Reubin O'D. Askew Department of Government
The Reubin O'D. Askew Department of Government at UWF offers Bachelor of Arts degrees in Political Science, Political Science Pre-Law, and International Studies. The department offers Masters of Arts degrees in Political Science and International Affairs. Students may also minor in International Studies, Political Science, Political Science Pre-Law, and Spanish.
About the Program
Our students will gain an understanding of the problems that arise in the pursuit of the good life shared with others; study law, political institutions, and political leadership; learn to assess and compare the performance of regimes; and learn the problems of war, peace and contemporary political issues.
Academic Opportunities
- Internships
- Pi Sigma Alpha, National Honor Society
- Model United Nations
- Moot Court Society
Representative Courses
- American Foreign Policy
- Ancient Political Philosophy
- Constitutional Law
- Democracies
- Dictatorship
- The Founders’s Constitution
- Human Rights
- International Law
- Legislative Process
- Political Economy
Career Opportunities
- Congressional Aide
- Foreign Service Officer
- Intelligence Analyst
- Lawyer
- Legislator
- Lobbyist
- Policy Analyst
- Political Campaign Manager
- Political Consultant
- Teacher
- Think Tank Specialist
Post Election Roundtable
Constitution Day 2023
Wednesday, September 20, 2023
6:00 - 7:30 PM (CT) Building 82
Center for Fine and Performing Arts Music Hall
The 2023 Constitution Day event will feature lecturer, Dr. Keith E. Whittington, the William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Politics in the Department of Politics at Princeton University. Join us as Dr. Whittington presents, “Is the Electoral College a Constitutional Crisis Waiting to Happen?”
All UWF faculty, staff, students and alumni are invited. This lecture is also open to the public.
Dr. Whittington specializes on topics such as American constitutional history, the intersection of politics and law, and American political thought. He has authored Repugnant Laws: Judicial Review of Acts of Congress from the Founding to the Present and Speak Freely: Why Universities Must Defend Free Speech, among other works. Dr. Whittington is the founding chair of Academic Freedom Alliance and a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution. He has been a visiting professor at Harvard Law School, Georgetown University Law Center, and the University of Texas School of Law, and he is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He also served on the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States.
UWF International Studies Student Mentors in National Security Problem Solving Experience
Ty Faist is a UWF student majoring in International Studies with a concentration in Security and Diplomacy. Ty has already taken part in an internship with the Federal Government and worked on projects with the U.S. Military. He says his time at UWF has been incredible, with hardly a dull moment to be found.
In the Spring of 2019, Ty was invited to take part in the second iteration of UWF’s Hacking for Defense course (H4D). H4D takes teams of students and gives them the task of solving real-world problems for military units within the U.S. armed forces, as well as other government entities. At the end of the project, Ty and his team had the opportunity to see their solution tested in a realistic environment and have it meet with the approval of the project sponsors.
In May 2020, Ty became a team mentor for this year’s iteration of H4D while interning for the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC), where he works as an Applied Science Research Assistant working with Geographic Information Systems (GIS). He is also currently preparing for another internship that will have him spending multiple months working for the U.S. State Department at an embassy overseas. Ty says, “Both of these internships have only been made possible by the experience and skills I have gained here at UWF.”
Dr. Jacob Shively's Newest Publication
Dr. Jacob Shively is an associate professor in the Reubin O'D. Askew Department of Government. His 2016 book is entitled Hope, Change, Pragmatism: Analyzing Obama's Grand Strategy.
Donald Trump seemed to scramble American grand strategy. In his first years in office, he sought to break old frameworks, adopt unpredictable plans, and build a more nationalist foreign policy. Did he achieve his goals, or was he constrained by even greater forces than the presidency itself? Dr Shively examines these issues in his 2020 book, Make America First Again: Grand Strategy Analysis and the Trump Administration.