Home :: Graduate Program :: Brochure

Duke University

GRADUATE STUDY IN POLITICAL SCIENCE

August 2007

 

Since its inception in the 1920’s, Duke University has been a major center for graduate education in political science. The Department aims, now as in earlier years, to integrate normative, empirical, theoretical, and policy concerns. More than many other Departments, it insists on breadth and well-roundedness in its graduates. At the same time, it strongly encourages and assists early concentration on professional research and publication.

Both of these goals are served by close and supportive relations with the faculty and with other students. Ordinarily about 12-15 new graduate students enter each year. The ratio of students in residence to faculty is approximately 2:1.

The Department offers a wide variety of courses for graduate students. These include seminars (300-level), limited to graduate students, and no more than 17 students, which cover basic works and theories in the four major sub-fields of the discipline. Students may also register for individualized courses of independent readings (POLSCI 399) or research (POLSCI 308). The Department maintains a fully operational computer laboratory and is a member of the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research, as well as other inter-university arrangements to facilitate both qualitative and quantitative research by graduate students and faculty.

Departmental offerings are supplemented by graduate programs in other departments at Duke, including Anthropology, Economics, History, Philosophy, Public Policy, Sociology, and Statistics. Interdisciplinary programs such as the Kenan Institute for Ethics, the Program in Political Economy, and Women’s Studies are also valuable resources for graduate students in Political Science. A graduate student properly enrolled at Duke may take up to two approved courses per semester for full credit at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina Central University in Durham, or North Carolina State University in Raleigh through the Inter-Institutional Registration program. Please see: http://www.registrar.duke.edu/

Significant numbers of our advanced students also undertake some portion of their research and training abroad through Departmental and University programs as well as through national fellowship programs. In addition, many students participate in non-credit programs, including University Seminars such as the Seminar on Globalization and Equity, the John Hope Franklin Center, and various area studies centers.

I. Admission

Applications for admission are welcomed from candidates for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. The Department also considers applications for candidates for the two-year Master of Arts degree, though students pursuing only the Master of Arts degree are not eligible for departmental financial awards. Applicants are considered without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, political affiliation, sex, age, or physical handicaps. Competition for admission is very strong and admissions decisions are made by a committee of the Department, in consultation with the Graduate School, on merit and promise and with a view to diversity of interests and backgrounds.

Applicants must offer verbal, quantitative and analytical aptitude scores on the Graduate Record Examination. Ordinarily, applicants will have earned the BA or BS degree with at least twelve undergraduate semester hours in political science. Three letters of recommendation and an undergraduate transcript are also required. A 10-20 page writing sample is requested.

Priority deadline: applications must be post-marked no later than December 15st of the calendar year prior to admission, and must reach the Graduate School within 14 days of this post-mark. Otherwise they will not be processed until all on-time applications have been handled. Application fee is $75 (reduced to $65 if application is received by December 1). Applicants seeking financial aid should submit applications as early as possible. Applications for Spring semester are not encouraged but are considered in exceptional cases. Further information about the Graduate School, may be obtained from the first website at the end of this paragraph. The Graduate School prefers to receive applications electronically. Application information and forms may be obtained from the Enrollment Services Office from the second website. However, you may request a hard-copy application package from the Office of Graduate Admissions, Box 90065, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708-0065, USA.

http://www.gradschool.duke.edu/

http://www.gradschool.duke.edu/admissions/

 

II. The Ph.D. Program

The focus of the Department’s graduate program is on the Ph.D. Degree. Normally, students should not come to this department if they only seek a Masters degree. The Ph.D. requirements are summarized in a checklist, which should be maintained for every graduate student and updated at least annually. The requirements as explained in more detail in the checklist are summarized below.

Summary of Requirements for the Ph.D.

In brief summary, the requirements for the Ph.D. are as follows:

1. Courses. Students must complete 12 courses, nine of which must be in political science. At least three of the 12 courses must be taken in each of 2 Preliminary Examination Fields. Field 1 must be chosen from the following: American, Comparative, IR, Methods, or Theory. Field 2 can be one of the remaining four fields from the preceding list, or it may be one of the approved theme fields.

NOTE: Faculty advisors and/or field committees may recommend that more than 3 courses be taken in a field prior to a student sitting for preliminary exams.

Graduate-level courses taken in other departments at Duke, or at other universities, may be credited, at the discretion of the Director of Graduate Studies (hereinafter DGS) in consultation with relevant faculty.

