The Department of Political Science offers flexible programs of graduate study leading to the Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy degrees.  Our aim is to provide the highest quality graduate training for students who go on to academic teaching and research positions, and occasionally to non-academic careers in the public and private sectors.  Our graduate students benefit from an active, engaged faculty, extensive methodological training, a focus in the department on inter-disciplinary thought, and close work with a faculty mentor under our apprenticeship model of faculty-student relationships.

To see current students enrolled in our department, click on this link to access their profiles. Also, click here to see a list of graduate students on the market. 

Fields

Doctoral students are trained in primary and secondary fields, in addition to methods.   The primary field is chosen from the department's four traditional sub-fields (American Politics, Comparative Politics, International Relations, and Political Theory) and is completed via coursework and a written comprehensive exam.  The second field may be chosen from the four main sub-fields, or from the department's three cross-cutting research foci (Political Communication, the Politics of Identity, and Politics of Public Policy), or may be defined by the student .  The second field is completed via coursework and by either a written comprehensive exam or a field paper. 

In addition to the scheduled graduate seminars, each year the Political Science Department hosts lectures and presentations on current research and timely topics by noted experts in the field. See Events for more information.

Approximately 60 students are enrolled in the Department's graduate programs. This ratio of three students per professor permits extensive contact and mentoring by the faculty. The graduate program in Political Science also admits a few non-degree students who meet all the regular admission requirements but prefer not to work toward an advanced degree. Our students come from all over the United States and from abroad.