The University of Dallas politics department is today what the University of Chicago's politics department was in the 1960s: A Mecca for original thinkers concerning our political situation. When I say "our," I, of course, mean America's situation. The professors at UD look to the American Founding for their political guidance. That is not to say that they are libertarian. As these days libertarians claim to be the intellectual descendants of the Founders. The classical liberal approach to government is what is espoused at UD which is different from the modern liberal (ie. Democrat) approach to government. The thinking of the Founders is traced through one vein or another to Locke, Hobbes, Machiavelli, Thomas Aquinas, Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates.
The Founders thoughts are taken seriously because they are listened to in their own voicces and on their own terms. Modern political thinkers tend to give credit to the Founders for their establishment of our political liberty, freedom and so on, but these same thinkers also claim to know better the thoughts of our fore fathers than they did themselves. UD looks to the Founders and listens to them in their own voices (as much as is possible) without the historicism filters that most hgh school teachers and college professors use today.
The classes are tough and the professors know their subjects. If you look to understand the ideas and ideals that our nation was founded upon and wish to converse with the greatest mind of all time in a setting that supports these conversations, look to the University of Dallas' politics department.
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