A Message From The Chair
Welcome
to the Department of Political Science at Columbia University! Picking
a graduate school is one of the most important decisions of your
career. Let me describe graduate study here, so you can decide whether
Columbia is right for you.
You will join a small entering class, about 15-20 students, most with fellowships, chosen from applicants from a broad range of colleges and universities throughout the U.S. and around the world. You may find your new colleagues to be the most diverse group of people you’ve ever known.
During the first year, you’ll receive a rigorous introduction to two of the four subfields of the discipline: American Politics, Comparative Politics, International Relations, and Political Theory. You’ll study with acknowledged leaders in their fields. You’ll learn what political scientists know (and don’t know), what the key debates have been, where the field is going, and why. You’ll also learn the skills of a modern political scientist: statistics, computer-based data analysis, game theory, research design, archival research, interviewing, field work, and qualitative methods. To gain expertise on a geographical area abroad, you may affiliate with one of our outstanding regional institutes. The first year is tough. But you’ll learn more than you thought possible. And you’ll begin to see the world as a political scientist does.
In your second year, you’ll study further in small, intense seminars. You’ll hone your research skills in advanced methods courses and apply them in seminars and other courses. You’ll begin to work closely with the faculty, often on joint research. You’ll participate in research workshops where students and faculty discuss cutting-edge work and interrogate world-class scholars about their latest research. You’ll hear dissertation chapters presented by advanced students and begin to develop your own ideas for research. At the end of the year, you’ll present your own research and be ready to take the demanding Comprehensive Exams. You’re now certified to teach courses in political science and ready to begin your dissertation research. Then the real work begins!
All this takes place in one of the world’s great universities, located in the heart of America’s cultural, economic, and intellectual capital. In fact, study at Columbia reflects the city around us: intense, challenging, exhilarating, occasionally frustrating, but always rewarding.
We’re proud of our department – justly proud of its history as the first department of political science in the country, at the center of the discipline for almost a century. But we’re even more excited about the future. If you would like to learn more, keep reading. Then write, email, and communicate with us further. I hope to see you in the fall!