DEPARTMENT
OF
POLITICAL SCIENCE
and
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
GRADUATE
HANDBOOK
Effective
For additional
information contact:
Matthew J. Hoffmann
Graduate
Director
mjhoff@udel.edu
Robbie
Miller
Graduate
Secretary
robbie@udel.edu
Department
of Political Science and International Relations
Telephone: 302-831-2356
Fax: 302-831-4452
TABLE OF CONTENTS
GRADUATE
PROGRAMS IN
POLITICAL
SCIENCE AND
INTERNATIONAL
RELATIONS
Page
Introduction 3
GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR
GRADUATE PROGRAMS
Admission Requirements 4
Normal Progress Toward Degree 4
Advisement 5
MASTER OF ARTS
Required Courses 6
Tracks and Track Courses 6
Writing Requirement 7
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Admission Requirements 8
Secondary Track 8
Research Seminar 8
PhD Qualifying Examination 8
Additional Course Requirements 8
Language Requirement 8
Comprehensive Examination 8
Admission to Candidacy Examination 9
The Dissertation 10
Teaching Experience 10
INTRODUCTION
The Department of Political Science and International
Relations offers both master’s and doctoral degrees. The graduate program is a Ph.D. focused
program consisting of coursework during the first five semesters followed by
dissertation research and writing. A
limited number of students interested in a terminal master’s degree will be
admitted to a master’s track. The master’s
degree is a two-year, 38 credit hour program.
The Ph.D. program is a 62 credit hour program. Students admitted to the master’s track but
who wish to pursue the Ph.D. degree may apply to the Ph.D. program during their
second year of the graduate program.
Graduate study in the department is organized around
the theme of global governance. Global governance may be defined as an
approach to politics and public policy that transcends the nation-state and its
formal institutions of government. It is
global because it recognizes that
virtually all problems on the public agenda - environment, public health,
crime, migration, etc - transcend in their scope, source, and solution national
boundaries. It is governance (rather than “government”) because non-formal, non-state
actors --nongovernmental organization, interest groups, professional
associations, and so forth--have increasingly been accorded legitimacy in
rule-making and rule-enforcement. The
global governance perspective does not insist that the traditional nation-state
has collapsed, or even that such a collapse is inevitable. It does suggest, however, that we will
increasingly live in a world characterized by powerful tensions between the
formal governmental institutions of individual nation-states on the one hand
and a vast array of transnational, non-state forces on the other. It is this tension, with each set of forces
laying claim to political legitimacy, that will shape the politics of the next
century.
GENERAL
REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE MASTER
OF ARTS and
Ph.D. PROGRAMS
A. Admission Requirements
Applicants for financial aid should submit completed
applications by February 1. Except for unusual circumstances, all other
completed applications should be received by May 15 for admissions effective
the following September.
To be accepted into the program students are evaluated on
several criteria:
1. Performance on the GRE (normally 1700
for the 3 combined aptitude scores).
2. Undergraduate
grade-point averages (normally a 3.0 overall and 3.25 in major field and a 3.5
in any prior graduate work in political science).
3. Three letters of recommendation.
4. For international students, a TOEFL
score (normally at least 600).
Using all of these variables, the department attempts to
predict the candidate’s success (e.g. low GRE scores could be balanced by high
grades and very strong recommendations).
Applicants are encouraged to submit examples of written work.
In addition, admission to the graduate program is affected
by the number of well-qualified applicants and the limits of available
faculty. Those who meet stated minimum
academic requirements are not guaranteed admission.
Financial aid is available to graduate students in the form
of teaching assistantships, research fellowships, tuition scholarships, and
University fellowships. These awards are
merit based.
Master’s students who would like to enter the Ph.D. track
must pass the Ph.D. qualifying exam.
B. Normal Progress Toward Degree
1. The Department defines normal progress
(good standing) as maintaining a 3.00 GPA and a grade no lower than a B in all
courses that count toward the degree.
