History

1893—The Department of Political Science was one of the original Departments of Instruction created at Tufts. President Capen was the sole instructor that year, and the department's curriculum consisted of three courses: Political Economy, Ancient Law and Roman Law, and International Law.

1902—The Department of Political Science split into two discreet departments: the Department of Public Law and Administration and the Department of Economics and Sociology. The department articulates its chief goal as follows, "to give a general view of the most important branches of political economy, beginning with the elements of the science and passing by degrees to work of the investigative order".

1924—The Department of Government and International Law and the Department of Economics and Sociology replaced the Department of Political Science.

1939—The Department of Government and International Law became known as the Department of Political Science.

1939—The Department of Economics and Sociology dissolved to create two autonomous academic departments - the Department of Economics and the Department of Sociology.

1965—The Department of Government was renamed as the Department of Political Science. The mission statement for that year read, "The Department of Political Science is concerned with the functions and theory of the state, the structure and operation of government, and the nature and development of local, national, and international politics."

2009—After being in Eaton Hall since 1965, the Political Science Department moved to its current home in Packard Hall.