News and Events

The Department of Political Science is delighted to announce that Dr. Gaea Morales will join the department in the Fall semester of 2026. Dr. Morales earned her Ph.D. in Political Science and International Relations from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles in 2025 and will spend the 2025-2026 academic year as a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University before joining Loyola. Dr. Morales studies how global norms translate into local action, focusing on cities and the governance and politics of transboundary challenges such as climate change as it intersects with transnational human rights movements.​ Learn more about her research here.

Professor Sarah Maxey's book, Doves into Hawks, is forthcoming with Oxford University Press. You can learn more here.

Going to war is dangerous, costly, and questionable in its effectiveness. Yet majorities of the US public consistently support military interventions--a phenomenon that has generally been attributed to the mobilizing power of threats to US security. In fact, to justify every US military intervention in the post-Cold War era, presidents have cited not just national security, but also protecting foreign civilians.

Doves into Hawks shows that protecting US interests is not enough to make war popular. Military interventions must also appear to have a humanitarian dimension. By emphasizing this dimension, presidents give traditional "doves" a reason to become temporary "hawks," creating a broad domestic coalition of support for military action. In turn, this coalition holds leaders accountable for achieving both humanitarian and security outcomes. Combining analysis of original data on presidential justifications for military force with survey experiments and archival research of the Gulf War and US action in Bosnia, Sarah Maxey reshapes our understanding of how, with the right words, leaders persuade skeptics to approve of military action and the unexpected ways this tactic can be good for democracy.

The Department of Political Science will be offering seven courses in the summer of 2026. They are all online and registration opens on February 9th.

Check out all the details here: 2026 Summer PLSC courses

First Session (May 18-June 26)

PLSC 103 - Comparative Politics with Prof. Cunha Silva

PLSC 300A - Inequality & American Democracy with Prof. Condon

PLSC 326 - American National Security with Prof. Maxey

Second Session (June 29-August 7)

PLSC 101 - American Politics with Prof. Markarian

PLSC 102 - International Relations in the Age of Globalization

PLSC 300A - Hollywood & Politics with Prof. Savage

PLSC 358 - War, Peace, and Politics with Prof. Melin

To access a PDF of course offerings for Fall 2026 click the following link:2026 Fall -- PLSC Undergraduate Courses.pdf

Internships in Political Science

Do you want to get internship experience, earn course credit AND fulfill your engaged learning requirement?

The Political Science Internship Course lets you do just that! You find the internship that fits your interests (broadly related to political science), and we'll help you connect that real-world experience to your academic and professional goals. Whether you're interning with a campaign, a nonprofit, a legal office, or a public agency, this course gives you credit for your work and supports you in getting the most out of it. 

Below is a sample of internship opportunities:

• The Democratic Party of DuPage County is looking for summer interns: Interns will play a hands-on role in building Democratic energy in DuPage County ahead of the 2026 Midterm Election. Opportunities include knocking doors, community outreach, supporting candidates, helping rally Democrats to vote this fall, and assisting with events, social media, website updates, postcard-writing parties, and other grassroots organizing activities. This is an unpaid program with a time commitment of 10–20 hours per week. The schedule and dates are flexible. High school students, college students, and recent graduates are welcome to apply. There are two virtual info sessions about the summer internship program on Wed. April 29 at 12pm and 6pm CT.

• Bill Quinlan for Mayor of Chicago is currently accepting applications for its Volunteer Fellowship Program. Through this program, students will have an opportunity to learn the fundamentals of campaign field work and work to help elect the next mayor of Chicago. Students will gain valuable hands-on experience while working under the guidance of experienced campaign staff. Apply here: Quinlan Fellowship Program.

• Are you a student interested in impacting the future of science and technology in government? Apply to become a Summer 2026 Paragon Policy Fellow and work at the forefront of tech policy with state and local governments across the US! Paragon is an entry-level, part-time fellowship for students to explore and gain experience in tech policy work while making meaningful contributions to local and state government tech infrastructure. Working just 8-10 hours per week, our team will teach you how to approach problem-solving in policy and governance while collaborating with a team of 6-8 Fellows to research and create deliverables for your government partner. Past fellows have worked on issues such as AI-supported language access, broadband access, ethical technology procurement standards, and third-party cybersecurity risk management. Paragon is a flexible, project-based experience tailored to fit your busy schedule. Therefore, the majority of our program operates outside of typical working hours. The program will run from Sunday May 27, 2026 to Friday August 21, 2026. If you have any questions, please email apply@paragonfellowship.org, 
  
  Applications are now open on Airtable until April 30th, 2026 at 8:59pm PT / 11:59pm ET!
  
  To learn more about this opportunity, visit paragonfellowship.org/students. Have questions? Join us at one of our Info Sessions or Application Office Hours: 
  
  • • West Coast Info Session: 24 April, 2026, 6:00-7:00pm PT (9:00-10:00pm ET) (Register 🛰️Telegram飞机号/电报 | +58委内瑞拉 电话注册 | 注册半年左右 | 成品号 | API接码登录 | 任何设备可用)
    • Office Hours: 29 April, 2026, 9:00-10:00pm ET (6:00-7:00pm PT) (Register 🛰️Telegram飞机号/电报 | +58委内瑞拉 电话注册 | 注册半年左右 | 成品号 | API接码登录 | 任何设备可用)

Interested? Have questions? Please contact Prof. Grigorescu at agrigor@luc.edu for more information.

We encourage all students at Loyola to register in the Blackbaud system: https://luc.academicworks.com/users/sign_in.

This system allows you to browse and apply for scholarships and other awards at the university.

It can also "auto-match" you with funding! Yes, it's true: you may receive funding to support your education simply by creating an account so you can be auto-matched. It only takes a few minutes!