James Madison College
Encyclopedia
This article is about the public-policy college at Michigan State University
. For the similarly named institution in Virginia
, see James Madison University
.
James Madison College is a college of public affairs
and international relations
within Michigan State University
in East Lansing
, Michigan
. It was founded in 1967, "with a vision of creating a residential college
merging the best attributes of a small college with an undergraduate education focusing on public affairs
and firmly rooted in liberal arts
"; the college was named after James Madison
in honor of his role in writing the United States Constitution
, the Bill of Rights
, and the Federalist Papers
(which form part of the College's core curriculum). Originally considered experimental, the college has since come to be recognized as among the best in the nation.
The college was developed as part of MSU president John A. Hannah
's attempts to increase the profile of the university and to capitalize off of the international and federal government
contacts developed by the otherwise ignominious MSU Vietnam Project
.
The Lyman Briggs College was also founded in 1967 on the same general principle as James Madison College, though teaching the natural sciences rather than public policy and political theory. A playful rivalry has since developed between the two colleges. A third college on the same general model and focusing on the humanities
, the Residential College in Arts & Humanities
, opened in 2007.
The administrative and faculty offices, classrooms, seminar rooms, and the library for the college are housed completely in Case Hall, where all James Madison students (also called "Madisonites" or "Madisonians") are required to live during their freshman year. About 320 students are admitted into the college each year, with the total student body currently around 1150. Classes in the college are small, with an average of 25 students, and are taught almost exclusively by tenure
track faculty
with PhDs or occasionally PhD candidates. Due to the restricted class size, enrollment in required courses can quickly fill up and many students find themselves on waiting lists.
James Madison College also has a relatively large number of academically successful students; about 15% of its students are in the Honors College
and the college generally represents about 35% of the Phi Beta Kappa
graduates at MSU each year (while representing only about 4% of the total graduates). Madison boasts numerous major award recipients, including Rhodes, Truman, Fulbright and Marshall Scholars to name a few.
: Identity and Community: An Approach to Writing (MC 111-112), and Introduction to the Study of Public Policy (MC 201-202), respectively. The first semester of Introduction to the Study of Public Affairs (MC 201) notably introduces its students to the Federalist Papers
and Alexis de Tocqueville
's Democracy in America
every year; together, these texts are often seen as a sort of "Madison Bible." All majors require two years of foreign language, two semesters of economics (which unlike the other requirements may be fulfilled through Advanced Placement or similar credit), and one Field Experience internship. The Field Experience requirement can be waived under some circumstances, including completing an approved Study Abroad program, having prior professional work experience, or completing a Senior Honors Thesis as part of the JMC Honors Program. Petitions for substitution of Field Experience are approved on a case-by-case basis.
All James Madison majors are known by abbreviations among members of the Madison community.
and Constitution
al Democracy
(PTCD) probes the major competing principles that have animated political communities and attempts to translate them into practice and the complex fundamental questions in trying to sort out values
and principles
that have been most important to mankind. Questions what it means to flourish as a human being, what the rights
and responsibilities
of good citizens are, what the best way of life is for society
as a whole. The program seeks not to pretend to have the definitive answers to these questions, but rather to teach students how to think about these concepts and how to approach these questions in a productive and intellectually exciting way.
To achieve this, the Political Theory and Constitutional Democracy curriculum
is designed to be both philosophical
and historical. Course readings range from Plato
and the classical poets
to contemporary political theory, literature, and U.S. Supreme Court decisions
. The introductory course sequence is not a conventional survey of political theory, but introduces students to a theoretical way of thinking about politics and morality
, tracking the development of Western political thought over time from its origins in ancient Greek city-state
, its revival in the Florentine republic
, and its coalescence into the modern liberal democratic
consensus during the Enlightenment
, which they can then use as a basis of comparison in analyzing the American experience. Other required "core" courses confront students with the most systematic justifications philosophers have offered for one or another conception of justice and also the most challenging, sometimes unorthodox objections to grand theories of justice
, including those of Jean-Jacques Rousseau
, Karl Marx
, and Friedrich Nietzsche
. In senior seminars, students can critically explore a focused topic in depth in such a way that many of the themes and questions that have been raised by the curriculum may be viewed in a new light. In addition, a wide range of electives, including courses on technology, religion and politics (including, recently, political Islam
), the Supreme Court and African-American political thought, are available to allow students to pursue more specialized interests relevant to the general concerns of the field.
Political Theory curriculum is designed as coherent yet flexible, with required courses carefully sequenced and built on one another. There is a relatively small number of required courses in the junior and senior year, which, combined with the flexibility of other Political Theory requirements, enables upperclass students to use the curriculum as the basis for a program that integrates their interests inside and outside James Madison College. After graduation, Political Theory majors have gone on directly to work in a wide variety of public and private sector jobs. Many Political Theory graduates go on to graduate or professional school in law, business
, philosophy
, and political science
. From there, their paths have taken many different turns, for example, serving in the Michigan Legislature
, as Solicitor General of the State of Ohio
, as Budget Director of the State of Michigan
, as Executive Director of the Michigan Democratic Party
, and teaching at major universities and small liberal arts colleges.
The aforementioned features of the PTCD program make it relatively easy to pursue a dual major; many students combine a PTCD major with a major in another Madison core or a major in a disciplinary department
. In recent years, PTCD students have dual majored in biochemistry
, criminal justice
, economics
, English
, history, mathematics
, philosophy
, political science
, physics
, psychology
, religion
, secondary education
, sociology
, and theater.