2. Skill requirements. Students must normally take basic research methods, involving two courses, including statistics, and one foreign language. With the approval of the DGS, students may substitute: a) intensive research methods, involving four courses in research methods; or b) two foreign languages (or advanced study of a difficult foreign language)..

3. Political philosophy requirement. Taking one Duke political science political theory course from the following list fulfills this requirement: POLSCI 218, 223, 224, 229, and/or 260.

4. Students must pass qualifying exams in two fields and a preliminary exam in their primary field.

5. Students must complete a satisfactory dissertation and pass an oral examination on that dissertation.

How these requirements are fulfilled is best explained by summarizing what students are expected to do during the course of their years at Duke. Details are available through the checklist, and from the Assistant to the Director of Graduate Studies (hereinafter DGSA).

 

The Program of Study

1st year: Students normally take four graduate courses each semester. The Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) will meet with each incoming student before classes begin to discuss her or his plans. At that time, the DGS will assign the student a faculty advisor for the first year. In thinking about their course work, students should keep in mind the following considerations:

(1) Required field seminars are not offered every year. Students should enroll in the field seminars for fields that they are considering as possible first or second fields for their qualifying exams.

(2) Methodology courses are taught in sequence, and all students need to plan their courses so as to build competence for their subsequent higher-level work in methodology.

(3) It is particularly important for graduate students to work from the outset with regular faculty of the Department. Students should therefore choose their courses with a view toward familiarizing themselves with particular faculty members, as well as on the basis of subject matter.

(4) At the end of the first year, students should have taken a variety of substantive courses, sufficient for them to decide on the fields they propose to offer in their preliminary examinations. They should also have begun systematic training in appropriate methodologies, in view of their substantive interests.

Students in their first year who are being supported by Duke University fellowships are expected, on request from the Graduate School and the DGS, to apply for fellowship support from outside sources (such as the National Science Foundation) during the fall of their first year. Duke University aid will be adjusted downwards for those students receiving outside support; but no student will be disadvantaged financially as a result of receiving outside support, whether complete or partial.

By April 15th of the first year, each student will file , with the DGSA, a checklist of requirements completed, and plans for completion of other requirements. This checklist will also indicate the student's plans to complete the requirements and name the faculty advisor that the student requests for his or her second year.

At the end of the year, the Faculty will meet to evaluate the performance of first-year students. As a result of this evaluation, the DGS will inform students of their status in the program, and offer advice for future plans. In carrying out this evaluation, the DGS and the faculty will look especially closely at the number of incompletes that a student has. Students having more than two incompletes at the end of the first year of work may be regarded as not making satisfactory progress in the program.

2nd year: Students are expected to take four graduate courses each semester, except for the semester in which they teach (in which they take three courses).

During the second year of residence, students are expected to complete their last two required semesters of course work.

Unless students apply for and receive an exemption from the DGS, all students in good standing will have completed at least twelve (12) graduate-level courses by the beginning of their fifth semester in residence. One of these courses must normally be chosen from among specific offerings in political philosophy. The distribution requirement must also be met: each student must take at least three courses from at least two of the five traditional fields. Field 1 must be chosen from American, Comparative, IR, Methods, or Theory. Field 2 can be one of the remaining four fields from the preceding list, or a list of approved theme fields. Note: Faculty advisors and/or field committees may recommend that more than three courses be taken in a field prior to a student sitting for preliminary exams.

At the end of the second year of residence, each student will once again complete and submit the checklist and a progress report indicating her or his progress toward meeting the requirements. Students who have not filed the checklist by May 1 of their second year will not be eligible to continue in the program, unless the omission is rectified and special written permission is given by the DGS.

At the end of the year, the Faculty will meet to evaluate the performance of second-year students. As a result of this evaluation, the DGS will inform students of their status in the program, and offer advice for future plans. In carrying out this evaluation, the DGS and the faculty will look especially closely at the number of incompletes that a student has. Students having more than two incompletes at the end of the second year of work may be regarded as not making satisfactory progress in the program.

In the Spring of the second year (fourth semester) the DGS/DGSA will send an email notice to the rising third-year students asking when the student plans to sit for the qualifying/preliminary exams in the third year: September or February. This information is also on the PhD Checklist, which is to be submitted to the DGSA by the 15th of April.

3rd year: Students must take qualifying and preliminary exams during their third year.. To be admitted to the qualifying examination, a student must have completed the following requirements, unless he or she has received an exemption from the DGS.

