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Department of Political Science
Degree Programs:
Full-Time: M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D. Full-Time: Free-Standing M.A.
Chair:
John
Huber
714 International Affairs Building
Tel:
212.854.3646
Director:
Gregory
J.
Wawro
741 International Affairs Building
Tel:
212.854.3646
Advisor:
Gerald
L.
Curtis,
Ph.D.
The department is organized into four major
subfields: American politics, comparative politics, international relations,
and political theory. Students select a major and minor field from among these,
or they may minor in economics or research methods. All students in the
department must fulfill a requirement in statistical, mathematical, and
analytical methods.
Study in American politics centers on political behavior, rational choice
institutionalism, and historical institutionalism. Many American politics
students choose research methods as their second field. Students majoring in
comparative politics study theoretical and historical issues such as ethnicity
and nationalism, political participation and culture in democratic and
authoritarian regimes, transitions and consolidation of newly democratic
regimes, and formal approaches to the design and comparison of institutions.
Students in the field of international relations, under the guidance of the
faculty, study a wide range of subjects from NGOs and other non-state actors to
the role of domestic politics and the international system, using a similarly
broad range of methodologies including interpretivist approaches to case
studies, statistical analysis, and mathematical models. The political theory
faculty comprise one of the most distinguished groups of theorists to be found
anywhere, having made leading contributions to the areas of normative political
philosophy, constitutional issues and constitution-making processes, democratic
theory, political psychology, the methodology of political inquiry, and the
history of political thought.
Fellowships are awarded in recognition of academic achievement and in
expectation of scholarly success. Teaching and research experience are
considered an important aspect of the training of graduate students. Thus,
graduate fellowships include some teaching and research apprenticeship.
Political science students regularly participate in the activities of the
regional institutes of the School of International and Public Affairs and of research
centers such as the Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies, the Institute
for Social and Economic Research and Policy, the Earth Institute, the Center
for the Study of Human Rights, the Institute for Research on Women and Gender,
the Center for International Conflict Resolution, and the Arnold Saltzman
Center for the Study of Constitutional Democracies.
The department is actively involved in the University-wide Columbia Public
Policy Consortium, an interdisciplinary program that supports graduate teaching
and doctoral research in public policy.
The department also participates fully in the interdisciplinary M.A. Program in
Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences . This M.A. program trains
students in application of quantitative methods to problems in the social sciences
as they arise in business, government, and nonprofit organizations. The program
draws on the diverse strengths of the statistics and social sciences faculties
at Columbia and other institutions in the New York metropolitan
area. It is designed for students with a strong background in social sciences
or quantitative methods who are interested in deepening their analytical skills
and broadening their knowledge of the social sciences.
Recent graduates of the Ph.D. program have obtained teaching positions at
colleges and universities throughout the U.S. and abroad, and research and
staff positions in government and in organizations such as the American Enterprise
Institute, the Asia Society, the Carnegie Council on Ethics and International
Affairs, and the International Monetary Fund.
Recent graduates of the free-standing M.A. program have applied their training
to advance their careers in journalism, business, applied research, law,
political activism, and civil service. Others have used the M.A. year to
determine whether or not to enter a Ph.D. program in political science.
Special Admission Requirements
In addition to the requirements listed below, all students must submit
1 official transcript showing courses and grades per school attended, a
Statement of Academic Purpose and 3 letters of evaluation from academic sources. All
international students whose native language is not English or whose
undergraduate degree is from an institution in a country whose official
language is not English, must submit scores of the Test of English as a
Foreign Language (TOEFL) or IELTS. For more information, refer to our Admissions Information and Frequently Asked Questions pages.
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DEGREE:
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PHD
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Master's Only
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Deadline for Fall Admission
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December 15
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April 1
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Deadline for Spring Admission
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no spring admission
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no spring admission
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Resume/CV
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yes
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yes
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Writing Sample
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yes
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yes
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GRE General
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yes
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yes
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GRE Subject
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No
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No
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Miscellaneous
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none
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none
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