PTCD was originally entitled Justice
, Morality
, and Constitutional Democracy (JMCD); the program was renamed and modified in 1991. It has, over its history, been accused of and praised for Straussian
tendencies, and Allan Bloom
(whose translation of Plato is in currency within PTCD) in particular praised the PTCD curriculum in a visit before his death.
(IR) curriculum is designed to achieve both breadth and depth. It is organized around international security
and conflict resolution
; international
political economy
; global governance; foreign policy
of the United States
and other countries; and comparative, regional and cultural studies.
The curriculum encourages students to think creatively about a variety of issues, such as what constitutes "national security
," the social consequences
of modernization
, the causes and likely consequences of ethno-nationalism
, how the United States arrives at foreign policy decisions, and how is that different from how foreign policies are made in other countries and the strengths and weaknesses of each. It addresses the impact of protectionist
foreign trade
policies, how national, regional and international political, social, and economic factors interact in the transition to a post-cold war global order, the impact of the United Nations
and other international organization
s, the effects of weapons and communications technologies on world politics, and the means by which national defense policies have been implemented since the end of World War II
. Some classes use case studies
in which students examine real or hypothetical foreign policy dilemmas and developing solutions to them, while others use evidence about the importance of theories and models for comprehending and influencing world events.
(SRP) major explores the domain of public issues
that are especially affected by relations among groups. It is explicitly historical and comparative, looking at social relations in the United States and internationally, over time. Courses focus on the sociology, history, and politics of intergroup relations, paying close attention to the interplay of such factors as class, race, ethnicity, sex/gender, religious belief and national identity. The program uses the study of social relations as a way to cultivate reasoning, methodological and analytical skills and the capacities for empathetic observation, normative judgment and effective problem solving.
The sophomore sequence provides the conceptual, methodological and substantive bases for upper division work by introducing students to classical and contemporary social theory
and comparative social history
, and to quantitative and qualitative methodologies. The junior level builds on these skills to assess, in depth, a set of social problems and policy solutions. A senior seminar provides an opportunity to synthesize course work and undertake original research. Students also select from a broad range of electives to develop their expertise and understanding including opportunities for more international and comparative work, greater political analysis, and deeper understanding of particular forms of social relations. A related area requirement is broadly constructed to shape the major in a way that is responsive to individual interests and academic purpose.
Substantively, courses in Social Relations take up issues such as social identity
, inequality
and mobility
, wealth and poverty, assimilation and pluralism, prejudice and discrimination, intergroup conflict and cooperation, the problem of civil rights
and the politics of equality. Students develop knowledge in such areas as immigration
, race and ethnic relations
, civil rights, family and children, housing and residential segregation
, urban and metropolitan policy, schooling and educational policy, social security and social welfare policies. They can go into careers such as labor relations
, human resources administration
, law, teaching
, educational administration, public lobbying
, and many others.
than the other majors, and rather than having a single faculty associated with it, the CCP faculty draws on professors from the Social Relations and Policy and International Relations majors in addition to those who teach exclusively within the major. CCP's focus is on the definition of culture
and its effect on the domestic and international affairs of modern nation-state
s.
The curriculum is divided into comparative studies and transnational studies. The comparative perspective in the curriculum (which informs the fall segment of the sophomore sequence) focuses on issues of nationalism
, national identity
, culture, and politics within individual countries, comparing them along the way. The transnational component (which informs the spring segment of the sophomore sequence) focuses on cultural interaction and cultural conflict. Upper-level courses address topics including identity performance
, post-colonialism, visual culture
, the refugee experience, gender and violent conflict.
s at MSU prior to their recent adoption at the university) to their majors. These are:
and College Democrats; , the College Republicans have begun to meet in Case Hall. James Madison also has its own student senate which acts as a liaison between faculty and students. Various other political groups — such as the university chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union
, the Young Democratic Socialists
, and the MSU chapter of the Young Americans for Freedom
; all meet in Case Hall and have a disproportionately Madison membership. Many Madison students are also involved in Model United Nations
, including a competitive travelling team as well as a high school MUN conference held on campus every spring.
While not currently a professor at the college, Pulitzer Prize
-winning conservative columnist George Will
was one of Madison's first professors of Political Theory
.
Michigan State University
Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...
. For the similarly named institution in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, see James Madison University
James Madison University
James Madison University is a public coeducational research university located in Harrisonburg, Virginia, U.S. Founded in 1908 as the State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Harrisonburg, the university has undergone four name changes before settling with James Madison University...
.
James Madison College is a college of public affairs
Public administration
Public Administration houses the implementation of government policy and an academic discipline that studies this implementation and that prepares civil servants for this work. As a "field of inquiry with a diverse scope" its "fundamental goal.....
and international relations
International relations
International relations is the study of relationships between countries, including the roles of states, inter-governmental organizations , international nongovernmental organizations , non-governmental organizations and multinational corporations...
within Michigan State University
Michigan State University
Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...
in East Lansing
East Lansing, Michigan
East Lansing is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located directly east of Lansing, Michigan, the state's capital. Most of the city is within Ingham County, though a small portion lies in Clinton County. The population was 48,579 at the time of the 2010 census, an increase from...
, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. It was founded in 1967, "with a vision of creating a residential college
Residential college
A residential college is an organisational pattern for a division of a university that places academic activity in a community setting of students and faculty, usually at a residence and with shared meals, the college having a degree of autonomy and a federated relationship with the overall...
merging the best attributes of a small college with an undergraduate education focusing on public affairs
Public administration
Public Administration houses the implementation of government policy and an academic discipline that studies this implementation and that prepares civil servants for this work. As a "field of inquiry with a diverse scope" its "fundamental goal.....
and firmly rooted in liberal arts
Liberal arts
The term liberal arts refers to those subjects which in classical antiquity were considered essential for a free citizen to study. Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic were the core liberal arts. In medieval times these subjects were extended to include mathematics, geometry, music and astronomy...
"; the college was named after James Madison
James Madison
James Madison, Jr. was an American statesman and political theorist. He was the fourth President of the United States and is hailed as the “Father of the Constitution” for being the primary author of the United States Constitution and at first an opponent of, and then a key author of the United...
in honor of his role in writing the United States Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
, the Bill of Rights
United States Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rights is the collective name for the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. These limitations serve to protect the natural rights of liberty and property. They guarantee a number of personal freedoms, limit the government's power in judicial and other proceedings, and...
, and the Federalist Papers
Federalist Papers
The Federalist Papers are a series of 85 articles or essays promoting the ratification of the United States Constitution. Seventy-seven of the essays were published serially in The Independent Journal and The New York Packet between October 1787 and August 1788...
(which form part of the College's core curriculum). Originally considered experimental, the college has since come to be recognized as among the best in the nation.
The college was developed as part of MSU president John A. Hannah
John A. Hannah
John Alfred Hannah was president of Michigan State College for 28 years, making him the longest serving of MSU's presidents. He is credited with transforming the school from a little-known, regional agricultural college into a large national research institution...
's attempts to increase the profile of the university and to capitalize off of the international and federal government
Federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
contacts developed by the otherwise ignominious MSU Vietnam Project
Michigan State University Vietnam Advisory Group
The Michigan State University Vietnam Advisory Group was a program of technical assistance provided to the government of South Vietnam as an effort in state-building by the U.S...
.
The Lyman Briggs College was also founded in 1967 on the same general principle as James Madison College, though teaching the natural sciences rather than public policy and political theory. A playful rivalry has since developed between the two colleges. A third college on the same general model and focusing on the humanities
Humanities
The humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....
, the Residential College in Arts & Humanities
Residential College in Arts & Humanities
The Residential College in Arts & Humanities is a new residential college at Michigan State University in East Lansing Michigan. Founded October 21, 2005, the college provides around 600 undergraduates with an individualized curriculum in the liberal, visual and performing arts...
, opened in 2007.
The administrative and faculty offices, classrooms, seminar rooms, and the library for the college are housed completely in Case Hall, where all James Madison students (also called "Madisonites" or "Madisonians") are required to live during their freshman year. About 320 students are admitted into the college each year, with the total student body currently around 1150. Classes in the college are small, with an average of 25 students, and are taught almost exclusively by tenure
Tenure
Tenure commonly refers to life tenure in a job and specifically to a senior academic's contractual right not to have his or her position terminated without just cause.-19th century:...
track faculty
Faculty (university)
A faculty is a division within a university comprising one subject area, or a number of related subject areas...
with PhDs or occasionally PhD candidates. Due to the restricted class size, enrollment in required courses can quickly fill up and many students find themselves on waiting lists.
James Madison College also has a relatively large number of academically successful students; about 15% of its students are in the Honors College
Michigan State University Honors College
The Michigan State University Honors College was established in 1956 to provide more academic opportunities to students of Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan for distinguished students and to emphasize academic challenge and achievement...
and the college generally represents about 35% of the Phi Beta Kappa
Phi Beta Kappa Society
The Phi Beta Kappa Society is an academic honor society. Its mission is to "celebrate and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences"; and induct "the most outstanding students of arts and sciences at America’s leading colleges and universities." Founded at The College of William and...
graduates at MSU each year (while representing only about 4% of the total graduates). Madison boasts numerous major award recipients, including Rhodes, Truman, Fulbright and Marshall Scholars to name a few.
Majors
Majors are chosen at the end of the freshman year, during which all students are required to take yearlong introductory courses in writing and public affairsPublic administration
Public Administration houses the implementation of government policy and an academic discipline that studies this implementation and that prepares civil servants for this work. As a "field of inquiry with a diverse scope" its "fundamental goal.....
: Identity and Community: An Approach to Writing (MC 111-112), and Introduction to the Study of Public Policy (MC 201-202), respectively. The first semester of Introduction to the Study of Public Affairs (MC 201) notably introduces its students to the Federalist Papers
Federalist Papers
The Federalist Papers are a series of 85 articles or essays promoting the ratification of the United States Constitution. Seventy-seven of the essays were published serially in The Independent Journal and The New York Packet between October 1787 and August 1788...
and Alexis de Tocqueville
Alexis de Tocqueville
Alexis-Charles-Henri Clérel de Tocqueville was a French political thinker and historian best known for his Democracy in America and The Old Regime and the Revolution . In both of these works, he explored the effects of the rising equality of social conditions on the individual and the state in...