(1) Completion of four semesters of course work, involving at least twelve (12) courses;
(2) Completion of the distribution requirement, the political philosophy requirement, and the relevant skills requirements.

When the above requirements have been completed, a student is eligible to take the qualifying and preliminary examinations, scheduled for September and February.

Students will submit the fully completed checklist to the DGSA no later than sixty days before they expect to take the preliminary examination. These forms will indicate the faculty member whom the student has asked to be chair of his or her dissertation committee. These forms will be available to the members of the preliminary examination committee.

The Qualifying Exam will consist of 2 written exams, one in a primary and one in a secondary field. Passing both written exams is necessary before the student is deemed to have passed the Qualifying Exam. Passing the qualifying exams requires a passing assessment from a majority of the members of the qualifying exam committee. The sole exception to this policy is that a negative vote cast by the chair of the examining committee is an automatic failure of the examination . In the event of a failure, the student is required to retake only the exam that is failed. Passing the second attempt of a qualifying exam requires a unanimous vote of the examining committee . Only one retake of a failed written exam is permitted.

In the event that a student fails the first attempt at the qualifying exam in their second exam field, they are permitted to switch to a new second field, IF they have already passed enough courses to satisfy the requirements of another field (or will have done so by the end of the next semester), AND with the understanding that the first qualifying exam attempt in the new field will be counted as the second and final attempt to pass the qualifying exam in a second field.

Committee requests are due to the DGSA:

April 15th for September exam

November 15th for February exam

Passing the Qualifying Exam is a prerequisite for taking the Preliminary Exam.

Pursuant to departmental rules, students may not discuss the qualifying exams with anyone (faculty or students) except the chair of the examining committee prior to taking the preliminary exam. The DGS informs students about the outcome of their exams after the committees have rendered a decision.

Qualifying Exam committees are 3-person committees that come entirely from the subfield in question. The Department Chair in consultation with the DGS appoints exam committees for the academic year. Successful completion of the Qualifying exam requires a majority rule of the committee.

The Preliminary Exam consists of an oral exam in the student's primary field. The Preliminary Exam committee will be composed of all of the members of the Qualifying Examination committee and a faculty member from the student's secondary field. The DGS, in consultation with the student, selects this faculty member. If the student's dissertation chair is not on the qualifying exam committee, however, he or she may be added in place of the original members of the qualifying exam committee.

Successful completion of the Preliminary Examination requires at least three affirmative votes and no more than one negative vote. The sole exception to this policy is that a negative vote cast by the chair of the examining committee is an automatic failure of the examination. A student who fails the preliminary examination may apply, with the consent of the full supervisory committee and the Dean of the Graduate School, for the privilege of a second examination to be taken no earlier than three months after the date of the first administration of the preliminary exam. Successful completion of the second attempt of the preliminary examination requires the affirmative vote of all committee members. Failure on the second examination will render a student ineligible to continue a program for the Ph.D. degree at Duke University.

At the end of the year, the Faculty will meet to evaluate the performance of third year students. As a result of this evaluation, the DGS will inform students of their status in the program, and offer advice for future plans. Students who have not taken their preliminary examinations will normally be asked to leave the program. Students who have taken but not passed their exams will be required to retake them in September. In carrying out this evaluation, the DGS and the faculty will look especially closely at the number of incompletes that a student has. Students having more than two incompletes at the end of the third year of work may be regarded as not making satisfactory progress in the program.

Students will submit the checklist, fully completed, to the DGSA by sixty days before they expect to take the preliminary examination. These forms will indicate the faculty member whom the student has asked to be chair of his or her dissertation committee. These forms will be available to the members of the preliminary examination committee.

At the end of the year, the Faculty will meet to evaluate the performance of third year students. As a result of this evaluation, the DGS will inform students of their status in the program, and offer advice for future plans. Students who have not taken their preliminary examinations will normally be asked to leave the program. Students who have taken but not passed their exams will be required to retake them in September. In carrying out this evaluation, the DGS and the faculty will look especially closely at the number of incompletes that a student has. Students having more than two incompletes at the end of the third year of work may be regarded as not making satisfactory progress in the program.

