Are you passionate about politics? So are people around here–and we don’t just mean our students. Our department is steps away from the Massachusetts State House, the epicenter of Boston’s dynamic national and international political scene, and we take full advantage of our “extended campus.”

Our professors are experts in all aspects of government–from public policy to national and international political campaigns to foreign policy and diplomacy –and they practice what they teach. We also use our knowledge and networks to mentor and support our students.

Experience Political Life

Suffolk government students learn by doing through a wide array of experiential learning opportunities. Our students work as interns, conduct research, work on political polls that gain national notice, serve as poll workers, and help run campaigns. As a government student you could:

  • Intern for local, state or federal government, including city halls, the Massachusetts State House, or the US Department of State.
  • Intern in Consulates General, non-profits, NGOs and advocacy organizations.
  • Intern and study in the nation’s capital through our partnership with the Washington Center
  • Intern and study in Europe with Educational Programmes Abroad
  • Travel by participating in one of our special travel courses, where traditional in-class learning is combined with an experiential travel component. Go to Alternative Winter Break in Cambodia with GVT 387 Conflict & Development in Asia, or to Washington, D.C. for Inside Washington, National Security or Summer National Party Convention Program all through the Washington Center
  • Work as a poll worker and gain hands-on election experience through the University Pollworkers Project, helping with the backbone of democracy — the election process.
  • Gain hands-on campaign experience in Campaign Lab, a signature Government Department summer program.
  • Conduct your own research on topics that matter and present it at the annual Government Department Student Research Conference, or national student research conferences.
  • Explore the science and art of political polling with nationally renowned pollster, David Paleologos, Director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center
  • Develop a global perspective and spend a semester studying politics while living and learning abroad at our Madrid campus