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Graduate Announcements > School of Arts and Sciences > Departments and Programs in the School of Arts and Sciences > Department of Politics

Department of Politics

Professors	Jakub Grygiel, Chair; Matthew Green; Thomas W. Smith; David J. Walsh; Andrew Yeo
Professors Emeriti	Claes Ryn; John Kenneth White
Associate Professors	Dorle Hellmuth; Maryann Cusimano Love
Assistant Professors	Jonathan Askonas; Justin B. Litke
Lecturer	James Quirk

Subject to the general regulations for graduate study at The Catholic University of America and the School of Arts and Sciences, the Department of Politics offers programs leading to the degrees of Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy. The following fields of instruction are offered: Political Theory, American Government, and World Politics. The department offers on-campus M.A. and Ph.D. programs in Politics, and in cooperation with the Columbus School of Law, the department offers a joint M.A.- J.D. program.

Master of Arts Degree Admission

Students may be admitted to the department provided they have graduated from an accredited college with an average of B or better. The Graduate Record Examination is also required from all applicants, excepting only MA/JD joint degree applicants for whom the LSAT is accepted. Students should have completed 15 semester hours in the social sciences, including nine hours in political science.

Requirements for Coursework

For the master's degree, a minimum of 30 semester hours of coursework is required. A 3.0 grade point average or better must be maintained. American Government and Political Theory students must take POL 651 and POL 652 (Political Theory I and Political Theory II). World Politics students may concentrate in either International Relations or Comparative Politics, and they must take POL 606 (Introduction to International Relations) and POL 607 (Graduate Introduction to Comparative Politics). Students who concentrate in American Government are required to complete POL 625 (Graduate Introduction to American Government). Students who select Political Theory or World Politics as their fields of concentration must take at least six semester hours in the other fields offered by the department. With the approval of the chair or graduate coordinator, students may transfer up to six credits from another institution.

Research Skill Requirements

All on-campus M.A. students must demonstrate basic competence in a research skill. For students in Political Theory, only languages are acceptable for meeting the research skill requirement, although students are not precluded from taking a qualitative methods course. Students in World Politics and American Government can meet the requirement either with a foreign language or with quantitative or qualitative methods, such as POL 639 (Qualitative Research Methods) or POL 635 (Statistical Methods). Other courses or certifications of competency may be approved by the graduate director or departmental chair.

For the acceptable means of demonstrating basic competence in a foreign language, which may be a classical language, students should consult General Requirements for Graduate Study in the General Information section of these Announcements.

Note that courses taken in a foreign language, or in quantitative or qualitative methods, do not count toward the 30-credit minimum course requirement for the M.A. degree.

All M.A. students are also required to demonstrate the ability to conduct written research. Generally, this requirement is met by submitting two faculty-approved research seminar papers to the Department in the semester before the comprehensive examination. These papers must be signed by a member of the faculty indicating completion of research and writing at a sufficient advanced level for graduate study. In some cases, students may satisfy the research requirement by electing to write a faculty-supervised master's thesis on a topic approved by the department chair or graduate director and the dean of the School of Arts and Sciences. Students choosing this option register twice for Thesis Guidance and earn six credits upon deposit of the approved thesis.

The department may require additional research skills, if this is considered necessary for satisfactory completion of the student's program.

Comprehensive Examination

Students who have completed 30 hours of coursework must take a written comprehensive examination in their field of concentration. The final six credits may be taken concurrently with the comprehensive examination. The comprehensive examinations are offered twice each year, in March and October. All core courses, research skills, and seminar paper requirements should be completed by the end of the semester prior to the comprehensive examination. A 500-level language course may be completed during the semester in which the comprehensive examination is taken. 

Joint J.D.-M.A. Program

The Department of Politics, in cooperation with the Columbus School of Law, offers a joint J.D.-M.A. program. This program allows students to pursue the J.D. and M.A. degrees concurrently and to finish both programs more quickly than if each degree were pursued independently. In this program, students may apply nine semester credits earned in the law school toward the M.A. degree and may apply 12 semester credits earned in the M.A. program toward the J.D. degree. Details of this program are available from the Department and the Columbus School of Law. Admission to this program requires a separate admission to the law school. To qualify as a joint degree, both the J.D. and the M.A. must be conferred in the same semester.

