UCLA Political Science Summer Institute

The Department of Political Science at UCLA is one of the nation’s top 10% undergraduate programs.  The major offers a comprehensive and multidisciplinary education in International Relations, American Politics, Methods, Political Theory, Race Ethnicity & Race Politics, and Comparative Politics.

The Political Science Department is offering a 3 week program with introductory coursework in American Politics as well as career panel component, bringing special guests to speak on the field and various career paths one can take with a Political Science degree. Students will leave the program with a strong understanding of American Politics, five units of either letter grade or pass/no pass college credit to use towards their Bachelor/High School degrees, mentors in the grad and undergraduate levels, and an idea of how far-reaching political thought/influence is in our society.

For questions about the program, please contact gradinfo@polisci.ucla.edu.

Meet your Director:

Joshua Ferrer

Summer Institute Director

I am a PhD candidate in Political Science at the University of California, Los Angeles, with concentrations in American politics, methods, racial and ethnic politics, and comparative politics. My research focuses on the link between electoral institutions and representation, partisanship, and participation, with a special emphasis on U.S. election administration and local and state election officials. I also study the politics of electoral reform, direct democracy, primary elections, criminal justice, and New Zealand politics.

I hold a Master of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles and a Master of Arts degree in Politics from the University of Otago, which I earned on a Fulbright Grant to New Zealand. I graduated Summa Cum Laude from Amherst College with majors in Political Science and Music. My work has been published in peer-reviewed journals such as The American Political Science Review, The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, and Representation; in reports with the Bipartisan Policy Center and Transparency International; and in media outlets such as The Washington Post’s Monkey Cage and The Conversation. My work has also received coverage from major news sites including NBC, NPR, and The Guardian.

For more information, please view our Summer Institute Page here: https://summer.ucla.edu/program/political-science-summer-institute/