A&S—Political Science
The Department of Political Science offers the degrees of Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy.
The graduate program in political science incorporates four fields:
- American politics
- Comparative politics
- World politics
- Political theory
Students may combine work for the MA and PhD degrees with a program of regional specialization leading to a certificate in Latin American studies, Asian studies, West European studies, or Russian and East European studies.
Contact Information
- Department Chair: Barry Ames
- Main Office: 4600 Wesley W. Posvar Hall
- 412-648-7250
- Fax: 412-648-7277
- E-mail: polisci@pitt.edu
- www.pitt.edu/~politics
Additional information concerning the department’s graduate program
may be obtained from the University of Pittsburgh,
Department of Political Science, Graduate Secretary,
4600 WWPH, Pittsburgh, PA 15260. Phone: 412-648-7270.
Fax: 412-648-7277. E-mail: polisci@pitt.edu.
Applicants for admission must submit transcripts of all college-level
work, three letters of recommendation, a career statement, and scores
on the verbal, quantitative, and writing assessment-analytical sections
of the Graduate Record Examination. International applicants whose
first language is not English are required to submit either the
TOEFL administered by the Educational Testing Service with a minimum
score of 550 (paper-based test)/213 (computer-based test) or the
IELTS administered by the University of Cambridge, Local Examinations
Syndicate with a minimum score of 6.5 (taking the academic writing
and reading modules). For fall term admission consideration, complete
applications must be submitted by April 15. For awards consideration,
complete applications must be submitted by January 1. The department
admits students only for the fall term.
Graduate students entering the program with a fellowship or teaching assistantship/teaching fellowship who have demonstrated high-quality graduate work can expect to have financial aid renewed for up to three years. If they have successfully passed the PhD comprehensive examinations at the outset of the fourth year, additional financial aid from the department will be contingent upon a yearly review indicating that they are making substantial progress toward completing the dissertation. A graduate student who has not passed the PhD comprehensive examinations in September of the fourth year of graduate work ordinarily is not eligible for additional financial assistance until these examinations are passed.
For the MA, students must earn 30 hours of credit with a B average or better in courses numbered 1000 or above. At least half of these credits must be carried in courses numbered 2000 or above. All MA students are required to complete a 9-credit core-course sequence in theory and methods (PS 2020, 2030, and 2040), comprising graduate-level training in empirical analysis of political behavior and normative political thought. The remainder of the students’ MA course work is used to develop competence in one of the four fields of political science offered by the department.
Students must then pass a comprehensive examination, for MA purposes, covering one of the four general fields: world politics, American politics, comparative politics, or political theory (beyond the core course sequence).
Credit Requirement: A minimum of 72 credit hours, including the master’s degree, earned from any suitable combination of formal course work, independent study, research, teaching, or dissertation work as detailed elsewhere in this bulletin. PhD Qualifying Examinations: The MA comprehensive exam also serves as the PhD qualifying exam for those students who wish to pursue graduate work at the PhD level. Students admitted to the graduate program with MA degrees from other institutions must take the MA comprehensive/PhD qualifying exam, usually within their first year of study at the University of Pittsburgh.
Supervised Teaching Experience: Supervised teaching experience is an integral part of the doctoral program. Normally, teaching experience is gained by conducting recitation sections of an introductory course or by assisting a faculty member in an undergraduate course.
Comprehensive Examination: Students take a PhD comprehensive examination after approximately one year of coursework beyond the MA, comprising a research paper in their first field, a written exam in their second field, and an oral exam in both fields.
Dissertation Overview: Following successful completion of the comprehensive examination, the student files an application for admission to candidacy for the Doctor of Philosophy degree. At this stage the student presents a proposed topic for doctoral research and a research design for its execution to be reviewed by the dissertation committee.
Dissertation Defense: The final oral examination in defense of the doctoral dissertation is conducted by the doctoral committee and is open to the University community.
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