 

Admission to Candidacy

To be admitted to candidacy, a student who has passed the preliminary examination must have his or her dissertation prospectus approved. This process begins with a short draft dissertation prospectus. This prospectus may be submitted at the time of the preliminary examination, and in any case should be submitted to the Chair of the Dissertation Committee within 60 days of that examination, unless an exemption is given by the DGS. This prospectus should be discussed with the chair of the student’s committee, and with other members of the committee, and revised after consultation. It should be emphasized that this version need not constitute a complete research design. It is meant to be the beginning of a process of innovation and collaboration

After the student has consulted with his or her chair about the proposal, they will agree on how the student’s committee should be reconstituted to form the Dissertation Committee. There must be at least four members of each dissertation committee, all of whom must be members of the Graduate Faculty unless the DGS and the Graduate School agree to an exception. At least three members of the committee must be members of the Department, unless permission is given by the DGS for an exemption to this rule. One member of the committee is to be in the student’s minor field, while three members are to be in the student’s major field. After the student has consulted with each member of the committee, the committee as a whole shall hold a consultation with the student, at which at least three members of the committee must be present, in person or by teleconference.

When a student has completed his or her final dissertation consultation, the chair of the dissertation committee shall submit a form to the DGSA, so attesting. This form shall be signed by the other members of the committee present, and any member of the committee not present shall indicate his or her concurrence by other means.

After this step has been taken, the only remaining requirement for the Ph.D. is completion of a satisfactory dissertation, which must then be defended before the dissertation committee. Three affirmative votes, including the vote of the chair of the dissertation committee, are required for acceptance of a dissertation. Upon completion of the dissertation exam, faculty members will complete a form, which each of them will sign, indicating the result.

III. The Master’s Degree

Students progressing well in the Ph.D. program will receive M.A. degrees after completion of twelve (12) courses, writing a seminar-length paper with a grade of C+ or better, completing the skill requirements in statistics or a foreign language, and passing the preliminary examination.

Terminal Master’s Degree

The terminal degree of Master of Arts, for those who do not intend to continue with doctoral studies, is awarded to students who meet the Graduate School’s residence requirements who successfully complete the following: 1) seven one semester courses of 3 units each, at least five of which must be in political science; 2) write a M.A. thesis; 3) demonstration of competence in one foreign language or in statistics; 4) passing the oral exam in which the student explicates and defends the M. A. thesis. Three units of ungraded research are required in the third and fourth semesters of the program. The ungraded research hours should be spent preparing the thesis proposal and the thesis itself. The M.A. thesis should demonstrate the student's ability to collect, interpret, and analyze pertinent material on a research problem. Ideally, the M.A. thesis will be a journal-style paper of approximately 30 to 50 pages. Students may choose to expand upon a seminar paper that is completed during the first three semesters of coursework to fulfill the thesis requirement. Students are required to pass an oral examination of the M.A. thesis. The thesis must be submitted in an approved form to the Graduate School on or before April 15 for a May degree, ten days before the final day of the second summer term for a September degree, ten days before the final day of the fall semester for a December degree, and at least one week before the scheduled date of the final examination.

The Joint Master’s Degree

The joint JD-MA degree (hereinafter JDMA) program in political science is designed as a terminal degree program for which continuous Graduate School registration must be maintained (or a Graduate School [not only a Law School] Leave of Absence is filed). Continued registration requires actually registering for at least one (1) graduate credit for each semester of residence, e.g., Continuation.

The Political Science Program consists of registering for a total of eight (8) graded courses (24 graduate credits) in Political Science, and two (2) research credits (6 graduate credits) in Political Science for which one (1) or two (2) graded graduate courses may be substituted. Four (4) of the graded graduate courses (12 graduate credits) are permitted by the School of Law to reduce from 84 to 72 the number of Law credits needed to satisfy the requirements of the JD. degree. Of the eight (8) Political Science courses, all must be at the graduate level and numbered 201 – 399, unless two (2) such courses are deemed by the Director of Graduate Studies (hereinafter DGS), or by a designated faculty member, to be skill courses in which case they may be numbered below 201 in Political Science or below 200 in other Arts and Sciences departments.

Four (4) of the eight (8) courses must be seminars. Four (4) must constitute the student’s primary field and cluster in one of the four major sub-fields of political science (American Politics (A), Comparative Politics (B), Political Theory: Normative (C-N) or Empirical (C-E), and/or International Relations (D)); two (2) graduate courses that constitute a secondary field must cluster in another sub-field of the discipline; at least two (2) electives may be selected from among graduate courses offered in any of the sub-fields.

