Senior Research

Every political science major is required to enroll in the Senior Seminar course during the senior year. In this class, students research a topic of interest and prepare and present a paper. Over the years, students have researched a variety of topics in the different subject areas of political science.

Qualified students may choose to apply for departmental honors. This is achieved through the Senior Seminar class, along with additional work, including a formal presentation at Susquehanna University's Senior Scholar Day.

In recent years, numerous students have presented their research at professional scholarly conferences such as the Mid-Atlantic Women's Association annual meeting, the Pennsylvania Political Science Association annual meeting and the annual Mid-Atlantic Undergraduate Social Research Conference.

Below is a listing of Senior Seminar projects:

2008–09 Academic Year:

• The Absent American Voters...Last Seen Watching Television 
• Are Partitions the Solution? (To ethnic conflicts, looking at Sudan, Ethiopia, India/Pakistan)
• Blowback: Has Israel's National Security Policy Been Detrimental to Israeli National Security
• Cultural Awareness Training in Counter-Insurgency?
• Elitist Rule in France 
• Food Insecurity in Sub-Saharan Africa: Domestic Agricultural Policies and United States Assistance
• The Frequency of Party Desertion among Citizens and Elected Officials (In terms of voting behavior. How often do people cross party lines?)
• Humans for Sale: A Look at Human Trafficking
• The Impact of the Nonprofit Sector on Decreasing the Use of Child Soldiers: Case Study, Uganda
• An Investigation into the Level of Influence Sporting International Nongovernmental Organizations Have on National Governments 
• Is this Weimar Russia? (Similarities between 1920s Germany and 1990s Russia)
• Islam, Democracy and the Muslim Brotherhood
• Lessons from Hurricane Katrina
• One Army, One Fight: The Modern Military's Many Roles
• The Politics of Zimbabwe: Durable Authoritarianism
• Separatist Movements in Sovereign States 
• U.S. Intervention in Nicaragua, 1909-1933
• Water Scarcity in the Middle East: Politician and Economic Solutions to a Growing Problem
• Women in Micro-Finance: A Safer Bet, A Better Investment

2007–08 Academic Year:

• Attitudes and Political Behavior 
• American Free Trade Agreements: A Comparative Analysis of Perceived Policy Objectives 
• Ethnic Conflict in Europe: Unresolved or Irresolvable? 
• Financing the Future: Micro-Lending and Its Effect on Sustainable Development 
• "Fire and Brimstone": The Impact of Major Political and Social Events on Populace Attitudes and Political Behaviors 
• Hate Speech: Social Sanctions in the U.S. vs. Legal Sanctions in Canada 
• Judicial Selection and the Death Penalty: Does the Merit System Remove Electoral Pressures? 
• Making an Educated Guess: Preferred Heuristic Cues among Subsets of Society 
• Money Matters: Descriptive Representation and Social Class 
• No Child Left Behind: Educational Policy as Republican Party Treason? 
• The Provision of Rehabilitation Programs by Public and Private Prisons 
• Putin's Foreign Policy: Has Success Been Found? 
• Reflections on Market Capitalism 
• The Schengen Acquis 
• Social Policy in Spain 2004-2007 
• Strengthening Social Security and Neoliberal Policy 
• A Treatise on Political Ideologies 
• Turkey and the European Union: More than Just Friends?