Our lives are affected by politics every day, and political events are happening all around us. Political Science is the study of politics and power in its many forms, including protest movements and revolutions, law-making and criminal justice, war and international conflicts, human rights violations and efforts to stop them, campaigns and elections in the U.S. and around the world, and competing political ideas and ideologies.
Our courses provide the tools to analyze and understand all of these things and more, and they also help students develop skills in research, analysis, writing, and speaking that are necessary for success in a variety of professions. Our graduates work in nonprofit organizations, international affairs, law, business, education, advocacy groups, and in local, state, and national government.
The GVSU Political Science Department offers Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees in Political Science. We also host an interdisciplinary Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations.
September 23, 2026 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Share about your career journey with current GVSU students! The Majors Fair is a chance for students to explore degrees and career paths before declaring or changing a major. Each major is represented...
September 23, 2026 6:00 PM
Explore the history and evolution of voting rights in the United States, from past struggles to today's challenges. Join the GVSU NAACP for an engaging discussion on the importance of protecting...
September 24, 2026 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Share about your career journey with current GVSU students! The Majors Fair is a chance for students to explore degrees and career paths before declaring or changing a major. Each major is represented...
September 25, 2026 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Laker Con is a three-day comics convention held at the Mary Idema Pew Library at GVSU to celebrate comics literacy and the scholarly merits of sequential storytelling (comics books, graphic novels,...
Olivia Robach (PLS and IR double major) earned a scholarship to join student scholars from around the US to attend the annual conference of the World Affairs Council in Washington, DC in November 2025.
Dec 3, 2025
This spring, Dr. Whitt Kilburn, Associate Professor of Political Science at Grand Valley State University, published Introduction to Political Analysis in R through Chapman and Hall/CRC.
Sep 12, 2025
City Planner/Zoning Administrator for the City of Norton Shores, Michigan
Manager, State Government Affairs, Charter Communications
Business Development Manager at Custer, Inc.
Mayor of Tirana, Albania
Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist for the U.S. State Departments Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA).
Event Coordinator for the U.S. Supreme Court
Research Analyst at the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research