The eight (8) graduate courses taken to satisfy the requirements of the M.A. degree will ordinarily originate in the Political Science Department, but related elective graduate courses may originate in another Arts and Sciences department, but they may not originate in a professional school (Law, Fuqua, Medical, etc.) unless the course is cross-listed with an Arts and Sciences department. Law courses not cross-listed with an Arts & Sciences department cannot ever count toward both the J.D. and the M.A. degrees.

Skill courses, including not more than two (2) of those numbered below the graduate (200) level, or demonstrated proficiency in statistics, social science methodology, and/or foreign languages are not required of students in this joint degree program, but one or more may be deemed important and even essential to success in the program.

The DGS, or a designated faculty member, must approve all Political Science graduate courses chosen and/or substitutions (i.e., courses originating in, or cross-listed with, related Arts & Sciences departments or programs) as well as any other exceptions to the stipulated course of study noted above. All course changes must be made prior to the end of the Arts & Sciences Drop/Add period for the relevant semester.

In addition to the course requirements of the program, candidates for the JDMA. degree must submit a master’s thesis in a form that satisfies the requirements of the Graduate School. The M.A. thesis should demonstrate the student's ability to collect, interpret, and analyze pertinent material on a research problem. Ideally, the M.A. thesis will be a journal-style paper of approximately 30 to 50 pages. Students may choose to expand upon a seminar paper that is completed during the first three semesters of coursework to fulfill the thesis requirement. Students are required to pass an oral examination of the M.A. thesis. The thesis must be submitted in an approved form to the Graduate School on or before April 15 for a May degree, ten days before the final day of the second summer term for a September degree, ten days before the final day of the fall semester for a December degree, and at least one week before the scheduled date of the final examination.

A three-member faculty committee, including at least two (2) members of the Political Science Department, must conduct the oral examination on the Master’s Thesis. It is the responsibility of the student to obtain in a timely manner the explicit consent of each faculty member to serve on his or her Master’s Committee.

This joint program is open to law students who enter the J.D. program in the summer of their First Year and who on their application for law school admission signal an intention to pursue the joint JDMA program. In exceptional cases, a law student who applies in a timely manner, in accordance with application deadlines fixed by the Graduate School and the Department, for admission to the program during his or her first year may be considered for entry. Once enrolled in the joint JDMA program and having never withdrawn from it, a student must satisfy all the requirements of both programs in order to receive any degree at Commencement.

Although admission to this program does not require a Graduate Records Examination score, it does require favorable action by the DGS of the Department of Political Science. Law students admitted to the joint program in common with all other M.A. candidates are not eligible for departmental financial assistance. Once admitted, JDMA students (a) are expected to participate fully in the Department’s August Orientation program for entering graduate students, and (b) must submit by May 1 of his or her first year a brief essay of not more than 500 words indicating the relevance of the courses selected to his or her study of the law together with a complete proposed course of study subject to later revision).

Students who are pursuing only the M.A. degree are not eligible for departmental financial assistance.

IV. Skill Requirements for the M.A. and Ph.D. Degrees

Candidates for the M.A. degree must demonstrate competence in one foreign language or in statistics. Candidates for the Ph.D. normally must demonstrate competence in one foreign language and in statistics. Students can, however, petition the DGS to satisfy their skill requirements through one of two other options: two foreign languages (or four semesters of a difficult foreign language such as Ancient Greek, Chinese, or Japanese) and no statistics, or four quantitatively-oriented methodology courses and no foreign language. Approval by the DGS for a student to pursue one of these options is based on relevance to the student’s fields of study, dissertation plan and future career plans. Such permission must be sought well in advance of when the student intends to take preliminary exams. Students are urged to satisfy the skill requirements as early as possible. If a doctoral student fails to demonstrate competency in even one language by the end of the third semester of residence, registration in the appropriate special reading course(s) is encouraged.

Foreign Language proficiency can be established in one of the following ways:

1. A grade of B or higher in each of two semesters of a foreign-language course or in research language training or intensive foreign language courses requiring an equivalent level of knowledge taken at either the graduate or undergraduate level, at Duke or elsewhere. The course must have been taken within two years of matriculation in the Political Science graduate program at Duke. The student is responsible for showing the DGS that these conditions were met by the course.

2. Certification of proficiency (comparable to that in 1 above) by the instructor of a foreign language reading course for graduate students conducted by a Duke language department.

