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.

PhD IN POLITICAL SCIENCE PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS Checklist