Graduate Program Overview

Our graduate program is small and very selective: each year about 15 students enroll. Most graduate students pursue the Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science. However, the department also offers courses of study leading to the Master of Arts in Political Science and the Master of Arts in Political Science with a certificate in Latin American Studies.

Since departmental programs are designed to train professionals, graduate study is qualitatively different from undergraduate work. In our graduate program, the emphasis is on the acquisition of tools, skills, and knowledge that will qualify the student to carry on research, to teach, or to fill active political and administrative positions. We offer our students small classes, individual attention, and an extensive array of courses and seminars.

We seek to train political scientists with a competence in the discipline as a whole as well as expertise in a special field. All candidates for graduate degrees are expected to achieve broad mastery at the professional level of  the academic fields and subfields offered. Our students also gain experience in teaching and research as part of the graduate program. Such a combination of skills and experience is essential to success in careers in college teaching and scholarly research.

The application of political science to practical problems is another major emphasis reflected in the research and teaching interests of a number of our faculty members. As a result, students are able to plan programs that will prepare them for the increasingly important avenue of employment in nonacademic work, including administrative, staff, and research positions at various levels of government and in private organizations, as well as for positions in academia.a