3. In special circumstances, with the approval of the DGS, certification can be achieved by a special exam prepared by a faculty member in the Political Science department. Such an examination must include both a portion testing the student’s ability to summarize a text (such as a newspaper article) without the assistance of a dictionary and a portion requiring translation of a social science text with the assistance of a dictionary. Both portions of the examination will be taken under a reasonable time constraint. Such an examination will certify the student if the faculty member conducting the exam deems it to show a level of proficiency similar to that attained by students under 1, or 2 above.

4. In the case of foreign students whose native language is not English or students who have lived for long periods abroad in non-English speaking countries, language proficiency can be certified by the DGS upon petition.

The following decision rules are used to exempt graduate students from the department’s statistics requirements:

Exemption from Introductory Statistics (POLSCI 222); a student can be exempted from this course if: (a) he/she received a grade of "C+" or better in a graduate-level introductory statistics course at another university, or (b) he/she received a grade of "B+" or better in two or more undergraduate statistics courses. Students will need to submit a course syllabus (or equivalent information about content) in order to claim an exemption.

Exemption from Introductory Econometrics (POLSCI 233): for this exemption, a student must receive a grade of "C+" or better in a graduate-level econometrics course taken at another university. In addition, at the discretion of the faculty member assigned to evaluate requests for exemptions, the student may be asked to complete a typical final exam for POLSCI 233. In general, a grade on the exam of "C" or better is necessary for an exemption. Requests for exemptions from courses beyond Introductory Econometrics will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

V. Expenses and Financial Assistance 1

Full-time PhD students are charged the flat rate of Tuition each semester for six semesters (3 years), as well as the Continuation Health and Recreation fees, Medical Insurance, and student government dues. In addition, a one-time Transcript fee is charged in the fall semester of matriculation. After six semesters, the students are charged only the Registration, Health and Recreation fees and student government dues. Approved transfer of an earned master’s degree will reduce the minimum doctoral registration to 5 semesters of full-time tuition.

Part-time PhD students are charged ½ the flat Tuition rate and full Registration, Health and Activity fees and student government dues.

Masters and Non-degree Students are charged per unit as well as the Registration, Health, Activity fees, and student government dues.

Part-time PhD, Masters, and Non-degree Students are charged a one-time Transcript fee in the fall semester of matriculation.

Masters degree students are required to pay for at least 30 units of registration.

A high proportion of the Department’s graduate students receive financial support, in one of six forms:

(1) James B. Duke Fellowships;
(2) fellowships and assistantships of the Graduate School or of interdisciplinary programs, including awards to minority students of U.S. citizenship, to foreign students, and to students in such fields as international and area studies;
(3) instructional assistantships in large undergraduate courses;
(4) loans, including those available through the National Direct Student Loan (NDSL) program;
(5) Departmental fellowships and assistantships, awarded out of the Department’s general Graduate School allocation; and
(6) fellowships from outside sources such as NSF, Ford, and SSRC. In addition, grants to assist specific aspects of graduate students’ research, training, and conference participation, are generally available during the academic year and the summer, on a competitive basis, from the Graduate School and Departmental funds.

Approximately sixty James B. Duke Fellowships are awarded annually to entering students through a University-wide competition. Nominations come from the Department; the student cannot apply directly. J.B. Duke Fellowships pay, in addition to tuition and fees, a generous income stipend. Further details are available in the Bulletin of Duke University on Graduate Studies.

The fellowships and assistantships offered directly by the Graduate School and by various interdisciplinary programs also require, in most cases, nomination by the Department, but interested applicants should not hesitate to communicate directly with the Associate Dean of the Graduate School or with the directors of specific programs. Applications from minority students are specifically encouraged. Again, the Bulletin should be consulted.

After one year of course work (or, for students already holding the MA from elsewhere, one semester of work at Duke), students are eligible to serve as instructional assistants. The Department gives priority to its own students. Appointments are by the Department Chair, on recommendation of the DGS, after consultation with the faculty members conducting the courses that require instructional assistants. Assistantship salaries are considered part of a student’s financial assistance package. An instructional assistant normally leads two sections and may not lead more than four.

Loans for graduate education are available, often on favorable terms, from many state agencies, through the guaranteed student loan program, and under the NDSL program. Further details are available from the Graduate School.

