About the Department
We believe that understanding political processes, institutions, and ideas is key to an engaged citizenry and fundamental to a thriving democracy. Our curriculum fosters a thoughtful, critical, and active attitude towards politics, civility in public discourse; appreciation for alternative points of view; dialogue across political differences; and global awareness. Our program helps students develop the knowledge-base and skills to independently assess public debate claims and distinguish reasonable political disagreements between well-informed and thoughtful holders of opposed political opinions from unreasonable political disputes.
We support the equality and dignity of all persons in order to establish and promote
an environment in which all can thrive. Visit the American Political Science Association’s
Resources for on Systemic Racism & Social Justice.
Join Us for This Upcoming Event
A Conversation with Nathan Thrall
Tuesday, October 8, 2024
Watch the event recording.
Nathan Thrall will discuss “A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy” with SDSU Political Science Professor Jonathan Graubart. The book won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction. Beyond the events depicted in the book, the conversation will cover current developments in Gaza, the West Bank, and Israel and the challenges of facilitating productive discussion on college campuses.
Nathan Thrall is also the author of "The Only Language They Understand: Forcing Compromise in Israel and Palestine" (Metropolitan Books, 2017). His writing has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Guardian, London Review of Books, and The New York Review of Books and been translated into more than two dozen languages. He spent a decade at the International Crisis Group, where he was director of the Arab-Israeli Project, and has taught at Bard College. He lives in Jerusalem.
Jonathan Graubart is a professor and chair of the SDSU Political Science Department. He is the author of "Jewish Self-Determination beyond Zionism: Lessons from Hannah Arendt and other Pariahs" (Temple University Press 2023). His article “It is Deadly and Oppressive but Is It One State? Assessing the New One-State Reality Paradigm” is forthcoming in Palestine/Israel Review.
Sponsoring SDSU Departments and Programs: Political Science, Mann Public/Foreign Affairs Fund, International Security and Conflict Resolution, Center for Islamic and Arabic Studies, Jewish Studies, Study of Religion, History, Sociology, Fred J. Hansen Peace Chair, Institute for Ethics and Public Affairs, Center for War and Society, Journalism and Media Studies, CAL Dean’s Lecture Fund
Stay Connected With Us
Related Links
The lecture series brings together SDSU alumni who have excelled in the legal field to engage in intimate and insightful panel discussions. Through these discussions, the aim to provide valuable insights, share experiences, and build connections within the legal community.
The center supports and promotes human rights research and education at SDSU, as well as opportunities for engagement with human rights organizations in San Diego County and in the San Diego-Tijuana binational area and beyond.
ISCOR is an innovative, interdisciplinary program designed to provide students with a sophisticated understanding of the political, moral, socio-economic, and cultural dimensions of challenges to global and human security.