The Department of Political Science at UC Santa Barbara offers a distinctive doctoral program. We are known for our specializations in environmental politics and the politics of identity, and students may choose to qualify in either of these as one of their fields of study. Our program is designed for completion in five years, and it includes breadth coursework as well as field specialization. Many of our students take courses in other departments and work in areas that are multi-disciplinary. The program also includes a two-quarter research workshop spanning the second summer, with the goal of producing a paper ready for submission to a journal in the third year.
Our graduate students benefit from an active, engaged faculty, and extensive methodological training. Our program is medium in size, and this facilitates students working closely with a faculty mentor via our apprenticeship model of faculty-student relationships.
We value diversity, equity, and inclusion in our graduate student body, and we encourage students to apply who come from a wide range of backgrounds and lived experiences. Our aim is to provide the highest quality graduate training in relevant, modern areas, in order to prepare our PhD graduates to go on to academic teaching and research positions, and to non-academic careers in the public and private sectors.
