{"id":1662,"date":"2020-12-28T10:00:09","date_gmt":"2020-12-28T18:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/?p=1662"},"modified":"2025-02-05T06:36:52","modified_gmt":"2025-02-05T14:36:52","slug":"political-science-online-christopher-stout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/political-science-online-christopher-stout\/","title":{"rendered":"New era in politics creates a demand for political science graduates"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo

Associate professor Christopher Stout says graduates of Oregon State’s political science program possess the critical thinking and applied skills to start an exciting career and “bring a new perspective to understanding politics.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n

Oregon State\u2019s online program primes students for careers in a rapidly changing field<\/h2>\n

Christopher Stout, Ph.D., is the author of two books<\/a> on politics in the United States, both regarded as \u201cimportant\u201d works that examine increasingly vital aspects of America\u2019s political landscape.<\/p>\n

Stout is also an associate professor at Oregon State University, and he believes \u2014 given the current, unprecedented state of affairs \u2014\u00a0that an entirely new book is in order.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe basically need to rewrite what we know about political science,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

The rules of politics have changed in recent years, according to Stout. Much of what was written merely five or six years ago is no longer applicable in the current political context.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat makes it an exciting time to study political science,\u201d he says. \u201cIt’s not, \u2018Let’s analyze elections from the 1960s and look at patterns.\u2019 Instead, we\u2019re trying to understand what’s happening now, and that’s driving a real uptick in interest and more engagement in our field.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oregon State University\u2019s political science bachelor\u2019s degree<\/a> \u2014 delivered online by Oregon State Ecampus \u2014 provides wide-ranging opportunities for aspiring and working professionals to closely examine local, national and international politics. Rooted in research and faculty expertise, the program curriculum immerses students in the analysis of societal patterns and equips them with skills to build successful careers.<\/p>\n

As the Ecampus coordinator for the School of Public Policy\u2019s political science program<\/a>, Stout is an authority on the benefits of earning an Oregon State political science degree online. Here, he shares his thoughts on the program\u2019s value and more.<\/p>\n

On the data-driven rise in political science career prospects<\/h3>\n

\u201cThere are so many more jobs in politics now\u00a0than there has\u00a0been in recent history. The amount of money that is being flooded into politics means that people are needed to fill these new jobs.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the same time, there’s so much more data, both internationally and domestically. Organizations want to understand that data, (political) parties\u00a0want to understand that data, so they’ve been doing a lot of hiring to\u00a0make sense of what’s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Oregon State\u2019s ability to prepare students for in-demand jobs<\/h3>\n

\u201cI have numerous students, both online and on campus,\u00a0who worked in campaigns this fall. I think the\u00a0political science department at Oregon State is doing a fantastic job of training students to get those jobs, and that\u2019s aided by doing data analysis.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the students in our major are required to take research methods. In research methods courses, students are collecting data, analyzing data, using different statistical programs, learning how to do interviews and content analysis.\u00a0When they graduate, they don’t just have the critical thinking skills, they also have the applied skills to go out and get some of these jobs and bring a new perspective to understanding politics.\u201d<\/p>\n

On a diverse range of perspectives being shared in online classes<\/h3>\n

\u201cOur students get a chance to interact with people with a wide variety of ideological stances. That breeds empathy and can lead to more critical thinking and a better understanding of our political world rather than writing someone off because they\u2019re of a different political party. \u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the last couple of summers, I began seeing new perspectives being shared. I think it\u2019s because there is a greater diversity of students in Ecampus courses \u2014 students who are represented and who come from all over the world. I\u2019ve asked similar questions over time, and I\u2019m seeing new answers that I hadn’t seen before. That’s a lot of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the lively, welcoming and in-depth conversations between students<\/h3>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve found overwhelmingly that students in online classes \u2014 and this is true in on-campus courses as well \u2014 are really respectful of the other side. That makes people feel confident that they can express their opinions without being viewed differently by their classmates.<\/p>\n

\u201cOften you’ll see longer conversation between the students. They do really seem to want interactions with their classmates and that they enjoy talking about politics.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the expertise of OSU\u2019s political science faculty<\/h3>\n

\u201cMy predecessor (as Ecampus coordinator), Erika\u00a0Wolters, she did a wonderful job putting together a program with a diverse array of courses\u00a0taught\u00a0by political scientists and practitioners who are experts.\u00a0Students get to work with faculty who are the<\/em> experts in their chosen fields. That means our students learn in a way that others aren’t.\u00a0That’s a major benefit to studying political science at Oregon State.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Discover how earning your Oregon State degree online can improve your career prospects.<\/em><\/p>\n

Request information<\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

<\/span> 3<\/span> minute read<\/span><\/span>\u201cThere are so many more jobs in politics now\u00a0than there has\u00a0been in recent history. When (our students) graduate, they don’t just have the critical thinking skills, they also have the applied skills to go out and get some of these jobs and bring a new perspective to understanding politics.\u201d \u2014 Oregon State political science associate professor Christopher Stout<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1663,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,6,9,678,8],"tags":[75,640,130,50],"class_list":["post-1662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","category-ecampus","category-faculty","category-faculty-and-programs","category-students","tag-college-of-liberal-arts","tag-health-and-human-science","tag-online-teaching","tag-political-science"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Chris-Stout-744x478-201222.jpg?fit=744%2C478&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7BNSE-qO","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1516,"url":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/online-political-science\/","url_meta":{"origin":1662,"position":0},"title":"Online political science program offers \u2018roadmap\u2019 to understand behavior patterns","author":"Tyler Hansen","date":"August 20, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Interest in politics \u2013 the people, the policies, the inner workings of government \u2013 seems to be at an all-time high. 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