What's in a name? That which we call "Politics"
LE3 .A278 2013
2013
Brickner, Rachel
Acadia University
Bachelor of Arts
Honours
Politics
The name Political Science has come to represent a particular epistemological understanding of the discipline by way of the 1960’s behavioralist movement. This way of thinking, while historically challenged, still represents a dominant foundation of the discipline at the highest institutional level, even if there are many within the discipline that no longer align as such. Through an extensive literature review, and eight qualitative semi‐formal interviews and email correspondences with both retired and present professors from Acadia University, the departmental origins and history are examined. An analysis of these interviews yields the professor’s explanations for why the current faculty chose to change the department name, and why the original faculty members were less inclined. It will be demonstrated that the decision made by faculty at Acadia University in 2010/2011 to change the department name from Political Science to Politics was a decision of intellectual honesty in choosing a more representative title, but also a recognition of the diverse research and subsections that are marginalized under Political Science. In conclusion, possible effects of the name change will be explored upon students, the department and the faculty. This project will contribute to the history of the Politics department at Acadia and help provide an explanation as to how the new name builds a new understanding of what the study of politics entails.
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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:972