The most common form of support for doctoral students is the departmental fellowship or assistantship, which is granted by the Department’s Committee on Graduate Admissions and Awards. Students pursuing only the M.A. degree are not eligible for such awards. To apply, a student need only indicate on the Graduate School application that he or she wants to be considered for financial aid. Each year a number of outstanding applicants are offered full support tuition, fees, and a stipend calculated to meet living expenses on the basis of merit alone. Others are offered a wider range of assistance on the basis of both merit and need, and the Department reserves the right to request disclosure of financial status as a condition for the award of assistance. All U.S. applicants for financial aid should therefore submit after April 15, through the Educational Testing Service, the FAFSA form. The code for graduate studies is E00165; website: http://www.fafsa.ed.gov

All Departmental financial assistance is of course conditional on the future availability of funds, which cannot be predicted with certainty from year to year. Initial Departmental awards are normally for a term of five years, contingent on satisfactory performance. In recent experience, all first-year appointees have been continued, at or above the stipend level of the preceding year, through their 5th year of graduate study. Students also often receive some support after their 5th year of residence.

A student who initially receives no assistance from the Department may also apply for support during the spring review for funding beginning in their second year; and the Committee on Admissions and Awards may then recommend that support be granted to students who have performed exceptionally well. These awards are renewable, as outlined above.

Every Departmental award is subject to termination if, in the judgment of the Faculty its holder has ceased to make satisfactory progress toward the degree.

The Department can only maintain a thriving graduate program at current levels of enrollment if some students receive outside funding, since University resources are insufficient. The Department therefore strongly urges all students on Departmental funding to seek such outside support, and provides advice on how to apply for grants from the National Science Foundation and other relevant potential sources of funding. Our philosophy is that doing so constitutes a contribution to the common good. If our students actively pursue outside funding, a sufficient proportion will succeed to enable the program as a whole to thrive.

In line with this philosophy, if a student wins a non-Departmental award that is equal to or lower than his or her Departmental award, the non-Departmental award normally replaces Departmental funding, so that the student’s total funding package remains the same. If a student wins a non-Departmental award that is higher than his or her Departmental award, the student receives only the non-Departmental funding. However, the Director of Graduate Studies will keep account of students’ success in obtaining non-Departmental funding when considering requests for other support, such as summer research funding and payment of continuation fees beyond the fifth year of graduate study.

By University regulation, no awards from the Graduate School allocation can be made after May 15.

Further information is available from the DGS or from the Associate Dean for Admissions in the Graduate School.

VI. Placement

The Department actively assists in placing its graduates, both in the academic job market and in public and private research and administration. In recent years, Duke graduates in political science have accepted or been offered teaching appointments at institutions around the United States, including but not limited to: Brigham Young University (2001, 1999), Cal Tech (1992), Calvin College (2004), Claremont Graduate University (2003), Franklin and Marshall College (1994), Furman University (1997), George Washington University (1995), Georgetown (1996), Haverford College (2004), Indiana University (2002, 2000), James Madison University (1999), Kenyon College (1994), Muhlenberg College (1990), Ohio State University (2001, 1991), Pennsylvania State University (1997), Southern Methodist University, (1999), Stanford University (2000), SUNY Stony Brook (2000), Syracuse University (2002), U.C. Davis (2004, 2003), U.C. Irvine (2000), UCLA (2000), University of Chicago (2002, 2000), University of Kentucky (1993), University of Miami (2000), University of Minnesota ((1992), University of North Texas, (2000), University of Notre Dame (2002, 1999), University of South Carolina (2001), University of Tennessee @ Knoxville (2001, 1998), University of Texas (1997), University of Toronto (2003), University of Western Ontario (2003), Washington & Lee (1994), Washington University @ St. Louis (2004).

Other recent graduates have entered the Foreign Service, state and Federal government, and private consulting firms. In all, over 200 holders of Duke doctorates in political science now serve on the faculties of such institutions as Brandeis, Cornell, Georgetown, Loyola, North Carolina Central University, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Rochester, SUNY at Stony Brook, University of California at Berkeley, University of Georgia, University of Mannheim, University of Michigan, University of Pennsylvania, University of Vermont, University of Virginia, and Wellesley,

 

NOTE:

December 15, is the postmark deadline for receipt of applications for Fall matriculation. Our Admissions Committee begins reviewing applications as soon after January first as we are able; offers go out on or about the middle of February. Our orientation begins in early August—two weeks before classes begin. It is mandatory for all new students to attend the Orientation Session.

 

 

1 Consult the Duke University Bulletin of Information for Graduate Studies for the current fee schedule as the fees are subject to change.

 

 

Graduate Brochure; August 10, 2005