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Stanford’s top-ranked Department of Political Science offers students the opportunity to study domestic and international political systems through courses on governance, public policies, political behavior, and institutional design. The undergraduate major focuses on political systems within the context of global forces, international conflicts, social movements, ideological systems, and diversity. Students study a variety of research methods, both quantitative and qualitative, and develop effective written and oral communication skills. The department trains students to be citizens prepared for a range of careers that require analytical thinking and knowledge of sophisticated research methods.

Departmental research areas include U.S. politics, comparative politics, international relations, political methodology, and political theory.

View highlights of the political science department's undergraduate offerings.

Graduate joint degree offered: JD/PhD

International Relations is an interdisciplinary undergraduate program focusing on the changing political, economic, and cultural relations within the international system in the modern era. The program explores how global, regional, and domestic factors influence relations between groups around the world, drawing on the expertise of faculty in economics, political science, and history.

Students gain a foundation in comparative politics, U.S. foreign policy, and economics, then specialize in a region or topic of their choosing, along with a relevant foreign language. There are also rich opportunities to become involved with ongoing research projects and work directly with faculty mentors.

View highlights of the International Relations program's undergraduate offerings.

The program brings together economics, political and moral philosophy, psychology, and legal studies with the aim of understanding public policy. Faculty from across the university have expertise in topics such as health care, education, national and international security, and criminal justice.

Along with an appreciation of ethical and pragmatic issues, students learn how to approach and evaluate major public policy challenges. Courses provide a foundation in economics and political science as well as opportunities to study policy in relation to energy, the environment, technology, and urban development. Seniors demonstrate their capacity to understand and solve pressing problems through seminars or independent research. The program also offers opportunities for graduate study.

Graduate joint degrees offered: JD/MA, JD/MPP, MA/PhD, MBA/MPP, MD/MPP, MPP/MS, and MPP/PhD

The Center for Human Rights and International Justice offers an undergraduate minor in human rights open to students in any major or program. At Stanford and throughout the world, the center works to advance the cause of justice and human dignity. Students who pursue the minor work closely with experienced scholars and practitioners in the field of human rights in courses that apply history, philosophy, and political science to advocacy and experiential learning. For a capstone project, students may write a research paper, develop practical tools for the collection and analysis of data, or undertake creative work.

Stanford’s Department of Anthropology focuses on the study of human beings and societies through the examination of social, historical, ecological, and biological change across time. Known for its innovative approaches, the department focuses on the full span of human history and full range of human societies and cultures, including those in marginalized parts of the world.

Students are encouraged to integrate theory and research methods as they explore a range of related subfields that include archaeology, ecology, evolution, linguistics, medical anthropology, political economy, and science and technology. Areas of faculty and student research include questions of social, cultural, and biological diversity and issues of power, identity, and inequality.

View highlights of the anthropology department's undergraduate offerings.

Stanford’s top-ranked Department of Statistics gives students a foundation in the role of probabilistic and statistical ideas and methods in science, medicine, technology, and the humanities. Faculty provide instruction in the theory and application of commonly used techniques in the field, while offering training through innovative programs. The department administers a mathematical and computational science major for undergraduates,* a data science track through its master’s program, and a doctoral training program in biostatistics for personalized medicine.

To foster the relationship between theory and application, the department also promotes interdisciplinary collaboration through faculty appointments in economics, education, political science, and other fields. 

Graduate joint degree offered: MD/PhD

*The MCS program will no longer be accepting students for the major and minor as of Aug. 31, 2022. The Data Science major replaces MCS effective Sept. 1, 2022. Currently enrolled MCS majors and minors will be able to complete their degrees.

The Ford Dorsey Master's in International Policy (MIP) is an interdisciplinary program devoted to rigorous analysis of international issues in diplomacy, governance, security, global health, and environmental policy. The program integrates perspectives from political science, law, economics, history, and other disciplines, with a focus on implementation and administration of solutions to global problems.

The MIP program combines research and scholarship with practical training designed to prepare students for careers in public service and other settings where they can have an impact on international issues. The program allows students to specialize in cyber policy and security; energy, natural resources, and the environment; global health; governance and development; or international security.

Graduate joint degrees offered: JD/MA and MA/MPP

Stanford’s Department of Philosophy offers rigorous programs in the traditional core areas of philosophy as well as opportunities to explore subfields including feminist philosophy and aesthetics. Its traditional strengths in logic and the philosophy of science are complemented by strong programs in action theory, ethics and political philosophy, language, mind and epistemology, and the history of philosophy, especially ancient philosophy and Kant studies.

Students of philosophy learn to think critically about the sources of knowledge and value, to express difficult ideas with clarity, and to make strong arguments. For undergraduates the department offers a general course of study as well as special programs in the history and philosophy of science and in the intersection of philosophy and literature. Graduate students are welcomed into a vigorous intellectual community where they participate in workshops, in reading groups, in colloquia, and in nearly all aspects of department life on an equal basis with the faculty.

View highlights of the philosophy department's undergraduate offerings.

Explore careers of undergraduate philosophy alumni.

Graduate joint degree offered: JD/PhD