's Democracy in America
Democracy in America
De la démocratie en Amérique is a classic French text by Alexis de Tocqueville. A "literal" translation of its title is Of Democracy in America, but the usual translation of the title is simply Democracy in America...
every year; together, these texts are often seen as a sort of "Madison Bible." All majors require two years of foreign language, two semesters of economics (which unlike the other requirements may be fulfilled through Advanced Placement or similar credit), and one Field Experience internship. The Field Experience requirement can be waived under some circumstances, including completing an approved Study Abroad program, having prior professional work experience, or completing a Senior Honors Thesis as part of the JMC Honors Program. Petitions for substitution of Field Experience are approved on a case-by-case basis.
All James Madison majors are known by abbreviations among members of the Madison community.
Political Theory and Constitutional Democracy
Political TheoryPolitical philosophy
Political philosophy is the study of such topics as liberty, justice, property, rights, law, and the enforcement of a legal code by authority: what they are, why they are needed, what, if anything, makes a government legitimate, what rights and freedoms it should protect and why, what form it...
and Constitution
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...
al Democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
(PTCD) probes the major competing principles that have animated political communities and attempts to translate them into practice and the complex fundamental questions in trying to sort out values
Value (personal and cultural)
A personal or cultural value is an absolute or relative ethical value, the assumption of which can be the basis for ethical action. A value system is a set of consistent values and measures. A principle value is a foundation upon which other values and measures of integrity are based...
and principles
Ethics
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
that have been most important to mankind. Questions what it means to flourish as a human being, what the rights
Individual rights
Group rights are rights held by a group rather than by its members separately, or rights held only by individuals within the specified group; in contrast, individual rights are rights held by individual people regardless of their group membership or lack thereof...
and responsibilities
Social responsibility
Social responsibility is an ethical ideology or theory that an entity, be it an organization or individual, has an obligation to act to benefit society at large. Social responsibility is a duty every individual or organization has to perform so as to maintain a balance between the economy and the...
of good citizens are, what the best way of life is for society
Society
A society, or a human society, is a group of people related to each other through persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or virtual territory, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations...
as a whole. The program seeks not to pretend to have the definitive answers to these questions, but rather to teach students how to think about these concepts and how to approach these questions in a productive and intellectually exciting way.
To achieve this, the Political Theory and Constitutional Democracy curriculum
Curriculum
See also Syllabus.In formal education, a curriculum is the set of courses, and their content, offered at a school or university. As an idea, curriculum stems from the Latin word for race course, referring to the course of deeds and experiences through which children grow to become mature adults...
is designed to be both philosophical
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
and historical. Course readings range from Plato
Plato
Plato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
and the classical poets
Greek philosophy
Ancient Greek philosophy arose in the 6th century BCE and continued through the Hellenistic period, at which point Ancient Greece was incorporated in the Roman Empire...
to contemporary political theory, literature, and U.S. Supreme Court decisions
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
. The introductory course sequence is not a conventional survey of political theory, but introduces students to a theoretical way of thinking about politics and morality
Morality
Morality is the differentiation among intentions, decisions, and actions between those that are good and bad . A moral code is a system of morality and a moral is any one practice or teaching within a moral code...
, tracking the development of Western political thought over time from its origins in ancient Greek city-state
Polis
Polis , plural poleis , literally means city in Greek. It could also mean citizenship and body of citizens. In modern historiography "polis" is normally used to indicate the ancient Greek city-states, like Classical Athens and its contemporaries, so polis is often translated as "city-state."The...
, its revival in the Florentine republic
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
, and its coalescence into the modern liberal democratic
Liberal democracy
Liberal democracy, also known as constitutional democracy, is a common form of representative democracy. According to the principles of liberal democracy, elections should be free and fair, and the political process should be competitive...
consensus during the Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
, which they can then use as a basis of comparison in analyzing the American experience. Other required "core" courses confront students with the most systematic justifications philosophers have offered for one or another conception of justice and also the most challenging, sometimes unorthodox objections to grand theories of justice
Justice
Justice is a concept of moral rightness based on ethics, rationality, law, natural law, religion, or equity, along with the punishment of the breach of said ethics; justice is the act of being just and/or fair.-Concept of justice:...
, including those of Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer of 18th-century Romanticism. His political philosophy influenced the French Revolution as well as the overall development of modern political, sociological and educational thought.His novel Émile: or, On Education is a treatise...
, Karl Marx
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
, and Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a 19th-century German philosopher, poet, composer and classical philologist...
. In senior seminars, students can critically explore a focused topic in depth in such a way that many of the themes and questions that have been raised by the curriculum may be viewed in a new light. In addition, a wide range of electives, including courses on technology, religion and politics (including, recently, political Islam
Islamism
Islamism also , lit., "Political Islam" is set of ideologies holding that Islam is not only a religion but also a political system. Islamism is a controversial term, and definitions of it sometimes vary...
), the Supreme Court and African-American political thought, are available to allow students to pursue more specialized interests relevant to the general concerns of the field.
Political Theory curriculum is designed as coherent yet flexible, with required courses carefully sequenced and built on one another. There is a relatively small number of required courses in the junior and senior year, which, combined with the flexibility of other Political Theory requirements, enables upperclass students to use the curriculum as the basis for a program that integrates their interests inside and outside James Madison College. After graduation, Political Theory majors have gone on directly to work in a wide variety of public and private sector jobs. Many Political Theory graduates go on to graduate or professional school in law, business
Businessperson
A businessperson is someone involved in a particular undertaking of activities for the purpose of generating revenue from a combination of human, financial, or physical capital. An entrepreneur is an example of a business person...
, philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
, and political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
. From there, their paths have taken many different turns, for example, serving in the Michigan Legislature
Michigan Legislature
The Michigan Legislature is the legislative assembly of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is organized as a bicameral body consisting of the Senate, the upper house, and the House of Representatives, the lower house. Article IV of the state's Constitution, adopted in 1963, defines the role of the...
, as Solicitor General of the State of Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, as Budget Director of the State of Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, as Executive Director of the Michigan Democratic Party
Michigan Democratic Party
The Michigan Democratic Party is the state-level party of the United States Democratic Party in Michigan. It is based in Lansing. Mark Brewer is the current Party Chair.-Current officeholders:...
, and teaching at major universities and small liberal arts colleges.
The aforementioned features of the PTCD program make it relatively easy to pursue a dual major; many students combine a PTCD major with a major in another Madison core or a major in a disciplinary department
Academic department
An academic department is a division of a university or school faculty devoted to a particular academic discipline. This article covers United States usage at the university level....
. In recent years, PTCD students have dual majored in biochemistry
Biochemistry
Biochemistry, sometimes called biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes in living organisms, including, but not limited to, living matter. Biochemistry governs all living organisms and living processes...
, criminal justice
Criminal justice
Criminal Justice is the system of practices and institutions of governments directed at upholding social control, deterring and mitigating crime, or sanctioning those who violate laws with criminal penalties and rehabilitation efforts...
, economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
, English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, history, mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
, philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
, political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
, physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
, psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
, religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
, secondary education
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
, sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
, and theater.
PTCD was originally entitled Justice
Justice
Justice is a concept of moral rightness based on ethics, rationality, law, natural law, religion, or equity, along with the punishment of the breach of said ethics; justice is the act of being just and/or fair.-Concept of justice:...
, Morality
Morality
Morality is the differentiation among intentions, decisions, and actions between those that are good and bad . A moral code is a system of morality and a moral is any one practice or teaching within a moral code...
, and Constitutional Democracy (JMCD); the program was renamed and modified in 1991. It has, over its history, been accused of and praised for Straussian
Leo Strauss
Leo Strauss was a political philosopher and classicist who specialized in classical political philosophy. He was born in Germany to Jewish parents and later emigrated to the United States...
tendencies, and Allan Bloom
Allan Bloom
Allan David Bloom was an American philosopher, classicist, and academic. He studied under David Grene, Leo Strauss, Richard McKeon and Alexandre Kojève. He subsequently taught at Cornell University, the University of Toronto, Yale University, École Normale Supérieure of Paris, and the University...
(whose translation of Plato is in currency within PTCD) in particular praised the PTCD curriculum in a visit before his death.
International Relations
The International RelationsInternational relations
International relations is the study of relationships between countries, including the roles of states, inter-governmental organizations , international nongovernmental organizations , non-governmental organizations and multinational corporations...
(IR) curriculum is designed to achieve both breadth and depth. It is organized around international security
International security
International security consists of the measures taken by nations and international organizations, such as the United Nations, to ensure mutual survival and safety. These measures include military action and diplomatic agreements such as treaties and conventions. International and national security...
and conflict resolution
Conflict resolution
Conflict resolution is conceptualized as the methods and processes involved in facilitating the peaceful ending of some social conflict. Often, committed group members attempt to resolve group conflicts by actively communicating information about their conflicting motives or ideologies to the rest...
; international
International political economy
International political economy , also known as global political economy, is an academic discipline within the social sciences that analyzes international relations in combination with political economy. As an interdisciplinary field it draws on many distinct academic schools, most notably ...
political economy
Political economy
Political economy originally was the term for studying production, buying, and selling, and their relations with law, custom, and government, as well as with the distribution of national income and wealth, including through the budget process. Political economy originated in moral philosophy...
; global governance; foreign policy
Foreign policy
A country's foreign policy, also called the foreign relations policy, consists of self-interest strategies chosen by the state to safeguard its national interests and to achieve its goals within international relations milieu. The approaches are strategically employed to interact with other countries...
of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and other countries; and comparative, regional and cultural studies.
The curriculum encourages students to think creatively about a variety of issues, such as what constitutes "national security
National security
National security is the requirement to maintain the survival of the state through the use of economic, diplomacy, power projection and political power. The concept developed mostly in the United States of America after World War II...
," the social consequences
Social change
Social change refers to an alteration in the social order of a society. It may refer to the notion of social progress or sociocultural evolution, the philosophical idea that society moves forward by dialectical or evolutionary means. It may refer to a paradigmatic change in the socio-economic...
of modernization
Modernization
In the social sciences, modernization or modernisation refers to a model of an evolutionary transition from a 'pre-modern' or 'traditional' to a 'modern' society. The teleology of modernization is described in social evolutionism theories, existing as a template that has been generally followed by...
