Welcome to the Political Science Department

Penn’s Political Science Department is experiencing a renaissance. Over the past decade, our faculty has grown by 50%, an increase in quantity that has been matched by gains in quality. The strength of our faculty in each of four major subfields is being built with an eye to excellence embracing a variety of approaches and methodologies.

Welcome to the Political Science Department

The department’s combination of distinction and diversity has resulted in a rapid expansion of the undergraduate program and a newly invigorated Ph.D. program. Our faculty and graduate students play key roles in numerous centers and organizations across Penn’s campus whose missions bear on topics of interest to political scientists.

Welcome to the Political Science Department

We hope you will explore the website for a glimpse into the variety of our programs, activities, and classes, as well as an introduction to the accomplishments of the people who comprise the Political Science Department at Penn.

News & Announcements

Professors Recognized for Distinguished Teaching

Monday, May 13, 2013

Jeff Green was named a recipient of the Dean's Award for Distinguished Teaching. Yuhua Wang received this year's Henry Teune Award.

Ph.D. Student Perkoski on Boston Bombings

Monday, April 29, 2013
In the Huffington Post, political science Ph.D. Student Evan Perkoski explains that “personal transformations”  help us understand how two “ordinary young men could become terrorists."

Balkan, Perkoski named Rubenstein Memorial Award Winners

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Ph.D. Students Osman Balkan and Evan Perkoski have been awarded the Political Science Department's Alvin Z. Rubenstein Award for distinguished teaching by a graduate student. 

Eleven Political Science Undergraduates Named to Phi Beta Kappa

Monday, April 22, 2013

Please join the Political Science Department in congratulating the eleven students inducted into the Delta Chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. 

More News & Announcements »

University of Pennsylvania
208 S. 37th Street, Room 217
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6215
Phone: (215) 898-7641

Edward Mansfield Chair
Nancy Hirschmann Graduate Chair
John Lapinski Undergraduate Chair