Graduate Study in Political Science at NIU

Occasionally, people ask me about the M.A. and Ph.D. programs in political science at Northern Illinois University.

In addition to the traditional fields of political science, we have Politics and the Life Sciences (Biopolitics) as one of our fields of study. I teach both in Political Theory and in Biopolitics.

In the field of Political Theory, I am one of three regular faculty who teach a wide range of courses over the entire history of political philosophy from Plato to the present. Most of our seminars are organized around the close reading of classic texts. In recent years, we have had graduate seminars on Xenophon, Plato, Aristotle, Thucydides, Aquinas, Machiavelli, Bacon, Hobbes, Locke, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Hume, Adam Smith, Burke, Nietzsche, Lincoln, Tocqueville, and Hayek.

In the field of Biopolitics, I am one of three regular faculty who teach courses in evolutionary psychology, biopolitical theory, biomedical policy, and biotechnology. Our graduate students can also take courses outside the department in biology, psychology, and anthropology.

I have worked with some outstanding students over the years. In recent years, five of the students writing dissertations under me have had their dissertations published as books. They have also had success in securing tenure-track teaching jobs.

Most of our students get their first teaching experience by teaching their own undergraduate courses in our department.

In addition to the financial aid in the department through assistantships, we have regularly had two Earhart Fellowships every year for graduate students in political theory.

More information can be found at NIU's political science website.

Anyone who might want to work with me should contact me directly. I can be reached by email at larnhart@niu.edu.