Politics is an art as well as a science. A student can learn much in a class and our classes have much to teach, but “doing politics” is part of a complete political education.
So, the Political Science Department encourages and gives academic credit for public affairs internships, for work with “a political party or public agency.” We ask students who sign up for POLS 497: Public Affairs Internship, to share with us what they have learned; we ask them to write an internship report at the end of their work.
Many of our students write that this was the best part of their POLS education.
Our students have worked in the White House, the United States Senate and House of Representatives, governor’s offices, several state legislatures, executive agencies, and very many election campaigns.
Since 1993 the Political Science Department has also served as Gonzaga’s link to the Washington Semester Program, a highly respected American University undertaking that brings students from nearly a hundred colleges to Washington, D.C., every semester. There students study politics, economics, journalism, and other subjects with the help of Washington insiders. For many of our students this has been the opportunity of a lifetime.
For more information, contact Blaine Garvin, department internship coordinator, or Joe Gardner, department chair.