The Doctor of Philosophy:

 

Ph.D Course Requirements

For the doctorate degree, a minimum of fifty-four (54) semester hours of coursework is required, including that completed for the master's degree in the Department of Politics or transferred from another university. Two courses -- POL 651 and POL 652 (Political Theory I, II) -- are required of all students. Each student will complete thirty-six (36) semester hours of coursework in a field of concentration within the department (including courses in the field of concentration that have been taken toward the M.A.). Students whose field of concentration is World Politics must take POL 606 and POL 607. Students concentrating in American government are required to complete POL 625. Each student also will take twelve (12) semester hours of coursework in one of the department's other fields of instruction -- American Government, World Politics, or Political Theory -- as a minor field. A minimum grade-point average of 3.0 must be maintained; One F or two C’s are grounds for dismissal from the program.

Colloquia and Transfer of Credits

Students who wish to transfer credit toward the Ph.D. program from another institution must normally take the M.A. comprehensive examination, or a comparable qualifying exam if they currently hold an M.A. This may be taken during the regularly scheduled times for comprehensives in March or October, and not later than the semester in which the student will have completed twenty-four (24) hours at the university. The results of this examination will be one of the measures used to judge the amount of credit to be transferred up to the maximum of twenty-four (24) hours. Following successful completion of the examination, a colloquium will be held with the student in order to identify credits for transfer and plan for fulfillment of the remaining requirements for the Ph.D. The colloquium for current M.A. students continuing on to the Ph.D. should be completed no later than the semester following the passage of the M.A. comprehensive examination

Independent Study

Doctoral students may be permitted to take up to nine semester hours in the form of independent study or directed reading. Such coursework must have the approval of the department chair or graduate coordinator and must be done under the supervision of a faculty member.

Research Skill Requirements

All Ph.D. students are required by the department to demonstrate (a) basic competence in one research skill and (b) advanced competence in a second research skill.

For Political Theory students, both skills must be foreign languages. For World Politics students, at least one skill must be a foreign language, while the other can be qualitative or quantitative methods, or a second language. Students in American Government may offer quantitative or qualitative methods as one or both of the two required research skills, or choose to complete one or both skills with a foreign language. The precise sequence of courses used to fulfill these requirements shall be worked out on an individual basis in consultation with the graduate advisor or departmental chair.

Students should consult the General Requirements for Graduate Study in the General Information section of these Announcements to review the acceptable means of demonstrating basic competence in a foreign language, which may be a classical language. Advanced competence in a language, meaning an ability to conduct research in the language, is demonstrated by means of an additional examination to be arranged by the department.

Note that courses taken in a foreign language or quantitative or qualitative methods do not count toward the 54-credit minimum course requirement for the Ph.D. degree.

The department may require additional research skills, if considered necessary for satisfactory completion of the student's program.

Seminar Papers

Doctoral students must also submit to the department four faculty-approved seminar papers (or two such papers in addition to completion of a master's thesis) by the semester prior to the Ph.D. major doctoral comprehensive examination.

Students should submit papers from at least two different faculty members.

Comprehensive Examination

Doctoral students are required to take an oral qualifying examination in their major field and written comprehensive examinations in both the major and minor fields of concentration. The minor comprehensive exam is taken at least one semester before the major comprehensive exam. All research skills, plus the 54 required course credits, must be completed prior to or during the semester in which the comprehensive exam in the major field is taken. Orals should be completed two to three weeks prior to the written major exams. The orals are advisory only, intended to assess the student's readiness and offer guidance for further preparation.

Admission to Candidacy

A student may be considered for doctoral candidacy only after satisfactory completion of the written major comprehensive examination and other qualifying exams or requirements of the program.

Upon the completion of such requirements, the student must submit a formal application for candidacy. Following the recommendation of the department faculty in the student's major field and with the approval of the chair and dean, the student will be admitted to candidacy as of the first day of the following semester. The student can then submit a dissertation topic approved by the student's proposed committee. This must be done within the first four semesters of candidacy. The student is permitted a total of ten semesters (including these four) for the completion of the dissertation. The dissertation must be approved by all committee members, and the student must pass an oral defense, which also includes two Catholic University professors from outside the department.

The M.A./Ph.D program

Applicants to the Ph.D program who lack an M.A. should apply to the M.A./Ph.D program, which is designed for students with no prior master’s degree who intend to earn a doctoral degree. Admission requirements are the same as for the Ph.D program, as are requirements for courses, research skill(s), seminar papers, comprehensive exam(s), and admission to candidacy (listed above). The program is structured sequentially: students in this program complete all the requirements for the M.A. first, then may proceed to the Ph.D. program after certification of passage of the M.A. comprehensives. As an additional step, students in the M.A./Ph.D program must complete a colloquium no later than the semester following the passage of the M.A. comprehensive examination, and the department reviews their overall academic record to determine their suitability for continuing in the doctoral program. Courses taken by students in the M.A./Ph.D program do not double-count towards both degrees.

Courses Offered

Consult Cardinal Station for additional information about courses and to determine course offerings by semester.