Students who receive teaching assistantships or fellowships are expected
to maintain a 3.00 GPA while taking a minimum of 9 credit hours per semester
unless fewer than 9 credits are needed to complete the credit requirements for
the degree. Any student who, in the judgment of the Director
of Graduate Studies, with the advice of the graduate faculty, fails to maintain
normal progress will be subject to forfeiture of his or her teaching
assistantship, fellowship, or tuition scholarship.
2. Students should avoid accumulating
grades of "incomplete." A
student who fails to remove an incomplete from his or her record by the end of
the sixth week of the semester following that in which it was awarded will be
considered no longer making normal progress toward the degree.
3. An assessment of each student's
performance and progress will be undertaken at the end of the fall semester by
the Director of Graduate Studies in conjunction with other Department
faculty. The primary purposes of this
effort are to identify any academic problems that may impede progress toward a
degree as early as practicable in a student's graduate career, and to make
recommendations for appropriate courses of action. It is the responsibility of the Director of
Graduate Studies to communicate the assessment to the student.
C. Advisement
1. Students will be assigned an advisor by
the Director of Graduate Studies.
Students who wish to change advisors are free to do so, but must fill
out a change of advisor form available in the department office, obtain the
necessary signatures, and return the form to the department office.
2. Students must have their programs
reviewed each semester by their advisors.
More frequent consultation with the advisor is encouraged to insure
satisfactory progress toward the degree.
3. Students must keep the Department and
their advisors informed of their current contact information.
REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE MASTER
OF ARTS DEGREE
Each
student will complete a minimum of 38 credits.
1. Core Global Governance Courses: 12 credits
POSC
815 Introduction to Statistical
Analysis for Political
Science
POSC
830 International Relations Theory
POSC
843 Global Governance Theory and
Cases
POSC
806 Normative Issues in Global
Governance
2. Track Courses: 15 credits.
Each student will
choose and declare one of three tracks within the global governance program by
the end of their first semester. Track
requirements consist of the completion of two required track courses and three
elective track courses. The tracks and
courses are listed below:
Track
1:
Required
Courses:
808
American Political System
813
American Foreign Policy
Elective
Courses (3 from the following list and additional courses as approved by the
Director of Graduate Studies—AFP and Am Pol lists are only suggestive):
American Foreign Policy American Political System
-
804 Post Industrial Systems -
803 Public Admin
- 840 IPE -
838 Pub Pol Analysis
-
604 International Law -
686 State and Local
-
656 Pol and Disaster -
818 Env Pol and Admin
-
615 Force and World -
653 Health Policy
-
640 Int. Dev Policy -
614 Judicial Process
-
805 Public Law
- 835 Org and Management
Track
2: Global Processes and Transnational Issues Track
Required
Courses (choose 2 from the following three courses):
-
844 International Security Course
-
842 International Organization Course
-
840 International Political Economy
Elective
courses (3 from following list and additional courses as approved by the
Director of Graduate Studies):
-
802 Dev and Trans Systems -
615 Force and WP - 643
Chinese FP
-
804 Post Indust Systems -
640 Int Dev Policy - 604
Int Law
-
813 American FP -
656 Pol of Disaster - 629
SE
-
818 Env Policy and Admin -
653 Health Policy - 612
Post-USSR FP
-
820 Int Persp on En and Env -
628 Comp Env Policy
-
838 Pub Policy Analysis -
642 Probs W Eur Pol
-
650 Probs Lat Am Pol -
639 Probs African Pol
-
Other Courses as Approved by Graduate Director
Track 3: A Comparative
Perspective
Required Courses:
- 802 Developing and
Transitional Systems
- 804 Post Industrial Systems
Elective courses (3 from
following list and additional courses as approved by the Director of Graduate
Studies):
- 808 American Pol
Institutions - 627 Lat Am
Pol Systems - 643 Chinese FP
- 813 American FP - 629 SE
- 840 IPE -
632 Post Soviet Systems - 653
Health Policy
- 820 Int Persp on En and Env - 633 Af Politics - 640 Int Dev Policy
- 639 Probs in Af Politics - 628 Comp Env Policy - 642 Probs in W Eur Pol
- 650 Probs in Lat Am Pol
- Other Courses as Approved
by Graduate Director
3. Elective Courses and COGGS: 11 Credits
Students must take an
additional three courses over the course of their program and the Colloquium on
Global Governance and Society for one credit each spring of their first two
years. One of the three elective courses
must be a research methods or philosophy of inquiry course. This course must be approved by the Graduate
Director.
