Service learning in political science is driven by a commitment to expanding what is meant by civic education. Following this tradition, this article presents an example of a course informed by critical service learning centered in a grassroots social movement. Partnered with the California Domestic Workers Coalition and the National Domestic Workers Alliance, this course involved students in direct political engagement to explore cultural citizenship, the legislative process, and the possibilities and limitations of grassroots movements for social change. Challenging traditional notions of what counts as service and who counts as an expert, the example of this course speaks to the promise of service learning pedagogy as a strategy to connect students in meaningful ways to critical social issues and as a tool for political education.

In spring 2014, an interdisciplinary media project titled “Troubled Waters: Tracing Waste in the Delaware River” was organized at Haverford College. This project brought together more than 50 students from four courses comprising introductory political science, chemistry, and documentary film students, as well as a community media artist and community partners. The aim was to explore the causes, impacts, and meanings of different types of waste that are polluting the Delaware River. Chemistry students collected samples to determine the presence of chemicals from various waste products, political science students traced the waste to globalized production processes, and documentary students explored diverse ways of representing the theme of waste on screen. This article describes the project and how it might serve as a pedagogical model for multicourse interdisciplinary collaboration and community engagement.

Many African politics courses rely heavily on readings authored by North American and European scholars. Scholarly and primary sources written or created by Africans are often underrepresented, and a similar problem persists across regionally focused politics courses. Yet a diversity of sources and perspectives are essential to providing students with a well-rounded understanding of African politics. This article offers a brief argument for the pedagogical benefits of increasing the number of African-authored materials in African politics courses and provides a list of suggested resources for instructors eager to diversify their own courses.

This article describes the creation and implementation of a new online assessment program (“PACKS”) for the department of politics at the University of Virginia. It discusses the benefits of online assessments, including the ease of administration, minimal faculty involvement, ability to link assessment data to existing student data (e.g., GPA and courses completed), and ability to track student progress over time. The assessment can be easily adapted for use by other departments in the social sciences and by other colleges and universities. The authors discuss the drawbacks to this type of assessment, including the challenge of obtaining the highest number of respondents. They recommend using a strong incentive to ensure full participation, such as an advising hold that prevents students from registering until they complete the assessment. The authors contend that implementing survey-based assessment tools is an ideal way for departments to meet their accrediting institutions’ assessment requirements.

Innovative teachers of political science have frequently moved beyond the confines of conventional teaching formats to better engage students with the demands of the discipline. In particular, the use of simulations has been proposed as an alternative to passive, lecture-based techniques, and a growing literature examines their value and efficacy. This article contributes to the literature by describing the development of a simulation that draws on the principles of immersive theater in an attempt to maximize participation while encouraging students to think critically about political concepts and ideas.

American higher-education institutions are under increasing pressure to prepare their students with practical skills for the workplace, and the social sciences—including political science—are not immune. Political figures have suggested—sometimes seconded by academics themselves—that research distracts academics from imparting practical skills to undergraduate students. Using a survey of international relations (IR) scholars, this article shows that this is not the case. Those who spend more time on research actually devote more time to policy-relevant research in their courses than more abstract and theoretical work, and they incorporate more contemporary issues. Research seems to encourage academics to teach their students to fish.