Dr. Mark Norris, chair of the Department of History and Political Science at Grace College, Winona Lake, Ind., has announced that the school will now offer a political science program of study. The political science major joins the history department, formerly the Department of History and Social Studies.
The Princeton Review and the Higher Education Research Institute reported that political science is the ninth most popular major for undergraduate students in the United States. Norris believes the addition will create further diversity and opportunity within the department, and he foresees a new generation of students coming to Grace who have a vested interest in social justice and who see political science as one way to approach these issues.
Norris explained, “We want to work with these students by giving them new understandings and practical experience. We want to encourage them to engage in a political world that is sometimes exciting, sometimes broken and hurting, but always in need of Christians who will serve others in the name of Christ.”
Available courses will include international politics, state and local government, Islam and the West, introduction to political thought, and religion in America. Grace also plans to continue its current internship opportunities with U.S. Representative Mark E. Souder (R–IN) and U.S. Senator Richard G. Lugar (R–IN) to give students relevant political experience. Students will also have the opportunity to study and intern for a semester in Washington, DC.