4. Writing requirement
Students will prepare
a major research paper in at least one course.
For the purposes of this requirement, the Department understands a
“major research paper” to be one that addresses an important and well-defined
topic, demonstrates mastery of the pertinent literature, strives to make an
original contribution to knowledge, and is presented in a coherent and professional
manner. In meeting this requirement,
students are to identify an appropriate academic journal and write the paper as
if they were preparing a manuscript for submission to that journal. It is solely the prerogative of the course
instructor to determine whether the student’s work meets the test of this
definition. Students will register for
POSC 899 MA Long Paper Course (0 credits) in the spring of their second year to
facilitate completion of this requirement.
REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE DOCTOR
OF PHILOSOPHY
1. All requirements listed for the
Master’s Degree, plus 24 additional credits to total 62.
2. Secondary
Track Requirements: 9 Credits
All students will choose a secondary track in the fall
semester of their first year. In this
secondary track students must complete the two required courses and one track
elective.
3. Research
Seminar: 3 Credits
All students must complete a research seminar in conjunction
with the Colloquium on Global Governance and Society in the spring semester of
their third year. This seminar will
provide a significant research experience in addition to the speaker
series. Students are expected to
complete a major research paper, grant proposal, or dissertation proposal and
will present their work.
4. Additional
Research/Candidacy Credits: 12 Credits
5. Ph.D. Qualifying Exam
All students admitted
to the Ph.D. track and those master’s track students who want to apply to the
Ph.D. track are required to take an oral qualifying exam in February of their
second year. As part of the qualifying
exam, students will make an oral presentation of the paper they are submitting
in fulfillment of the master’s writing requirement. They will be examined by a three-person
qualifying committee consisting of the faculty advisor for the paper and two
other faculty members appointed by the Director of Graduate Studies. Ph.D. track students who do not pass the
qualifying exam may receive a master’s degree upon completion of the
requirements for that degree.
6. Language Requirement
All candidates for
the Ph.D. degree shall demonstrate competence in at least one language other
than English. Procedures for certifying
competence are maintained by the Director of Graduate Studies. As candidates whose first language is other
than English have already demonstrated competence in a second language by
appropriate scores on the TOEFL exam, this requirement shall be deemed met in
such cases.
7. Comprehensive Examination
Students will take a
written, “take home” comprehensive exam in August before the start of their
third year. The exam is prepared,
administered and evaluated by a committee appointed by the Director of Graduate
Studies. Exams are distributed at 8:00 a.m.
and are due back by 4:00 p.m. the following day.
a. The exam consists of two parts. Part I covers the core courses on global
governance. Part II covers the the
student’s primary track courses.
b. Students
must pass both Parts I and II to pass the exam.
c. Grades on the written exam are:
Distinction, Pass, Deficient and Fail.
Distinction and Pass are considered passing grades. Results of the comprehensive exam will be
made known to students as soon as all exams have been graded.
d. Students who receive a grade of
Deficient on either section of the written exam will be permitted to take an
oral re-examination for that section.
The oral exam will be arranged at the discretion of the examining
committee. Grades on any such oral exam
are Pass and Fail. Students who achieve
a Pass on the oral re-examination(s) shall be considered as having successfully
discharged their qualifying examination requirement. If a student fails the oral exam(s), he or
she will be permitted to retake that section of the written exam once during
the following December.
e. Students who fail either section of the
written exam will be allowed to retake the written exam once during the
following December. If a student fails
the written exam a second time, s/he will be terminated from the program. If a grade of Deficient is recorded on the
second written test, the examining committee will administer an oral
re-examination for that section. If the
student fails an oral exam after the second written test, s/he will be
terminated from the program.
f. Students who wish to sit for the
comprehensive exam must be in good standing, have at least a 3.0 GPA, and have
no “Incompletes” outstanding.
