Northeastern Illinois University Department of Political Science

In April 2026, Anika Tracy, a Political Science major and University Honors student, participated in the Midwest Political Science Association (MPSA) conference, where she presented a poster titled “Why Does the U.S. Still Practice the Death Penalty? An Application of Waltz’s Three Images.” The presentation was based on her Honors thesis on the same topic.

It is a remarkable achievement for an undergraduate student to present at a major academic conference. Congratulations, Anika!

We are back to our highlighting of honors women, this week with Dr. Sophia Mihic!☺️

Dr. Mihic has been our instructor of our ZHON: Introduction To The Social Sciences FA2024.💛

We wish to thank her for her hard and diligent work in being a powerful leader for our honors students!

We are proud to present Sergeant Isaac Franco, a shining example of our alumni!

Hello Friends of Political Science!

Spring 2026 is the NEIU College of Arts and Sciences Human Rights Theme Semester, “Staying the Course for Human Rights: From Awareness to Action.” As part of this initiative, many courses across the CAS curriculum will explore human rights issues from a wide range of disciplinary perspectives.

To kick off the theme semester, the Political Science Department is hosting a day of reflection on the politics of human rights. The program will include a keynote address by a guest speaker, a student roundtable, and a special live performance by an NEIU alum and comedian!

Please join us for this timely human rights event on Thursday, February 5, in the Golden Eagles Room (Student Union). Everyone is welcome to attend the panels and lunch.

The full program is below. We hope to see you there!

Welcome to Giving Tuesday at NEIU! Support the Political Science department. When you give to NEIU, you are helping students realize their goal of higher education, an education that can change their lives - forever.

This year we are raising money for our students - to support them and their extracurricular programs and activities inside the department that will benefit our community.

Giving2NEIU - Giving Tuesday 2025 Event I'm fundraising for Northeastern Illinois University. It's an amazing organization. Everybody please check out my campaign! Find out more and donate here: https://fundraise.givesmart.com/vf/Give2NEIU/team/PoliticalScience

Gina Harkins Hickman (Political Science BA, 2009) shared the wonderful news that she joins The Washington Post starting this month. Gina graduated from our Political Science Department with honors and was the recipient of both the Pi Sigma Alpha Undergraduate Scholarship and the Brommel-Feigenholtz Scholarship in 2008. Congratulations, Gina!

Gina Harkins joins The Post as editor of Morning Mix Gina brings a strong record of leadership and poise under pressure to The Post newsroom’s overnight team; she also has a passion for finding compelling narrative tales and quick enterprise features that are central to Morning Mix’s mission.

Roundtable Discussion: The First 100 Days of the Biden Administration

Shout out to everyone participating in another great department event tonight!

Pi Sigma Alpha, Theta Lambda (NEIU) chapter

Pi Sigma Alpha is an honor society for political science, with chapters in every state in the United States. Membership in this society recognizes student academic achievement and future promise in the field of political science. The virtual induction ceremony was held on April 7 with new inductees and political science professors. Congratulations inductees!

New members in 2021:

Juliana Cruz
Daniel (DJ) Fink
Jose Florentino
Gerardo Garcia
Jason Grover
Tyana Posada
Noah Rife
Samantha Stephanie Samano
Biana Samoylovich
Taylor Winfield
Robert Wolff

New members in 2020:

Zeba Mohammad Arif
Deborah Barnes
Antonio Benavides
Hector Estrada
Kenneth Kozyra
Daniel Lane
Trudy Leong
Franklin Nwoko
Derek Stienmetz

Our Political Science Honors Society, Pi Sigma Alpha, celebrates its centennial milestone this year. In celebration of Pi Sigma Alpha, we have decided to fundraise on Giving Tuesday in order to support our Pi Sigma Alpha Scholarship Fund. The Pi Sigma Alpha scholarship supports undergraduate political science majors by providing a 500 dollar monetary award to pay for tuition, books, and fees. By giving to this award you help our students towards completing their political science degree. A donation of any amount is greatly appreciated.

https://p2p.onecause.com/neiugivingtuesday/team/neiu-political-science-pi-sigma-alpha-scholarship-fundraiser?participant=martyn-de-bruyn

Give 19 dollars in celebration of the 19th Amendment ratified 100 years ago in 1920.

Give 46 dollars in celebration of the election of Joe Biden as our 46th President.

Give 100 dollars in celebration of the Pi Sigma Alpha's centennial milestone this year

Thank you and best wishes,
Martyn de Bruyn

NEIU #GivingTuesday 2020 - NEIU Political Science Pi Sigma Alpha Scholarship Fundraiser Our Political Science Honors Society, Pi Sigma Alpha, celebrates its centennial milestone this year. In celebration of Pi Sigma Alpha, we have decided to fundraise on Giving Tuesday in order to support our Pi Sigma Alpha Scholarship Fund. The Pi Sigma Alpha scholarship supports undergraduate politic...