Jackson State University, the historically Black educational institution in Mississippi, has announced that it will be offering a new master’s degree program in political science. Students may pursue the degree on campus or fully online.
The department is offering a thesis and non-thesis route to the master’s degree in political science. Designed for students who desire to pursue a doctorate; the thesis route requires a minimum of 30 semester hours of coursework and six credits of thesis hours culminating in the writing and defense of a thesis. The non-thesis route requires completing a minimum of 36 semester hours of coursework and submitting a significant research paper. Students can earn their degrees in as little as two semesters.
Maruice Mangum, chair of the political science department, stated that graduates “can do numerous things. You can work for government agencies and political offices. You can do public opinion surveys and marketing analyses. Because you’ll learn so many different skills, you can become a writer on a number of topics; a statistician, consultant, public policy expert, just a whole number of things because of the skills you will develop and learn.”
A native of Waterloo, Iowa, Dr. Mangum received a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Iowa. He earned a master’s degree in political science from Ohio State University and a Ph.D. in political science from Louisiana State University. He joined the faculty at Jackson State in 2021 after teaching at Alabama A&M University.
