CoursesPennsylvania Politics: Listening to People and Place (New)
PSCI 4992-301

Pennsylvania Politics: Listening to People and Place (New)

Pennsylvania is a state that varies widely in terms of its demographics, its economics and its geography.  With both urban and rural areas and considered simultaneously part of the northeastern corridor, the Midwest and Appalachia, the state encompasses many different political cultures. In U.S. electoral politics, Pennsylvania is the largest swing state which means the state is flooded with national money and attention as political parties vie for its coveted 17 electoral votes. Since it is a state that unlike say Texas or California, does not hold a strong established political identity as a guaranteed “red” or “blue” state, it provides a way to study specific ideologies as they are present in specific localities that speak to the national context.

 

Instructor(s)
  • Lia C. Howard
Semester

Fall 2026

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Often state politics get ignored in favor of national politics even as the consequences of state level politics are more directly felt by citizens and citizens arguably have more agency to change state level politics than to influence national politics. States also differ widely in terms of the quality of life their citizens receive even though they are all citizens of the same country.   Not only do goods and services such as education and health care vary widely state by state but things such as air and water quality, and proximity to well-paying jobs. It is thus qualitatively different to live in one part of the U.S. and under one set of state laws than it is to live in another.   This course will put state level politics(specifically Pennsylvania’s politics) in conversation with US ideas like equality and liberty.

2026 is a momentous year for the state of Pennsylvania.  Not only does it mark the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia in 1776, leading to the birth of the U.S. and the writing of the Constitution also in Philadelphia, but it is an important midterm election where PA will be carefully watched as bellwether of the nation’s political attitudes.

This course will have a travel component: Using the strategies developed over several years through Political Empathy Lab, this course will involve traveling during Fall break to counties all over the state to engage face to face with fellow PA citizens. Fall break is in October so this would be an opportunity to talk to Pennsylvanians a few weeks before they vote in the midterm elections the first Tuesday in November.

Due to the travel component, the course requires an application which is open to all Penn undergraduate students from March 2- April 6, 2026. Submit your application by April 21 here.

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