2021 cycle

https://calstatela.curriculog.com/proposal:6250/form

 

D1 - Fit with the Institutional Mission or Institutional Learning Outcomes (ILO)

The MA program in Political Science trains its graduates to engage in theoretically-based and methodologically-sound academic research that enables them to be thoughtful contributors to political debates and policy discussions. The program also enables graduates to effectively transmit their knowledge to others via teaching, writing, and scholarship. 

These capacities are closely connected to the university’s designated mission and strategic plan, and the university’s institutional learning outcomes. The program contributes to the Strategic Plan’s goal of “engagement, service, and the public good” by ensuring that students have an advanced understanding of political systems in the United States and elsewhere, and the reasons for their distinctive patterns of success and failure. By providing students with a deeper understanding of political institutions, the program enables students to be more effective political actors and intellectual contributors in a democratic society. The program increases student awareness of “how their actions impact society and the environment” by allowing them to understand better both the intended and unintended consequences of institutional design and policy choice. Advanced knowledge in political science improves our graduates’ capacity to successfully link values with policy outcomes and make “socially responsible decisions” that balance diverse social and political goals. 

The MA program also cultivates and amplifies “our students’ unique talents, diverse life experiences, and intellect through engaged teaching, learning, scholarship, research, and public service.” The program prepares students for careers in a wide-range of politics-related occupations, including work as teachers, public servants, elected officials, interest group managers, legislative staff, journalists, and leaders in many different settings. We advance the goals of diversity, inclusion, and community advancement by preparing students from the local area to enter into Ph.D. and other challenging academic programs with confidence and professionalism. Through such activities, the MA program empowers students to pursue life-long civic engagement and leadership in local, national, and global settings.

 

D2 - Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs)

1.Students will develop in-depth understanding of one or more subfields in political science.
1.1 Ability to assess the contributions of major figures in the field
1.2 Understanding of the development of the field over time
1.3 Ability to identify ongoing areas of development and disputation within the field

2. Students will be able to analyze complex political questions utilizing discipline-based theories.
2.1 Ability to integrate theoretical and substantive materials
2.2 Ability to reformulate and adapt theories as part of a substantive investigation

3. Students will develop the skills - including information literacy and oral and written communication - needed to conduct research on politics, and communicate results.
3.1 Effectiveness in presenting research in written form that conforms to the standards of professional academic writing
3.2 Effectiveness in presenting research by means of oral presentations, in both the classroom and other academic settings, that meet professional standards 
3.3 Demonstrate an understanding of how to access and contribute to a variety of information resources
3.4 Ability to evaluate the appropriateness of quantitative or qualitative methods in addressing diverse research problems

4. Students will be able to situate and analyze political activity in local, national, and global contexts.
4.1 Demonstrate awareness of distinct causal factors operating at different levels of politics
4.2 Explain local outcomes in terms of their connection to larger forces operating nationally and globally

5. Students will be able to apply the theories and findings of advanced political science research to contemporary issues and debates.
5.1 Ability to develop policy proposals or institutional reforms utilizing current scholarship