The second is to help you become a scholar capable of contributing new research findings to the discipline. The general training in political science occurs during the first two years of the Ph.D. program. The exams cover broad areas of the discipline although you can specialize to some degree within each of the four areas in which we set exams. You choose two Prelim Fields from among the five we offer. The Prelim exam fields are International Relations, Political Theory and Philosophy, American Politics, Comparative Politics, and Political Methodology.
Students have great discretion in planning their academic program.
There are only two course requirements. All entering students take Political Science as a Discipline, a course that surveys the major approaches used in the discipline. Students also must take at least one course in research design, either qualitative or quantitative approaches. Students who plan to concentrate on non-English speaking countries usually need to take appropriate language courses. The Department allows extra time in preparing for Prelims for students who require intensive statistical or language training to prepare them for their research.