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Helen Boutrous, Mount St. Mary’s College 
Cynthia Unmack,  American River College 

The Teaching Across the Discipline track explored the ways in which political scientists can enhance student learning through innovative techniques that connect political science to other academic disciplines and co-curricular activities. Participants in the discussion agreed that using such techniques require instructors willing to take a risk. That risk, which may involve borrowing from other disciplines, sharing power with students in the classroom, requiring students to engage with civic leaders, pitting students in debate and competition with each other, and recognizing that political science does not exist in a vacuum, can have great rewards for students and faculty alike. Those rewards include students’ true engagement in the learning process and with it enlightenment on political issues and theories; and for professors, the satisfaction of knowing that they have helped to bring their students “out of the cave.” 

Angela Oberbauer (San Diego Mesa College) demonstrated the difficulty of including controversial legal and social issues in political science classes. Such topics are fraught with long-held stereotypes and opinions based on moral or religious values. Presentations in these areas must therefore be careful to avoid adoption of unsupported assumptions, and include thorough examination of competing views. With sound methodological approaches, topics like the separation of church and state could provide for vigorous and meaningful exploration of constitutional policy and debate.

Ronald Shaiko (Dartmouth College) presented what students experience in Dartmouth’s Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences. The program provides students with curricular and co-curricular programs that promote long-term civic engagement by students. Students, who minor in public policy, complete a summer internship program in Washington, D.C., and take part in a think tank that advises the New Hampshire and Vermont legislatures. The group explored possible replication of the model on a smaller scale through activities such as student-run forums for discussion of current events and politics. Through these experiences students gain skills in public speaking, negotiation, and networking that will serve them well beyond the political science classroom.

Debra Wood (Temple University) also described how engagement with civic leaders can serve the political science student. Rather than relying on classroom instruction alone, she required her State and Local Politics students to conduct profiles, including personal interviews, of local elected officials. Students investigated the issues officials face within their jurisdictions and the views of the constituents these officials answer to. This project not only teaches students about local government processes and issues, but about the diversity of cultures within their state and the benefits of civic engagement.

Christopher Price (The College at Brockport, State University of New York) described the benefits of learner-centered teaching and sharing power with students. Sharing of power could come in the form of allowing student input on decisions such as selection of the course textbook, components included in class projects, or course policies. Ultimate decision-making power is retained by the instructor, but allowing for student input makes for a more “democratic classroom,” in which students learn skills that go beyond the disciplinary content of the course. A democratic approach to power in the classroom will result in students who are better equipped to handle power in the civic arena and in human relationships in general.

Tracy Lightcap (Lagrange College) reported that use of extended simulations can tap into the current rise in political interest of incoming freshmen, stimulate critical thinking and reading, develop research and presentation skills, and increase awareness of other cultures. Using Reacting games, along with preparatory readings, students faced the problem of creating political order, and learned that success in political conflicts is as dependent on ideological justifications and persuasion as it is on force. A formal evaluation of the course based on a survey devised to test how well students were achieving pedagogical goals revealed encouraging success.

Gamal Gasim (Texas Tech University) presented the findings of his study regarding differences of self-determination and motivation among students in the two required political sciences courses at Texas Tech University. The results of the study indicate that political science majors approach learning political science in a different manner than their non-political science major peers. That manner likely lends itself to intrinsic motivation, creativity, and deeper conceptual understanding. Political science majors also reported higher feelings of control over their achievements. These findings could shed light on how political science instructors might increase feelings of autonomy among students and encourage student interest and effective learning.

Two presenters demonstrated how literature can enhance political science courses. John Fliter (Kansas State University) described how he combined the study of law and politics by using classic novels, short stories, plays, parables, and poems. This approach combined the political science, law, and English disciplines to introduce students to the ways in which politics and law affect literature and how literary form and substance can help us understand legal concepts, political values, and the human condition. For example George Orwell’s Shooting an Elephant can be used to explore the nature and consequences of imperialism; “A Jury of Her Peers,” a short story by Susan Keating Glaspell, illustrates the implications of the then male-dominated legal system; and Franz Kafka’s The Trial depicts the terrible consequences of a legal system without due process. George Conner (Missouri State University) explained how he uses a “novel approach” to critically engage students in the study of introductory political science courses. Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 can be used to illuminate Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, Ursula Le Guin’s The Dispossessed provides insight into the basic elements and limits of comparative politics, and Kurt Vonnegut’s Player Piano introduces Weber’s theory of bureaucracy. While novels cannot replace lectures, textbooks, and case studies, novels can effectively complement traditional teaching tools. Both presenters found that crossing the disciplinary line between political science and literature increased student understanding of the topic and the extent to which they actively engaged in class discussion.

All these innovative techniques involve risk taking and a labor-intensive time commitment by the instructor. Projects that involve student interaction with elites require careful preparation. Democratizing the classroom may cause anxiety among students who are unfamiliar with such responsibility. Student debate and competition can lead to a stressful classroom atmosphere and requires sensitive coaching and oversight. Teaching in an area outside one’s specialty requires additional preparation and can require cooperation from other departments on campus. Faculty attempting to incorporate these innovations may sometimes encounter skepticism from other faculty and administration. All participants agreed that these risks and challenges are worth the great rewards to be had from incorporating techniques that engage, entice, and excite our students to learn.