The following directory lists the graduate courses which the University expects to offer, although the University in no way guarantees that all such courses will be offered in any given academic year, and reserves the right to alter the list if conditions warrant. Click on the links below for a list of courses in that subject area. You may then click “View Classes” to see scheduled classes for individual courses.
5000. Independent Study in Political Science
1.00 - 6.00 credits | May be repeated for a total of 24 credits.
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
5010. Investigation of Special Topics in Political Science
1.00 - 3.00 credits | May be repeated for a total of 24 credits.
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
5100. Proseminar in Political Theory
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
Historical survey and analysis of fundamental concepts in political theory.
View Classes »5105. Political Theory
3.00 credits | May be repeated for a total of 12 credits.
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
Historical and conceptual analysis of selected political ideas such as justice, liberty, rights, political obligation, or the state; including an examination of one or more major schools or bodies of political thought from ancient to contemporary times.
View Classes »5115. Theories of Human Rights
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
Debates about the meaning of human rights and their importance.
View Classes »5117. Settler Colonialism/American Indigenous Thought and Practice
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: Recommended preparation: POLS 5100.
Grading Basis: Graded
Exploration of work in political theory engaging settler colonialism and historic and contemporary American indigenous thought and practice.
View Classes »5119. Historical Women Political Thinkers
Also offered as: WGSS 5119
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: Recommended preparation: POLS 5100. Not open to students who have passed POLS/WGSS 3027/W.
Grading Basis: Graded
Critical study of the writings of several historical women political thinkers.
View Classes »5200. Proseminar in Comparative Government
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
Political institutions and processes compared. Derivation of generalizations.
View Classes »5215. Comparative Political Development
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
Development of political systems in relation to socio-economic level and other conditioning factors. Political stability and change.
View Classes »5235. Comparative Democratization
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
Democratization and major approaches to regime change away from authoritarianism.
View Classes »5240. Research Seminar in Comparative Politics
3.00 credits | May be repeated for a total of 24 credits.
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
5250. Comparative Voting Behavior
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
The effect of economic, social, and political contexts on voters, decision-making processes.
View Classes »5260. Democratic Institutions
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
Rules that structure access to power and policy-making process across countries; changes over time; and major political effects. Topics include the electoral system, presidentialism, government formation, legislative committees, federalism, and the courts.
View Classes »5300. Proseminar in International Relations
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
Current theories of and methodological approaches to international relations.
View Classes »5305. Foreign Policy Analysis
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
Analysis of foreign policy processes from a comparative, theoretical perspective.
View Classes »5315. International Security
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
Political and military issues as they intersect at the international level, such as war, terrorism, alliances, and intervention.
View Classes »5322. Human Security
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
Examination of emerging conceptions of human security, important elements of which include good governance, food, water, political, economic, and environmental security. Definition, measurement, and politics of human security. Relationship to domestic and international policy-making and advocacy.
View Classes »5325. International Political Economy
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
Major problem areas in which politics, economics, and business intersect at the international level -- trade, foreign investment, and monetary relations. The politics and mechanisms of U.S. foreign economic policy.
View Classes »5330. International Organization and Law
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
International cooperation to resolve economic, social, and political transnational problems.
View Classes »5335. U.S. Foreign Policy in the Middle East
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
Examination of U.S. political, economic and strategic interests and aims in the Middle East.
View Classes »5340. Politics and Security in the Middle East
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
Examination of security issues in the Middle East and the responses of regional actors and external powers.
View Classes »5390. Economic Rights
Explores the conceptual bases, measurement, and policy applications of economic rights. Specific topics will include: child labor, the right to development, non-governmental initiatives, and the institutionalization of economic rights (e.g., constitutionalization versus statutory implementation versus discretionary policies).
View Classes »5400. Proseminar in American Politics
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
Theory and practice of American government and politics, with an emphasis on various theoretical and methodological perspectives.