, the causes and likely consequences of ethno-nationalism
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
, how the United States arrives at foreign policy decisions, and how is that different from how foreign policies are made in other countries and the strengths and weaknesses of each. It addresses the impact of protectionist
Protectionism
Protectionism is the economic policy of restraining trade between states through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, restrictive quotas, and a variety of other government regulations designed to allow "fair competition" between imports and goods and services produced domestically.This...
foreign trade
International trade
International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories. In most countries, such trade represents a significant share of gross domestic product...
policies, how national, regional and international political, social, and economic factors interact in the transition to a post-cold war global order, the impact of the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
and other international organization
International organization
An intergovernmental organization, sometimes rendered as an international governmental organization and both abbreviated as IGO, is an organization composed primarily of sovereign states , or of other intergovernmental organizations...
s, the effects of weapons and communications technologies on world politics, and the means by which national defense policies have been implemented since the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Some classes use case studies
Case study
A case study is an intensive analysis of an individual unit stressing developmental factors in relation to context. The case study is common in social sciences and life sciences. Case studies may be descriptive or explanatory. The latter type is used to explore causation in order to find...
in which students examine real or hypothetical foreign policy dilemmas and developing solutions to them, while others use evidence about the importance of theories and models for comprehending and influencing world events.
Social Relations and Policy
The Social Relations and PolicySocial relation
In social science, a social relation or social interaction refers to a relationship between two , three or more individuals . Social relations, derived from individual agency, form the basis of the social structure. To this extent social relations are always the basic object of analysis for social...
(SRP) major explores the domain of public issues
Public administration
Public Administration houses the implementation of government policy and an academic discipline that studies this implementation and that prepares civil servants for this work. As a "field of inquiry with a diverse scope" its "fundamental goal.....
that are especially affected by relations among groups. It is explicitly historical and comparative, looking at social relations in the United States and internationally, over time. Courses focus on the sociology, history, and politics of intergroup relations, paying close attention to the interplay of such factors as class, race, ethnicity, sex/gender, religious belief and national identity. The program uses the study of social relations as a way to cultivate reasoning, methodological and analytical skills and the capacities for empathetic observation, normative judgment and effective problem solving.
The sophomore sequence provides the conceptual, methodological and substantive bases for upper division work by introducing students to classical and contemporary social theory
Social theory
Social theories are theoretical frameworks which are used to study and interpret social phenomena within a particular school of thought. An essential tool used by social scientists, theories relate to historical debates over the most valid and reliable methodologies , as well as the primacy of...
and comparative social history
Social history
Social history, often called the new social history, is a branch of History that includes history of ordinary people and their strategies of coping with life. In its "golden age" it was a major growth field in the 1960s and 1970s among scholars, and still is well represented in history departments...
, and to quantitative and qualitative methodologies. The junior level builds on these skills to assess, in depth, a set of social problems and policy solutions. A senior seminar provides an opportunity to synthesize course work and undertake original research. Students also select from a broad range of electives to develop their expertise and understanding including opportunities for more international and comparative work, greater political analysis, and deeper understanding of particular forms of social relations. A related area requirement is broadly constructed to shape the major in a way that is responsive to individual interests and academic purpose.
Substantively, courses in Social Relations take up issues such as social identity
Social identity
A social identity is the portion of an individual's self-concept derived from perceived membership in a relevant social group. As originally formulated by Henri Tajfel and John Turner in the 1970s and 80s, social identity theory introduced the concept of a social identity as a way in which to...
, inequality
Economic inequality
Economic inequality comprises all disparities in the distribution of economic assets and income. The term typically refers to inequality among individuals and groups within a society, but can also refer to inequality among countries. The issue of economic inequality is related to the ideas of...
and mobility
Social mobility
Social mobility refers to the movement of people in a population from one social class or economic level to another. It typically refers to vertical mobility -- movement of individuals or groups up from one socio-economic level to another, often by changing jobs or marrying; but can also refer to...
, wealth and poverty, assimilation and pluralism, prejudice and discrimination, intergroup conflict and cooperation, the problem of civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
and the politics of equality. Students develop knowledge in such areas as immigration
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
, race and ethnic relations
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
, civil rights, family and children, housing and residential segregation
Residential Segregation
Residential segregation is the physical separation of cultural groups based on residence and housing, or a form of segregation that "sorts population groups into various neighborhood contexts and shapes the living environment at the neighborhood level."...
, urban and metropolitan policy, schooling and educational policy, social security and social welfare policies. They can go into careers such as labor relations
Labor relations
Industrial relations is a multidisciplinary field that studies the employment relationship. Industrial relations is increasingly being called employment relations because of the importance of non-industrial employment relationships. Many outsiders also equate industrial relations to labour relations...
, human resources administration
Human resources
Human resources is a term used to describe the individuals who make up the workforce of an organization, although it is also applied in labor economics to, for example, business sectors or even whole nations...
, law, teaching
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
, educational administration, public lobbying
Lobbying
Lobbying is the act of attempting to influence decisions made by officials in the government, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying is done by various people or groups, from private-sector individuals or corporations, fellow legislators or government officials, or...
, and many others.
Comparative Cultures and Politics
The college's newest major, Comparative Cultures and Politics (CCP) opened for entry in the 2007-2008 academic year. It deals with the similarities and differences between cultures, and how cultures and the interaction between them affects politics and policy. CCP puts a much more explicit emphasis on interdisciplinarityInterdisciplinarity
Interdisciplinarity involves the combining of two or more academic fields into one single discipline. An interdisciplinary field crosses traditional boundaries between academic disciplines or schools of thought, as new needs and professions have emerged....
than the other majors, and rather than having a single faculty associated with it, the CCP faculty draws on professors from the Social Relations and Policy and International Relations majors in addition to those who teach exclusively within the major. CCP's focus is on the definition of culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
and its effect on the domestic and international affairs of modern nation-state
Nation-state
The nation state is a state that self-identifies as deriving its political legitimacy from serving as a sovereign entity for a nation as a sovereign territorial unit. The state is a political and geopolitical entity; the nation is a cultural and/or ethnic entity...
s.
