Department of Political Science

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The Department of Political Science at Soochow University was among the first five departments established after members of the Soochow Alumni Association had fled from mainland China to Taiwan after the Chinese Civil War and founded the University in 1954. For many years, the Department’s mission has been to build and maintain a strong faculty, to standardize various administrative and human resources processes, to create dialogues between the faculty and the students, and to realize the vision of holistic education. In recent years, building on the established foundation, the Department is committed to building and developing academic exchanges with various countries, through inviting well known foreign scholars as speakers or lecturers and student exchange programs. All this is to elevate the number of faculty and students involved in academic research and contributing to political science research.
The Department offers a four-year undergraduate program, consisting of two classes per year. Currently, 494 undergraduate students, as well as 73 masters and 12 doctoral students, are registered with the Department. The Department's graduate programs were established in 1991 and 1998, respectively. The Department places an emphasis on training in the fundamental subjects of political science, comparative and interdisciplinary studies, trends in international politics and public policy, integration of theory and practice, solid research methodology, and English learning. Under the leadership of Prof. Shiow-Duan Hawang (elected in August 2009 as the Chair of the Faculty), the Department has fostered various academic programs and exchanges, hosted diverse activities, encouraged student participation in internships, and expanded international dialogues, as part of the branding strategies for Soochow University’s political science department.

The Department has a strong and academically diverse faculty, with 22 tenure-track faculty members and more than 20 lecturers. The Department offers a wide range of courses covering diverse fields of political science. The courses are designed to be diverse and complimentary to each other, aiming to arm the students with professional knowledge of political science.

Reflecting Soochow University’s humanity education spirit and its mission in developing the five-knowledge abilities, as well as displaying the creativity characterised by humanities and social sciences, the visions of the Department include:

1. Expand global vision: actively participating in international academic dialogues and nurturing students’ worldview
2. Understanding political affairs: combining the classroom knowledge and theories, with insights about foreign and domestic political environment and operation
3. Keeping up with social trends: increasing knowledge of social trends, and sensitivity towards social development
4. Keen awareness of public interests: develop a strong sense of purpose towards improving lives, and to promote for the betterment of society
At the undergraduate level, the Department aims to help students develop the fundamental knowledge of political science, and to inculcate public discourse and organizational skills; at the graduate level, the Department strives to provide an environment where students can develop research and teaching skills as well as leadership skills in public policy issues.
The aforementioned objectives and missions are implemented through teaching, research, counselling and services, to demonstrate the following features of the Department: 1) Balanced development among the four primary disciplines to give students a complete training; 2) offers comprehensive undergraduate, M.A., and Ph.D levels of studies; 3) integration between theory and practice; 4) carefully planned curriculum that offers flexibility; 5) promoting learning passport and implementing diverse approaches to learning; 6) promoting online learning and constructing digital energy; 7) strengthening the Department’s teaching and research community; and 8) strengthening international dialogue and English language requirement for graduation.

Websitehttp://www2.scu.edu.tw/politics/default.asp?Subject=eProfile