Indiana University, Bloomington. Dept. of Political Science

The study of political science at Indiana University has quite a history. When Andrew Wylie became IU president in 1829 he taught a senior class which included the subjects Constitutional Law, Moral Science, and Political Economy. After the Civil War more departments were introduced, including the Department of Mental, Moral and Political Philosophy. An excerpt from the 1877-1878 catalog description reads: In this department is taught Mental Philosophy embracing the usual topics. Moral Philosophy include(s) both the theory of morals and practical morals; the former embraces the moral sense, the grounds of right and wrong, the nature of virtue, the authority of conscience, the rules of moral conduct, and the sources from which they are derived; the latter includes the duties we owe to ourselves, to men, to society, to the State, and to God. Political Philosophy embraces Civil Polity, Constitution of the U.S., Political Economy, Social Science, International Law.

In 1885 the department of History and Political Science was established. The following year it became two departments, a Department of History and a Department of Political and Social Science. Further specialization occurred in 1890 when a separate department of European History was created leaving the Department of American History and Politics, headed by James A. Woodburn.

...