – Michigan State
Jones, M., PhD – Oklahoma
Uzonyi, G.J., PhD – Michigan
Wiegand, K., PhD – Duke

Assistant Professors
Christiani, L., PhD – North Carolina (Chapel Hill)
Osei-Kojo, A., PhD – Colorado (Denver)
Schilling, E.U., PhD – Iowa
Widner, K., PhD – Emory

Emeritus Professor
Tonn, B., PhD – Northwestern         

The Department of Political Science offers a variety of courses of general interest to undergraduates, as well as ample opportunity for students to specialize in the study of government and politics. The political science discipline is broad and diverse ranging from the study of campaigns and elections to analysis of political philosophy. Political science gives attention to the theory and practice of government at all levels from local to international, as well as to the complex relationships between social values and the formulation of public policy. As a blend of the theoretical and the practical, political science has much to offer as an undergraduate major and as an elective field for the non-major. It provides a broad liberal arts background for professional careers in law, government service, foreign service, business, journalism, and public school teaching. It offers a good foundation for those wishing to pursue post-graduate study, especially in the fields of law, political science, and public administration. For those interested in specializing in fields outside of law and government, political science courses can contribute significantly to an awareness of public issues and an appreciation of the complexity of modern society.

Five-Year BA/MPPA Program

For qualified students, the Department of Political Science offers a Five-Year Accelerated BA-MPPA program with a BA major in Political Science and a non-thesis MPPA major in Public Policy and Administration. The primary component of the program is that a qualified student may take up to 9 hours of approved graduate courses for their senior undergraduate electives and have them count toward both the BA degree and the MPPA degree. Students are typically considered for conditional admission to the program during, or immediately following, their third year of undergraduate study at UT.

To be considered for conditional admission to the program:

• A student must be a declared Political Science major with a minimum GPA of 3.4, must have completed at least 15 hours of credit in Political Science, and must have completed at least 90 hours of the 120 hours of coursework required for the BA degree with a major in Political Science. A student must provide three letters of recommendation and complete a personal interview with the Department of Political Science.
• Applicants are strongly encouraged, but not required, to have completed ECON 201 * (or ECON 207 *), POLS 301  and POLS 240 . The Department may consider other relevant factors such as an applicant’s work experience and potential for academic success before conditionally admitting a student to the BA-MPPA program.

Conditional admission of a student into the Five-Year BA-MPPA program must be obtained before taking a graduate course that is to be used to satisfy the requirements of both the BA degree and the MPPA degree. Students will be informed of the outcome of their application for conditional admission prior to the beginning of their fourth year of undergraduate study.

A student who is conditionally admitted to the BA-MPPA program may, during his or her fourth year of undergraduate study, complete up to 9 hours of graduate credit that count towards the BA and towards the MPPA requirements, provided that these graduate credit hours were approved both by the Department head (or designee) and by the Graduate School prior to satisfying all requirements for the BA degree.

Conditional admission into the BA-MPPA program does not guarantee acceptance into either the Graduate School or the MPPA program. Students who have been conditionally admitted to the BA-MPPA program must apply for admission to the Graduate School and to the MPPA program during their fourth year of undergraduate study, following the standard application procedure. A GRE score must be submitted as part of the application for admission into any graduate program in the Department of Political Science. Students will be fully admitted to the BA-MPPA program after they have been accepted both by the Graduate School and by the MPPA program.

Once fully admitted to the MPPA program, BA-MPPA students are required to complete the standard curriculum for the MPPA program.

A student will not be eligible for a graduate assistantship until the student has satisfied all of the requirements for the BA degree.