Graduate Faculty: Barbieri, Books, Booth, Clarke, Feigert, Forde, Godwin, King, Leblang, Martinez, Meernik, Nye, Poe, Reban, Ruderman, Sahliyeh, Tate, Todd, Wood, Yeric.
The department's research has been supported recently by a variety of external sources, including the Fulbright fellowship program, the National Science Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Ford Foundation, the Canadian Embassy to the United States, the International Human Rights Law Group, the Olin Foundation, and numerous cities, counties and related local government and nonprofit agencies.
Of special importance to graduate education in political science is the university's membership in the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), the world's most important repository of social science research data. The Willis Library has an excellent collection of legal materials, serves as an official repository for U.S. government documents and has a collection of United Nations and related international agency documents.
Graduate students in political science have access to state-of-the-art micro- and mainframe computer resources and have full, free access to the extensive data resources of the ICPSR for use in their areas of research interest. The development of all graduate students is encouraged through regular student and faculty colloquia.
The Institute of Public and International Affairs serves as a clearing house for information on grants and other sources for research in political science. The institute provides assistance in locating sources of funding and in writing proposals for grants relevant to the departments' research interests.
Applicants for graduate programs must submit scores on the Graduate Record Examination general test. Applicants for the Master of Arts, Master of Science or PhD programs who have not completed the GRE requirement will not be admitted to graduate courses in political science.
1. a bachelor's degree awarded by an accredited college or university;
2. a minimum of 24 hours of undergraduate or graduate work in political science; and
3. a minimum grade point average of 3.2 on the last 60 hours and a minimum combined GRE score of 1000 (verbal plus quantitative sections) with minimum scores of 400 on each of the verbal and quantitative sections.
The fields of political science available for inclusion are American government and politics, public administration and management, comparative government, international relations, public law, and political theory and methodology.
Candidates for the Master of Arts degree must present evidence that they have a reading knowledge of at least one foreign language. Candidates for the Master of Science degree must present evidence that they have achieved competence in a non-language research tool. Students may satisfy this requirement by showing evidence of having completed courses at the graduate level for one of the non-language research tools listed in "Courses that Will Satisfy Non-Language Research Tools in Political Science." This document is available from the graduate adviser of the Department of Political Science.
Graduate credit course requirements are identical for the two degrees.
Successful completion of a thesis and satisfactory performance on an oral comprehensive examination complete the requirements for the master's degree.
Additional program information is contained in the document "Information for Master's Students." The student is responsible for obtaining a copy of the document from the department and for knowing its contents.
1. fulfillment of the entrance requirements listed in the "Doctoral Degree Program Guide";
2. a bachelor's degree awarded by an accredited college or university;
3. a minimum of 24 hours of undergraduate or graduate credit in political science. With the advance approval of the admissions subcommittee of the department's graduate studies committee, one of the following may be substituted for the 24 hours in political science:
a. a minimum of 30 hours of credit in political science or other disciplines relevant to the proposed course of graduate study; or
b. a combination of credit in disciplines relevant to the proposed course of graduate study and substantial work experience in a position or occupation relevant to the proposed course of graduate study;4. a minimum grade point average of 3.2 on the last 60 hours and a minimum combined GRE score of 1000 (verbal plus quantitative sections) with minimum scores of 400 on each of the verbal and quantitative sections.
1. PSCI 5340, Seminar in Political Science Scope and Methods (3 hours) and PSCI 6320, Quantitative Political Research Methods (3 hours); and
2. completion of a dissertation with a maximum credit of 12 hours.
A student must elect four areas of study for the Doctor of Philosophy degree. The student must pass qualifying examinations in three of these areas. The four areas must include a major area and three supporting areas, at least two of which must be in political science.
The student plans a program with an advisory committee that consists of a major professor, one professor from each of the student's other areas in political science, one professor from the minor field offered for examination and one departmental representative. Members of the committee are appointed by the graduate dean upon recommendation by the department chair. This committee advises the student on the program, arranges for all departmental examinations, approves the dissertation topic and judges the completed dissertation as a work of original research and writing justifying the awarding of the degree.
If a student elects a minor outside political science, it must be supportive of the study within the discipline. The areas available within political science follow:
Additional program information is contained in the document "Doctoral Degree Program Guide." The student is responsible for obtaining a copy of the document from the department and for knowing its contents.
Admission to candidacy is granted by the dean of the School of Graduate Studies upon recommendation of the advisory committee and the department chair; admission is based upon the academic record of the student, approval of a dissertation topic and completion of language or research tool requirements and qualifying examinations.
In the event that all requirements for the degree are not completed within 8 years after admission to the program, the advisory committee may require the student to take additional course work. The student also must observe the 10-year time limit for completion of all work toward the doctorate, set forth in the Doctoral Degree Requirements section of this catalog.