Graduate Students
Curriculum and Program Requirements
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
The formal requirements for the Ph.D. are listed below. Please consult the designated sections for additional details.
- Twelve courses completed with a grade of B or better
of which ten of those courses must be taken in the Department of Political Science and eight of those must be 2000-level graduate seminars. You may take up two courses in a related discipline without prior approval. - . The following courses are required:
- POLS2000
- One of two statistics courses: POLS1600 or POLS2590
- Two of the four pro-seminars: POLS2100, POLS2110, POLS2120, POLS2130
- A year long prospectus writing seminar worth one course credit, POLS2050 / POLS2051
- Passing preliminary examinations in two of the four general areas (American, Comparative, International Relations, and Political Theory).
- Completing all coursework and passing the preliminary exams (both written and oral) constitute the requirements for formal admission to candidacy for the Ph.D.
- Teaching experience under the supervision of a member of the faculty in both the main field of expertise and in a second field.
- A written prospectus and a public defense of the proposal for the dissertation.
- Completion and successful defense of the Ph.D. dissertation.