Program Overview

The Department of Political Science is one of the original Departments of this University. We are proud of the legacy that has been left by our emeriti Professors and those others who have come and gone over the past 35 years. We are also extremely proud of the programs that we continue to develop every year. Our full-time and part-time Faculty have consistently responded to the changes in the study and practice of politics in exciting and creative ways. We have always been a "student-centered" Department because we believe that our students must be prepared to enter the workforce with highly developed skills in judgement and communication. The interaction of citizens with their governments takes many forms, and in our Department we have been able to cover the sub-fields of Political Science in spite of our comparatively low number of full-time Faculty appointments. We have also been able to create linkages with those Departments and programs which we feel best complement the formal study of politics. At the center, however, is a solid core of courses that deal with the history of political ideas, Canadian and American government and politics, international relations and comparative government, and finally, public policy and public administration. We continue to attract a solid core of three year and four year students in our Major and Honours programs, as well as a good number of students from other disciplines who wish to minor in Law and Politics, International Law and Politics and in general Political Science.  Our courses are generally highly subscribed even though none of them is considered a "service" course. Our students have created and administer their own very active club, the LUFORUM, which has orchestrated many events on campus, in the city and region as well as sent students to various Model United Nations and Parliaments in Canada and the United States. Our students also have a consistent record for participation in student government at Lakehead and in provincial and national student organizations.

As a Department we are extremely proud of our graduates who consistently go on from Lakehead to achieve degrees and careers  in law, journalism, communications, public relations, business marketing, teaching, international law and diplomacy, and in other areas of service to their communities. We are also extremely proud of the research and publication records of our Faculty members.  Moreover, our Faculty continues to be very active in Lakehead University affairs through their involvement in the Senate, the Board of Governors and other administrative committees and special tribunals and task forces, and through a myriad of volunteer activities in the city of Thunder Bay and in the region of Northwestern Ontario. In short, we are extremely proud of our level of involvement at Lakehead and beyond, and to our commitment to instilling the values of such activities in our interaction with students, colleagues and the administrative structures at Lakehead University.

Cooperation With Other Units

At present the Department of Political Science offers no specifically designated "service" courses to any other Department or unit at the University. However, many students from other Faculties and disciplines take our courses for the Social Science component of their degree requirements. However, we have cross-listed courses with Women's Studies, Northern Studies. Our Department also offers the only concentration of Law courses at the University, which are all taught by local members of the Bar and which are very highly subscribed on a regular basis.