University of Minnesota
Department of Political Science
polisci@umn.edu
612-624-4144


Department of Political Science

Placement

Our department has an excellent record of placing graduates in academic positions. During the past fifteen years virtually all our PhD's who were available for employment have been placed in professional (academic and non-academic) positions. During the 20012-13 job season, of the fifteen students on placement, seven are in tenure-track positions, two are on postdoctoral fellowships, and two are in temporary academic positions and we hope to find permanent positions for them this year. Four more are still waiting to hear about tenure-track or temporary academic positions. Academic appointments in recent years have included private universities such as Duke and Cambridge, public universities such as Wisconsin, Michigan, and North Carolina at Chapel Hill, international universities such as Goteborg (Sweden) and Bogazici (Turkey) and private liberal arts colleges such as Williams College.

Among the reasons for the professional success of our graduates is the high quality of the students themselves, the breadth and depth of the education they receive at Minnesota, and the department's effective efforts in placement.

The faculty's view is that placement is a collective responsibility, rather than the sole responsibility of an adviser. A faculty Director of Placement, currently Professor Howard Lavine, is in charge of placement activities each year, and assists students in finding appropriate academic or non-academic employment. A small stipend is available to enable job candidates to attend conventions when they are seeking employment.

The following is a sampling of where our students have been placed in tenure-track positions over the past few years:

  • Albert Magnus College (2013)
  • Arizona State University West (2013)
  • Brown University Postdoc (2013)
  • Bucknell University (2013)
  • Dartmouth, Dickey Center for International Understanding (Postdoc) (2013)
  • Middle Tennessee State University (2013)
  • Trinity College (CT) (2013)
  • Tulane University (2013)
  • University of Texas, Dallas (2013)
  • University of Tulsa (2013)
  • Holy Cross (2012)
  • Indiana University (2012)
  • John Jay College (CUNY) (2012)
  • Loyola University of Maryland (2012)
  • University of Delaware (2012)
  • Hamline University (2011)
  • Johns Hopkins University (Postdoc) (2011)
  • Randolph College (2011)
  • Rhodes College (2011)
  • St. Anselm College (2011)
  • University of Missouri, St. Louis (2011)
  • Wesleyan University (2010)
  • Texas A&M University (2010)
  • Georgia State University (2010)
  • Istanbul Technical University (2010)
  • University of British Columbia (2010)
  • Mellon Postdoc at Columbia (2010)
  • Dartmouth (Postdoc) (2010)
  • Niehaus Center, Princeton U (Postdoc) (2010)
  • University of Pennsylvania (Postdoc) (2009)
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2009)
  • University of Nebraska (2009)
  • Willamette (2009)
  • Dartmouth (Postdoc) (2009)
  • University of British Columbia
  • University of Michigan Society of Fellows (Postdoc) (2008)
  • Arizona State University (2008)
  • Virginia Commonwealth University (2008)
  • University of San Francisco (2008)
  • Barnard College, Columbia University (2008)
  • Washington State University (2008)
  • University of British Columbia (Postdoc) (2007)
  • Washington State University (2007)
  • University of Kentucky (2007)
  • Miami University of Ohio (2007)
  • San Francisco State (2007)
  • Universidad de los Andes (2007)
  • San Diego State University (2006)
  • San Jose State University (2005)
  • Bilgi University, Turkey (2006)
  • University of Wisconsin, Madison (2005)
  • Goteborg University, Sweden (2005)
  • East China Normal University (2004)
  • New York University (2003)
  • Bogazici University, Turkey (2003)

Contact Info

Graduate Studies Assistant
Jessie Eastman
1408 SocSci
612-624-1187
eastm004@umn.edu

Director of Graduate Studies
Portrait: Dara Strolovich
Dara Strolovitch
1408 SocSci
612-624-1028
dzs@umn.edu