Political Science Mission, Vision, and Values

Mission Statement:

The WSU Political Science Department strives to embody and cultivate the habits and skills of clear thought, rigorous analysis, and effective argumentation in writing and speech. We examine politics at all levels: institutions, small groups, voters, social and political organizations, towns and cities, economic systems, countries, nations, transnational flows, and global environmental systems.

Vision Statement:

Political science as a discipline is uniquely equipped to the cultivation of knowledgeable and participatory members of their communities. When students complete our major or one of our minors they will be empowered to be agents of change in their communities, nations, and the world at large. We contribute to the college, university, region, and state by examining critical questions about power and public life from local, national, transnational, global, and comparative perspectives in partnership with students and members of the community. We do so to foster the capacities of engaged and critical community members who actively pursue questions and meanings of political community, and civic life.  We fully support Weber State University’s commitment to quality teaching (WSU mission statement), and consistently support that broader mission in transforming lives by meeting all students where they are, and challenging and guiding them to achieve their goals academically and in life.  We provide a safe and welcoming learning environment with experienced faculty where students are encouraged to think critically about the world and its problems and to interact intellectually with one another and their professors.

Values:

We are committed to undergraduate education and strive to maintain the highest intellectual standards, to stimulate political discussion from the abstract and theoretical to the immediately practical, and to encourage students to incorporate critical political viewpoints into their everyday lives and careers.