She Blinded Me with Political Science
by Ron Seyb, Joseph C. Palamountain, Jr. Chair in Government
The era of Big Government Department is over at Skidmore. After more than 60 years of service to the commonwealth, the Skidmore Government Department has responded to James Madison’s suggestion that “It might be nice, it might be nice to get political science on your side” by becoming the Skidmore Political Science Department.
To commemorate this turning of the Department’s world upside down, the college purchased T-shirts for the Department’s graduating seniors and its retired faculty and staff. Current faculty members bought their T-shirts because they have been in the exquisitely crossed-stitched vest pocket of the casual outdoor clothing lobby for too long (just witness the urban sombreros scattered about their offices). This group donned their T-shirts for a picture in Porter Plaza on Friday, April 29. The crowd was festive, both because it was excited about the new moniker and because it was told that a cake was coming.
Three considerations prompted the name change:
- Testimony by graduating seniors and alums that “political science” was less likely to be misinterpreted by prospective employers and judgmental family and friends;
- The faculty’s conviction that “political science” better captures what they do in the classroom and in their scholarship; and
- Faculty and students’ desire to capture more accurately the range of questions they ask, phenomena they study, and methods and approaches they ply.
The Skidmore Political Science Department’s members expect this name change to be
forever. But they understand that it can go down in flames. They will be able to tell
only when it is over if the high was worth the pain. The one thing of which they
are confident is that they now have a blank space and they’ll write your names...
new political science students.
(Editor's Note: For more on the Department Formerly Known As Government, its unprecedented
change to "Political Science" and — bonus feature — an autobiographical recounting
of Professor Ron Seyb's trip to the National Cowgirl Museum, listen along to Episode
5 of "This Is Skidmore" podcast below...)