The curriculum is divided into comparative studies and transnational studies. The comparative perspective in the curriculum (which informs the fall segment of the sophomore sequence) focuses on issues of nationalism
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
, national identity
National identity
National identity is the person's identity and sense of belonging to one state or to one nation, a feeling one shares with a group of people, regardless of one's citizenship status....
, culture, and politics within individual countries, comparing them along the way. The transnational component (which informs the spring segment of the sophomore sequence) focuses on cultural interaction and cultural conflict. Upper-level courses address topics including identity performance
Identity Performance
In everyday interactions, the body serves as a critical site of identity performance. In conveying who we are to other people, we use our bodies to project information about ourselves. This is done through movement, clothes, speech, and facial expressions. What we put forward is our best effort at...
, post-colonialism, visual culture
Visual culture
Visual Culture as an academic subject is a field of study that generally includes some combination of cultural studies, art history, critical theory, philosophy, and anthropology, by focusing on aspects of culture that rely on visual images.- Overview :...
, the refugee experience, gender and violent conflict.
Specializations
James Madison College offers its students the opportunity to add specializations (approximately equivalent to minorAcademic minor
An academic minor is a college or university student's declared secondary field of study or specialization during his or her undergraduate studies. As with an academic major, the college or university in question lays out a framework of required classes or class types a student must complete to...
s at MSU prior to their recent adoption at the university) to their majors. These are:
- Political economyPolitical economyPolitical economy originally was the term for studying production, buying, and selling, and their relations with law, custom, and government, as well as with the distribution of national income and wealth, including through the budget process. Political economy originated in moral philosophy...
: Adding courses in economicsEconomicsEconomics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
and economic policyEconomic policyEconomic policy refers to the actions that governments take in the economic field. It covers the systems for setting interest rates and government budget as well as the labor market, national ownership, and many other areas of government interventions into the economy.Such policies are often...
, typically coupled with International Relations (international political economyInternational political economyInternational political economy , also known as global political economy, is an academic discipline within the social sciences that analyzes international relations in combination with political economy. As an interdisciplinary field it draws on many distinct academic schools, most notably ...
is, with security studiesSecurity StudiesThis article refers to the discipline within the field of International Relations. For the study of security management see security management studiesSecurity Studies is an academic sub-field of the wider discipline of International Relations...
, one of the main branches of IR) or PTCD. - Science, Technology, Environment, and Public Policy Specialization (STEPPS): Focus on the history of science, the philosophy of sciencePhilosophy of scienceThe philosophy of science is concerned with the assumptions, foundations, methods and implications of science. It is also concerned with the use and merit of science and sometimes overlaps metaphysics and epistemology by exploring whether scientific results are actually a study of truth...
and the implications of technology on policy, as well as scienceScience policyScience policy is an area of public policy concerned with the policies that affect the conduct of the science and research enterprise, including the funding of science, often in pursuance of other national policy goals such as technological innovation to promote commercial product development,...
and environmental policyEnvironmental policyEnvironmental policy is any [course of] action deliberately taken [or not taken] to manage human activities with a view to prevent, reduce, or mitigate harmful effects on nature and natural resources, and ensuring that man-made changes to the environment do not have harmful effects on...
. The program is conducted in conjunction with the Lyman Briggs College and the MSU Department of Fisheries and Wildlife. - Muslim Studies: Area studiesArea studiesArea studies are interdisciplinary fields of research and scholarship pertaining to particular geographical, national/federal, or cultural regions. The term exists primarily as a general description for what are, in the practice of scholarship, many heterogeneous fields of research, encompassing...
in the Muslim worldMuslim worldThe term Muslim world has several meanings. In a religious sense, it refers to those who adhere to the teachings of Islam, referred to as Muslims. In a cultural sense, it refers to Islamic civilization, inclusive of non-Muslims living in that civilization...
, with a focus on the political dynamics of the region and the role of political Islam. - Western European studies: Area studies in Western EuropeWestern EuropeWestern Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
, with a focus on European integrationEuropean integrationEuropean integration is the process of industrial, political, legal, economic integration of states wholly or partially in Europe...
and the workings of the European UnionEuropean UnionThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
.
Student life
James Madison College students play a prominent role in the political life of Michigan State University. Madison students form the majority of the leadership of both the Michigan State College RepublicansCollege Republicans
The College Republican National Committee is a national organization for college and university students who support the Republican Party of the United States...
and College Democrats; , the College Republicans have begun to meet in Case Hall. James Madison also has its own student senate which acts as a liaison between faculty and students. Various other political groups — such as the university chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." It works through litigation, legislation, and...
, the Young Democratic Socialists
Young Democratic Socialists
Young Democratic Socialists is a democratic socialist youth organization in the United States. It is the youth section of the Democratic Socialists of America, whose political outlook it shares, and the American affiliate of the International Union of Socialist Youth...
, and the MSU chapter of the Young Americans for Freedom
Young Americans for Freedom
Young Americans for Freedom is a 501 non-profit organization and is now a project of Young America's Foundation. YAF is an ideologically conservative youth activism organization that was founded in 1960, as a coalition between traditional conservatives and libertarians...