View Classes »5406. Special Topics in American Politics
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
Advanced study of selected topics. Intensive examination of research literature dealing with particular aspects of American politics.
View Classes »5407. American Political Institutions and Policy
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
The institutions and policy-making process of American government.
View Classes »5408. American Political Behavior
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
The political behavior of the American public, including public opinion, voting behavior, and other forms of participation.
View Classes »5409. American Race, Gender and Ethnic Politics
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
The politics of American race, gender and ethnicity, with a focus on disadvantaged groups and their influence on the political process.
View Classes »5410. Black Feminist Theory and Politics
Major debates at the core of black feminist theory, emphasizing the ways in which interlocking systems of oppression uphold and sustain each other in contemporary U.S. politics.
View Classes »5420. Public Opinion and American Democracy
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
Theories of democracy and what they imply about the public's capabilities and role; empirical research on the American public and public opinion in the context of democratic theory.
View Classes »5425. American Political Parties
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
The development, organization, and role of political parties in the United States, with implications for public policy.
View Classes »5460. Social Policy
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
5505. Seminar in Public Law
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
Selected topics in public law, the administration of justice, and jurisprudence.
View Classes »5510. Judicial Decision-Making
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
The judicial decision-making process in terms of methods and models developed in the framework of the behavioral sciences.
View Classes »5515. Constitutional Interpretation
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
An exploration of the theories and process of constitutional interpretation in the United States, with an emphasis on the role the Supreme Court plays in defending and enforcing civil liberties.
View Classes »5600. Nature of Political Inquiry
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
The scope of political science, modes of inquiry, the role of concepts and theory. Graduate students are urged to take the course in their first semester.
View Classes »5605. Seminar in Quantitative Methods of Political Science
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
Introduction to the data analysis techniques most often used by political scientists. Requires no previous background in statistics.
View Classes »5615. Seminar in Qualitative Methods of Political Science
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: POLS 5600 and 5605.
Grading Basis: Graded
A survey of qualitative research methods. Training in use of case studies, comparative historical approach, interviewing and focus groups, ethnography and interpretive methods.
View Classes »5620. Research Design and Development
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
Introduction to research methods and designs in political science. Students will develop and conduct original research projects. Intended for master’s students in their first semester.
View Classes »5621. Research Design and Development II
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: POLS 5620.
Grading Basis: Graded
Advanced research methods and designs in political science. Students will develop and conduct original research projects. Intended for master’s students in their second semester.
View Classes »5625. Political Science Professional Development
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
Exploration of careers that involve researching and thinking about politics. Required for 5th Year M.A. students. Does not fulfill Methods or Subfield course requirements for POLS Ph.D. students.
View Classes »5630. Prospectus and Dissertation Writing Seminar
1.00 - 3.00 credits | May be repeated for a total of 10 credits.
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory
Writing workshop facilitates prospectus and dissertation writing.
View Classes »5700. Proseminar in Politics and Popular Culture
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
Intersections of politics and popular culture. Examination of cultural texts for political meaning and for dialogue with academic political science.
View Classes »5710. Political Science Fiction
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: Not open for credit to students who have passed POLS 3710.
Grading Basis: Graded
International relations theory and speculative fiction as interpretations and interrogations of war, peace, politics, knowledge, and imagination.
View Classes »5800. Race in the Formation of the Human Sciences
Also offered as: ANTH 5800, LLAS 5800, PHIL 5800
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: Not open for credit to students who have passed PHIL 5380.
Grading Basis: Graded
Exploration of how race and the human sciences emerged out of the theological, epistemological, and political upheavals that resulted in the Euromodern world.
View Classes »6400. Research Seminars in American Politics
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
6500. Research Seminar in Judicial Process
3.00 credits
Prerequisites: None.
Grading Basis: Graded
6610. Research Seminar in Quantitative Methods
1.00 - 6.00 credits | May be repeated for a total of 6 credits.
Prerequisites: POLS 5605.
Grading Basis: Graded
Research in quantitative applications to political data.
View Classes »