The central goal of our program is to develop in our students the capacity for independent political inquiry and moral discernment. We believe that these capacities are the critical components of citizenship.  Political inquiry and moral discernment rest on three sets of capabilities:  (1) substantive:  students should have knowledge about politics across various historical, social, and cultural settings;  (2) analytic:  students should learn how to conduct inquiry including the critical evaluation of existing scholarship, the process of posing new questions, the collection of evidence, the methods of analyzing information, and the drawing of conclusions; and, (3) normative:  students should know the normative implications of politics, of political inquiry, and of their own political positions. Realization of the capacity for autonomous thinking, political inquiry and moral discernment also rests on the acquisition of skills including writing, oral communication, information literacy, and quantitative literacy.Adopted May 13, 2010