; all meet in Case Hall and have a disproportionately Madison membership. Many Madison students are also involved in Model United Nations
Model United Nations
Model United Nations is an academic simulation of the United Nations that aims to educate participants about current events, topics in international relations, diplomacy and the United Nations agenda....
, including a competitive travelling team as well as a high school MUN conference held on campus every spring.
Notable graduates
- Richard CordrayRichard CordrayRichard Cordray is an American politician of the Democratic Party who last served as the Attorney General of Ohio. He has been chosen to run the enforcement division of the United States Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which officially began operating in July 2011...
, former Ohio State TreasurerOhio State Treasurer-List of Ohio State Treasurers:...
and Ohio Attorney GeneralOhio Attorney GeneralThe Ohio Attorney General is the chief legal officer of the State of Ohio in the United States. The office is filled by general election, held every four years. The Ohio Attorney General is Mike DeWine.-History:... - Wallace B. JeffersonWallace B. JeffersonWallace Bernard Jefferson is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas. His current term ends on December 31, 2014.- Historic judicial appointments and election :Jefferson has three times made Texas judicial history...
, Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme CourtTexas Supreme CourtThe Supreme Court of Texas is the court of last resort for non-criminal matters in the state of Texas. A different court, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, is the court of last resort for criminal matters.The Court is composed of a Chief Justice and eight Associate Justices...
. - Dayne WallingDayne Walling-Public and Business Life:Walling was a founder and president of the Flint Club.-Political career:In 2007, Walling ran against Don Williamson in the mayoral race losing to Williamson...
, Mayor of Flint, MichiganFlint, MichiganFlint is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is located along the Flint River, northwest of Detroit. The U.S. Census Bureau reports the 2010 population to be placed at 102,434, making Flint the seventh largest city in Michigan. It is the county seat of Genesee County which lies in the... - Michael W. McConnellMichael W. McConnellMichael William McConnell is a constitutional law scholar who served as a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit from 2002 until 2009. Since 2009, Judge McConnell has served as Director of the Stanford Constitutional Law Center at Stanford Law School...
, a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth CircuitUnited States Court of Appeals for the Tenth CircuitThe United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* District of Colorado* District of Kansas...
and a constitutional law scholar. - Teresa A. SullivanTeresa A. SullivanDr. Teresa Ann Sullivan is the current president of the University of Virginia. She was unanimously elected on January 11, 2010, and became the University's first female president on August 1, 2010...
, former Provost University of MichiganUniversity of MichiganThe University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
, Ann Arbor; current President of the University of VirginiaUniversity of VirginiaThe University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson... - John P. WaltersJohn P. WaltersJohn P. Walters is the former Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy . He held that position from December 7, 2001 to January 20, 2009. As the nation's "Drug Czar," Mr...
, Director of the Office of National Drug Control PolicyOffice of National Drug Control PolicyThe White House Office of National Drug Control Policy , a former cabinet level component of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, was established in 1989 by the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988...
(U.S. Drug CzarDrug CzarDrug Czar is an informal name for the person who directs drug-control policies in the United States, following the U.S. use of the 'czar' term. The 'drug czar' title was first published in a 1982 news story by United Press International which reported that “Senators... voted 62–34 to establish a...
) under George W. BushGeorge W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
.
Notable professors
- Mohammed AyoobMohammed AyoobMohammed Ayoob is a Distinguished Professor of International Relations at Michigan State University's James Madison College and the Department of Political Science. He is also Coordinator of the Muslim Studies Program at Michigan State University. Within international relations theory he is known...
, a Distinguished Professor of International Relations and Coordinator of MSU's Muslim StudiesIslamic studiesIn a Muslim context, Islamic studies can be an umbrella term for all virtually all of academia, both originally researched and as defined by the Islamization of knowledge...
Program. - Lisa Cook, Assistant Professor of International Relations and Economics and member of the Obama-Biden transition teamPresidential transition of Barack ObamaThe presidential transition of Barack Obama began when he won the United States presidential election on November 4, 2008, and became the President-Elect. He was formally elected by the Electoral College on December 15, 2008...
on Economics and International Trade. - Sherman Garnett, Dean of James Madison College. A former senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International PeaceCarnegie Endowment for International PeaceThe Carnegie Endowment for International Peace is a foreign-policy think tank based in Washington, D.C. The organization describes itself as being dedicated to advancing cooperation between nations and promoting active international engagement by the United States...
, and expert on arms controlArms controlArms control is an umbrella term for restrictions upon the development, production, stockpiling, proliferation, and usage of weapons, especially weapons of mass destruction...
and post-Communist security policy questions. He is a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of DefenseUnited States Department of DefenseThe United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia, and received the Defense Department's Medal for Distinguished Civilian Service in 1994. Dean Garnett is himself a JMCD graduate of the College.
While not currently a professor at the college, Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
-winning conservative columnist George Will
George Will
George Frederick Will is an American newspaper columnist, journalist, and author. He is a Pulitzer Prize-winner best known for his conservative commentary on politics...
was one of Madison's first professors of Political Theory
Political philosophy
Political philosophy is the study of such topics as liberty, justice, property, rights, law, and the enforcement of a legal code by authority: what they are, why they are needed, what, if anything, makes a government legitimate, what rights and freedoms it should protect and why, what form it...
.