THIS MONTH'S HEADLINES:

  1. FALL 2025 COURSES
  2. ENROLLMENT IN MAJORS
  3. INTERNSHIP IN HARRISBURG
  4. PRE-LAW NEWS
  5. FACULTY IN THE NEWS
  6. FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM PAGES

 1. FALL 2025 COURSES

Here is a list of Political Science, Sociology, and Criminal Justice courses that we intend to offer at Penn State Behrend in Fall 2025.

  • PLSC 001 - American Politics (GS, US)
  • PLSC 003 - Comparing Politics around the Globe (GS, IL)
  • PLSC 007N - Contemporary Political Ideologies (GS/GH)
  • PLSC 014 - International Relations (GS, IL)
  • PLSC 017N - Introduction to Political Theory (GS/GH)
  • PLSC 90 - Introduction to Security (GS)
  • PLSC 120N - State, Society, and Public Policy (GS/GH)
  • PLSC 200N - Government and Politics of Europe (GS/GH, IL)
  • PLSC 210N - Rights in America (GS/GH, US)
  • PLSC 223N - Ethnic and Racial Politics (GS/GH, US/IL)
  • PLSC 458 - Government and Politics of East Asia
  • PLSC 472 - American Constitutional Law
  • PLSC 489 - Public Administration
  • CRIMJ 100 - Introduction to Criminal Justice (GS)
  • SOC 001 - Introductory Sociology (GS)
  • SOC 012/CRIMJ 012 - Criminology (GS)

 2. ENROLLMENT IN MAJORS

Students who are eligible to enroll in a major (usually completion of 30 or more credits, with a GPA of 2.0 or above) are strongly encouraged to do so. If you are of 4th-semester status or later as a Penn State student, you need to enroll in a major right away to receive proper advising and other forms of assistance. If you are a 3rd-semester student, you are usually eligible to enroll in a major.

Students enroll in a major or minor via LionPath and the “Update Academics” tab.

Enrollment in the POLSC major provides at least four benefits:

  1. The ability for academic advisers to make needed degree substitutions, including proper placement of transfer credits on degree audits.
  2. Eligibility to be invited to certain events, such as dinners with alumni and community leaders.
  3. Eligibility for certain awards open only to POLSC majors.
  4. Notifications about certain jobs or internships for POLSC majors.

The Penn State Behrend POLSC major currently has four options:

  1. Politics and Government (General Option) - This option allows students to choose their own concentrations of coursework within Political Science and helps to prepare students for a variety of careers, including government employment, social studies secondary education, activist politics, and graduate school in political science.
  2. Crime and Law - This option requires coursework in criminology and law and helps to prepare students for careers in law or criminal justice, including students planning on law school.
  3. International Relations - This option requires coursework in international politics and comparative politics and prepares students for careers with international institutions or in business in other countries, and for graduate school work in international affairs.
  4. Public Policy - This option requires coursework related to how to make government and policy decisions effectively and prepares students for careers with government offices, businesses, interest groups, or think tanks related to public policy, or in public administration, or for graduate degree programs in public policy or public administration.

Each option requires completion of 36 credits of PL SC courses and 6 credits of general education courses from other relevant fields. To learn the requirements of the options, see the Bulletin listing. 

Lists of approved coursesStudents are allowed to complete more than one option within the POLSC major if the requirements of each option are met.

 3. INTERNSHIP IN HARRISBURG

Penn State Behrend POLSC alumnus Stephen Webb, who works for the General Assembly in Harrisburg, has let us know of the following internship opportunity:

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives Legislative Fellowship Program is currently accepting applications for the Summer 2025 semester. We would greatly appreciate your support in helping us recruit applicants for the program! Applications are due on March 1, 2025.

Our Fellowship Program is based in Pennsylvania’s magnificent Capitol Building in Harrisburg. Fellows are assigned to work in House Standing Committees or House Leadership offices, are compensated for their work (which may also include college credit), and are provided the opportunities to draft and present their own legislation, attend meet-and-greets with various public officials and staff, and tour some of the Commonwealth’s historic public spaces, to name a few.

Qualified applicants will be:

  1. College undergraduate juniors or seniors, graduate students, or law school students;
  2. Enrolled in a Pennsylvania college/university, or a Pennsylvania resident enrolled in an out-of-state institution; and
  3. Pursuing any major with a GPA of 3.0 or higher.

If you know of any college students who would benefit from our Fellowship Program, please feel free to invite them to visit our website at www.pahousefellowship.us. Applications can be submitted to us via email at [email protected].

 4. PRE-LAW NEWS

Pre-Law Adviser Melissa Shirey will hold the following office hours in February in 155 Kochel:

  • Monday, February 3, 2025: 5:30 to 7:30 pm
  • Wednesday, February 12, 2025: 5:30 to 7:30 pm
  • Wednesday, February 19, 2025: 5:30 to 7:30 pm
  • Monday, February 24, 2025: 5:30 to 7:30 pm

Attorney Shirey just began working this month as a senior deputy attorney general with the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office in the Bureau of Consumer Protection’s regional office in Erie.

For students interested in taking the April 2025 LSAT, registration ends February 27, 2025. The registration for the next test date, which is in June 2025, will close on April 22, 2025.

 5. FACULTY IN THE NEWS

Dr. Robert Speel, associate professor of Political Science, was interviewed for an article that appeared in The Philadelphia Inquirer on December 31 titled "Pennsylvania’s political pendulum swung to Republicans in 2024. Will it stay there?”

Dr. Lena Surzhko-Harned, associate teaching professor of Political Science, wrote a piece about the Trump presidency and the Russia-Ukraine war for the Jefferson Educational Society in Erie as part of her scholar-in-residence dispatches.

 6. FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM PAGES

All students and alumni are invited to like the Penn State Behrend Political Science Facebook page, get updated news, and find out about events.

Photos and posters for upcoming events get posted on the Penn State Behrend Political Science Instagram page.