Course of Study: Four departmental fields of study are offered: political philosophy and theory, political economy, American politics, and comparative politics. Students are required to complete a total of 36 points consisting of the following: eight courses (32 points), of which at least six must be in the department and four must be in one departmental field; an internship and corresponding Internship Seminar, POL-GA 3995; and a master’s thesis and corresponding Master’s Thesis Seminar, POL-GA 4000. Courses in the major field must include the field core course. This core course and one additional core course are required and are usually the first courses taken in the department. The internship may be substituted with a 2 point reading and research course approved by the program director. Students are expected to maintain a grade point average of 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) in work for the master’s degree. Each student should meet with the M.A. program adviser every semester to discuss and agree on a course of study. The director of the M.A. program will assign an adviser prior to the start of the student’s first semester.
Master's Thesis: As noted above, students must also complete the master’s thesis as part of the Master’s Thesis Seminar course. The thesis will be a heavily researched academic work consisting of 10,000-15000 words dealing with an important and timely topic in politics related to a student’s chosen concentration. The thesis should demonstrate that a student has a sufficient command of literatures and arguments pertaining to the chosen topic. Students are required to notify the thesis seminar course instructor at the initiation of research for the master’s thesis and register for the M.A. thesis course. In conjunction with the M.A. advisor and the thesis seminar instructor, students will choose a faculty thesis supervisor. Once a thesis topic and supervisor are designated, the director of M.A. program must approve changes to them.
Foreign Language Requirement: Students must demonstrate proficiency in one language other than English or, with permission of the director of the M.A. program, in statistics. Students demonstrate proficiency in a foreign language by passing the GSAS foreign language proficiency examination or by completing an intermediate-level foreign language course with a grade of B or better. Students demonstrate proficiency in statistics by completing Introduction to Quantitative Political Analysis II, POL-GA 2127, with a grade of B or better.