Contact Us
Department Chair
John Moser
Chair of the Department of History and Political Science
119 Andrews
419.289.5231
Programs
Understanding the greatest minds and key events of the past is key to becoming an educated citizen and successful future professional. The History program at Ashland University helps you examine the past while building your writing, analysis, and communication skills to give you...
Are you interested in teaching social studies to young minds? Learn how to confidently and competently bring the social sciences to life for the next generation in the Integrated Social Studies Education program at Ashland University.
This major combines the strengths of the College of Arts and Sciences with the...
Take an active role on the global stage in the International Political Studies program at Ashland University.
Are you interested in the fusion between economics and politics? The distinctive Political Economy program at Ashland University combines courses from the College of Arts & Sciences and College of Business & Economics to give you a solid understanding of the many ways politics and economics interact...
Are you a natural leader with an interest in politics or government? Consider the Political Science Program at Ashland University.
There are many hybrid and online master's degree programs available, but how many can combine the rich interaction of a brick-and-mortar classroom with the convenience of learning from home? Ashland University's Master of Arts programs in American History and Government take online learning to the next level. At Ashland, you'll...
Curriculum
Faculty
129, Andrews Hall
419.289.5686 / cburket1@ashland.edu
Department of History & Political Science
122 , Andrews Hall
419.289.5626 / dfoster2@ashland.edu
Department of History & Political Science
113, Andrews Hall
419.289.5895 / djamieso@ashland.edu
Department of History & Political Science
125, Andrews Hall
419.289.5380 / gmcbraye@ashland.edu
Department of History & Political Science
119, Andrews Hall
419.289.5231 / jmoser1@ashland.edu
Department of History & Political Science
124, Andrews Hall
419.289.5335 / rpaddags@ashland.edu
Department of History & Political Science
123, Andrews Hall
419.289.5338 / croger17@ashland.edu
Department of History & Political Science
Ashbrook Center
419.289.5625 / jsikkeng@ashland.edu
Department of History & Political Science
115, Andrews Hall
419.207.4933 / jsteven2@ashland.edu
Department of History & Political Science
117, Andrews Hall
419.289.5709 / dwest6@ashland.edu
Department of History & Political Science
120, Andrews Hall
419.289.5171 / rwyllie@ashland.edu
Department of History & Political Science
Department News
Oxford's Classics program is apparently planning not to make the study of Homer and Vergil compulsory anymore to... Classics majors. This means that the History and Political Science majors in my course this spring on Homer's Iliad and Vergil's Aeneid are getting a better education in the Classics than students of Latin and Greek at Oxford will going forward. Another victory for Ashbrook and Ashland University! Although students don't read these epics in the Greek or Latin original in this course, they do, nevertheless, read the epics, and engage with foundational ideas about honor, courage, heroism, warfare, political power, the nature and role of divine power in human life, the human passions, and the place of human beings in the cosmos. Homer and Vergil's poetic exploration of these themes has continuously elicited responses from the greatest minds of the Western tradition, from Plato, Aristotle, and Cicero to Dante, Milton, and Nietzsche. Among the opponents of the plan to eliminate the Homer and Vergil requirement in Oxford's Classics program is an undergraduate who, in an interview with The Oxford Student, stated the problem quite eloquently: "Removing Homer and Virgil would be a terrible and fatal mistake. {The proposal} would mean that firstly, Oxford would be producing Classicists who have never read Homer and never read Virgil, who are the central authors of the Classical tradition and most of Classical literature, in one way or another, looks back to Homer and interacts with the Iliad. Removing it would be a shame because Homer has been the foundation of the classical tradition since antiquity and it is impossible to understand what comes after him...Read more
Best of Luck to Our Majors Presenting at 2019 URCA!
Kaitlyn Bailey, History, Political Science, & English major
Topic: Answering the Battle Cry of Freedom: Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain and the Call to Noble Action
The aim of Bailey's project is to understand the Civil War experience of Chamberlain, most known for defending Little Round Top at Gettysburg, through his own words. The center of this experience was what Chamberlain labeled the “call to noble action.” By understanding the call to noble action, one can better understand the experiences Chamberlain and his men had during the Civil War.
Naomi Sims, Political Science & Creative Writing major
Topic: The Relationship of Artificial Intelligence and Humanity: Andy, the Analysis of a Screenplay
In her presentation, Sims will explore AI through film as opposed to more formal academic mediums because film provokes thought and introspection by placing the viewer in the shoes of a character. She will discuss the possibility of AI wanting to be human rather than to destroy humanity. AI as human raises philosophical, moral, and political questions which she will seek to answer by creating a fictional world and exploring what those relationships could look like.
Hendrick Stoops, Political Science major
Topic: Power, Politics, & Public: The Sublime & Depraved Uses of Zeppelins in Germany
Stoops' study examines the political influences of and on Zeppelins, particularly in the Weimar and Nazi eras, in order to better understand their importance to the German people and government. He examines primary documents, and three particular ships covered in them, to highlight the links between Zeppelins and sociopolitical identity.
More information about URCA, including full abstracts for each presentation, can be found on their blog....Read more
Democracy needs Education in Ideas
Unlike accounting, marketing or computer programming, which are skills, human rights, a free press and democratic government are ideas. Consequently, if those who believe in democracy don't stay conversant with ideas and how they should influence us, an appreciation of the subtleties that allow democracy to work will dissolve. We're already seeing it every time we turn on the news. Here's the whole column:
Democracy Dies in Materialism and the U.S. is at Risk
Shortly after the inauguration of Donald Trump, in what amounted to an ongoing editorial about his administration, The Washington Post situated the slogan "Democracy Dies in Darkness" right below the paper's masthead. It's a bold pronouncement: not entirely inaccurate, but one that falls far short of encompassing the broader threat to the democratic order in the United States.
It's more accurate to say that democracy dies in materialism, by which I mean our utilitarian attitude today that knowledge is rooted only in marketable skills. It changes our perception of democracy from being a way to secure abstract rights and liberties into a means by which we can have fewer limits on what we obtain, measure each other by what we have and block those who disagree with us.
A materialistic view doesn't equip us to think deeply about human rights, civil rights, the role of government or human flourishing. It cripples our ability to think historically and critically, and so reinforces the tribalism that's already transforming our politics into isolated echo chambers of certainty and hostility.
As a teacher I see this constantly. "I love history and I would major in it, but my parents won't let...Read more
Ashbrook Scholar Program
The Ashbrook Scholarship is a $2,000 annual and renewable scholarship to Ashland University awarded solely on merit to the most promising students interested in studying politics and history. But it’s so much more than that.
There is a sense of honor attached to being called an “Ashbrook Scholar” because one must work hard to win and keep the title. In the course of their four years at Ashland University, Ashbrook Scholars from across the nation undertake a program of courses and activities that challenge their mettle as students and bring out the best qualities of their character.
The broader purpose of the Ashbrook Scholar Program is to educate principled leaders for America’s future by teaching the principles of free government and promoting the civic virtue necessary to maintain it.
The Ashbrook Scholar Program has achieved a national reputation as one of the finest programs for undergraduate students due to the quality of the students it attracts, the superb faculty who teach them in the classroom, and the dedicated staff who devote an extraordinary amount of time to them outside the classroom. These factors, coupled with a comprehensive curriculum that emphasizes the reading of original historical texts and documents, come together to form an undergraduate program in politics and history that cannot be found anywhere else.
Learn more about this opportunity for those who intend to major or minor in history, political science, or integrated social studies education at www.ashbrookscholar.org.
