Washington Semester Program: Academic Courses and Research

All courses are taught in Washington, DC. Four course units are offered each semester, so most students take the same program. WSP students also have the option of enrolling for just three course units.

In most semesters, two courses are taught by Penn faculty members who commute to Washington weekly or are living there for research or other purposes. Occasionally, the program may invite an outstanding teacher from the Washington area to offer a WSP course.  Instructors in recent years include Professor Eileen Doherty, Professor Mark Rozell, Dr. Judy Labiner, Professor Mark Herrnson, Professor Robert Vitalis and WSP Director, Dr. Kathryn Dunn Tenpas.  

All WSP students must take the program's core seminar (Political Science 330, Politics, Power, and Policy-making in Washington), which is led by Dr. Kathryn Dunn Tenpas. Students may also elect to take an independent research credit (usually designated Political Science 399). This requires completion of a major paper or other research closely related to the internship or one designed to take advantage of the unique opportunities that Washington affords for interviews, data gathering, and participant observation. Arrangements can also be made for the research course to be taken for credit in other majors that cooperate in the program.

Current Faculty and Courses 
Spring 2008
Fall 2007
Spring 2007
Fall 2006
Spring 2006
Fall 2005

Spring 2008
Dr. Eileen Doherty, Lecturer and Program Coordinator, Program in International Relations, University of Pennsylvania
Political Science 398-301, The New World Order and Its Critics
Syllabus

Fall 2007
Dr. Kathryn Dunn Tenpas, Adjunct Professor of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania
Political Science 330-301, Politics, Power and Policy Making in Washington

Dr. Eileen Doherty, Lecturer and Program Coordinator, Program in International Relations, University of Pennsylvania
Political Science 398-301, International Non-Governmental Organizations in the Global Arena

Dr. Mark Rozell, Professor, School of Public Policy, George Mason University
Political Science 398-302, Religion and Politics

Dr. Judith Labiner, Consumer Studies Fellow, U.S Food and Drug Administration
Political Science 399, Independent Research Project

Spring 2007
Dr. Kathryn Dunn Tenpas, Adjunct Professor of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania
Political Science 330-301, Politics, Power and Policy Making in Washington

Dr. Robert Vitalis, Professor of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania
Political Science 398-301, American Foreign Policy

Dr. Mark Rozell, Professor, School of Public Policy, George Mason University
Political Science 398-302, The Media and Politics

Dr. Kathryn Dunn Tenpas, Adjunct Professor of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania
Political Science 399, Independent Research Project

Fall 2006
Dr. Kathryn Dunn Tenpas, Adjunct Professor of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania
Political Science 330-301, Politics, Power and Policy Making in Washington

Dr. Thomas Callaghy, Professor of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania
Political Science 398-301, New Actors in Global Policy Making

Dr. Paul Herrnson, Director, Center for American Politics and Citizenship and
Professor, Government and Politics, University of Maryland
Political Science 398-302, Congressional Elections Seminar

Dr. Mark Rozell, Professor, School of Public Policy, George Mason University
Political Science 399, Independent Research Project

Spring 2006
Dr. John Fortier, Director, Continuity of Government Commission,
American Enterprise Institution/The Brookings Institution
Political Science 330-301, Politics, Power and Policy Making in Washington
Syllabus

Dr. Mark Rozell, Professor, School of Public Policy, George Mason University
Political Science 398-302, The Media and Politics
Syllabus

Dr. Robert Vitalis, Professor of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania
Political Science 398-301, American Foreign Policy
Syllabus

Dr. Judith Labiner, U.S Food and Drug Administration
PhD in Public Policy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Political Science 399, Independent Research Project
Syllabus

Fall 2005
Dr. John Fortier, Director, Continuity of Government Commission,
American Enterprise Institution/The Brookings Institution
Political Science 330-301, Politics, Power and Policy Making in Washington

Dr. Thomas Callaghy, Professor of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania
Political Science 398-301, New Actors in Global Policy Making

Dr. Mark Rozell, Professor, School of Public Policy, George Mason University
Political Science 398-302, The Media and Politics

Dr. Judith Labiner, former Deputy Director, Center for Public Service,
Brookings Institution, currently U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Political Science 399, Independent Research Project