8. Admission to Candidacy
Examination
a. A Ph.D. student shall officially be
admitted to candidacy upon successful completion of a candidacy oral
examination by a faculty committee.
Although the candidacy examination may address questions that arise from
the student's performance on the written comprehensive exam, its primary
purpose is for the student to defend the dissertation proposal. Although the precise form of the dissertation
proposal will vary from case to case, it is expected to include a clear
statement of the problem and an explanation of its significance, a discussion
of the methods proposed to investigate the problem, and a full discussion of
relevant literature.
b. The candidacy examination should be
held at the end of the fall semester or early in the spring semester of the
student’s third year.
c. The
candidacy examination committee shall be convened and chaired by the student's
dissertation chair and shall consist of members of the student's proposed
dissertation committee. Normally
students are expected to select a dissertation chair from faculty whose primary
appointment is in the Department. In
exceptional circumstances, students may petition the Graduate Policy Committee
for approval to have someone whose primary appointment is outside the
Department chair the dissertation committee.
In deciding whether or not to grant approval, the Graduate Policy Committee
shall take into account the needs of the student and the Department.
d. Other members of the Department are
welcome to participate as non-voting members of the candidacy examination
committee. The candidacy examination
shall be announced and copies of the dissertation proposal shall be made
available to all faculty at least one week in advance of the examination.
e. The candidacy examination committee is
charged with determining the student's fitness for advancement to
candidacy. The main question the
committee has to answer is, ‘Is this student prepared to write an acceptable
Ph.D. dissertation?’ In seeking to
answer this question, the committee's focus shall be on the student's
dissertation proposal, which shall be made available to all members of the
department at least one week in advance of the examination.
f. If, in the judgment of the committee,
the student has passed the oral examination, he or she shall be admitted to
candidacy, and, shall begin work on the dissertation (see Section 9 below).
g. If, in the judgment of the committee,
the student has not passed the candidacy examination, the committee may direct
the student to (a) rethink, rewrite, and resubmit the proposal prior to a
re-examination by the committee; (b) undertake remedial work in research design
and methodology; or (c) any combination or variation of the above that the
committee deems necessary. In the event
that additional work is required, the committee will discuss with the student a
reasonable time frame for completion of the necessary work. A written statement completed by the
student's dissertation adviser should set forth the nature of the work to be
undertaken by the student and the time frame that was agreed upon. This shall be sent to the student, circulated
to the faculty members who participated in the oral examination and become part
of the student's permanent file. At the
conclusion of the agreed upon time period, the committee will reconvene to
assess the student's progress toward candidacy. In extreme cases, the committee
may determine that the student is unable to advance to candidacy and should be
terminated from the program.
9. The Dissertation
a. A Ph.D. dissertation is a manuscript
that reflects "the results of original and significant research written in
a scholarly and literate manner worthy of publication" (
b. Students are expected to consult
closely and regularly with members of their dissertation committee,
particularly the committee chair.
c. Upon completion of the manuscript, a
final oral examination--or "dissertation defense"--must be
passed. Ordinarily, students will be
asked to summarize the major findings of their research and evaluate the
significance of these findings for the field more generally. The student shall then be called upon to
defend the findings in the face of questions from members of the dissertation
committee and other members of the academic community who choose to
attend. If, after deliberating, the
dissertation committee is unable to reach agreement on whether the student has
successfully defended the dissertation, the committee will adjourn after
explaining the nature of their objections and providing suggestions on how
these might be satisfactorily addressed with guidance from the dissertation
chair. It shall be the responsibility of
the dissertation chair to reconvene the group to reconsider the revised
product.
d. Detailed guidelines for the preparation
and presentation of the dissertation are described in Regulations Governing
Theses and Dissertations, which may be obtained from the Office of Graduate
Studies. It is also online on the
Graduate home page.
10. Teaching Experience
Candidates for the Ph.D. degree planning an academic career
are encouraged to obtain teaching experience at the college level. Opportunities to gain this experience may be
available either through teaching assistantships, lectureships in political
science courses at the