Department: Political Science

Executive Officer: Professor Jack Jacobs

The Graduate Center

365 Fifth Avenue

New York, NY 10016

Email: PoliticalScience@gc.cuny.edu

https://www.gc.cuny.edu/PoliticalScience

FACULTY

George Andreopoulos, Enrique Arias, Sherrie Baver, Peter Beinart, Vincent Boudreau, John Bowman, Susan Buck-Morss, Mitchell Cohen, Forrest Colburn, Alyson Cole, Bruce Cronin, Paisley Currah, Alan Di Gaetano, Kenneth Erickson, Leonard Feldman, Benedetto Fontana, Michael Fortner, Julie George, John Goering, Stephanie Golob, Janet Gornick, Carol Gould, Thomas Halper, Jack Jacobs, Robert Jenkins, David Jones, Roger Karapin, John Krinsky, Michael Lee, Peter Liberman, Keena Lipsitz, Samantha Majic, Zachariah Mampilly, Robyn Marasco, Uday Mehta, John Mollenkopf, Ruth O'Brien, Kosal Path, Andrew Polsky, Stanley Renshon, Corey Robin, Joe Rollins, Peter Romaniuk, Helena Anna Christina Rosenblatt, Sanford Schram, Jillian Schwedler, Michael Sharpe, Zachary Shirkey, Carolyn Somerville, Yan Sun, Charles Tien, Mark Ungar, John Wallach, Till Weber, Richard Wolin, Susan Woodward, Ming Xia

THE PROGRAM

Political Science offers an M.A., an en-route M.A. to the Ph.D. students, and a Ph.D. Designed to train professional political scientists, the program provides students with the conceptual and methodological tools necessary to be active, contributing members of the discipline, whether they are employed in an academic or nonacademic setting.

The program is organized into five subfields. Courses of study and majors and minors in the doctoral program are defined in terms of these subfields. In addition to the subfields listed below, students may choose subfields of their own design in consultation with the Executive Officer. Supplementing the Ph.D. program are opportunities for teaching experience at CUNY colleges, designed to prepare students for careers as college and university teachers.

Subfields

American Politics: American political thought; national institutions; constitutional law and judicial behavior; political processes (voting, parties, and public opinion); and federalism and intergovernmental relations.

Comparative Method: The State and State Formation; Political Regimes/Regime Change/Regime Stability; Comparative Political Institutions; Institutionalized Modes of Political Participation; Contentious Politics and Social Movements; Revolution and Civil War; Politics of Identity; Comparative Political Economy of Advanced Industrial Economies; The Politics of Development and Distribution; and Comparative Politics in a Global Context.

International Relations: International relations theory and foreign policy; international security; international political economy; international organization and law; and human rights and humanitarian affairs.

Political Theory: Ancient and medieval political thought; modern political thought (Machiavelli through Hegel); contemporary political thought (Marx to the present); analytical theory; and modern systematic theory.

Public Policy: American public policy; comparative public policy; international public policy; theoretical issues in public policy; and substantive areas within public policy. In the substantive areas, students may select health, education, welfare, housing, urban development, natural resources, or, with the permission of the Executive Officer, any other policy area.

A Public Policy concentration within the M.A. program is designed to prepare graduate students for careers in government, public service organizations, and certain private agencies.

Writing Politics Specialization

The Writing Politics specialization trains political science students to write serious political analysis for an educated audience outside of the discipline. The specialization consists of three required courses: Writing Politics Seminar, Writing Politics Workshop, and either the Role of the American Public Intellectual or Topics in European Intellectual History. Upon consultation with and approval by the Executive Officer, another course may be substituted for the third required course.

Seminars, Training, and Research Opportunities

A number of opportunities are available to students through institutes, centers, seminars, internships, and journals located at or affiliated with the Graduate Center.

Research Centers Directed by Political Science Faculty

Center for Urban Research, incorporating the CUNY Data Service, conducts research on such topics as economic and demographic change, immigration, political participation, crime, housing, and neighborhood development. (John Mollenkopf, director)

Howard Samuels State Management and Policy Center, established in 1987, conducts interdisciplinary research into state government policy and management. (Bill McKinney, deputy director)

European Union Studies Center encourages faculty and student research on contemporary European subjects. (Christa Altenstetter, director)

Research Centers with Political Science Faculty Participation

Bildner Center for Western Hemisphere Studies sponsors seminars, research, and publications that address the practical resolution of public policy problems facing the nations of the Western Hemisphere.

Center for Jewish Studies encourages research on Jewish life, particularly in the modern period, and brings that research to the Jewish and academic communities through conferences, publications, symposia, lectures, and consulting.

Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies promotes scholarship that examines sexualities and genders.

Center for Place, Culture and Politics is an interdisciplinary center providing an intellectual forum for the discussion of a wide range of vital contemporary topics.

Center for the Study of Women and Society promotes interdisciplinary research and training on topics related to the experiences, roles, and contributions of women in society.

Institute for Research on the African Diaspora in the Americas and the Caribbean (IRADAC) is concerned with the study of the cultures, conditions, development, and history of people of African descent, with special attention given to the African-American and Afro Caribbean experiences and their relationships to Africa.

Middle East and Middle Eastern American Center (MEMEAC) promotes the study of the Middle East and Middle Eastern Americans.

Journals

The Journal of Comparative Politics is edited and published by the program. The editors

welcome manuscripts devoted to comparative analysis of political institutions and behavior.

Colloquia and Regular Events

The Human Rights Seminar Series provides an interdisciplinary forum for scholars and practitioners to present current research, as well as share their field experiences, on issues relating to the protection of internationally recognized human rights norms. (George Andreopoulos, convener)

The Political Theory Workshop invites speakers each semester to speak on a diverse range of subjects. The overarching motivation behind the series is to generate a greater awareness of the theoretical work that is being done by faculty and students by providing a forum for presentation and discussion outside of the classroom.

The Public Square Speaker/Book Series showcases public intellectuals writing about social justice issues. Composed of both political writers and academics, it will feature the public intellectual who has a voice that resonates inside and outside the academy. (Ruth O’Brien, convener and book series editor for Princeton University Press)

The Comparative Politics Workshop meets weekly for comparativists—faculty, students, and alumni—to workshop conference papers, peer-reviewed articles, or book chapters and to build community and enjoy sharing ideas in the subfield. (Student conveners)

The Political Science Program Colloquium meets on Thursdays, 4:15 to 6:15, about five to six times a semester to provide a venue for students to do practice job talks and to hear recent research by faculty. (Convened by committee of faculty and students)

Additional colloquia presented by Graduate Center institutes closely linked to the interests of political scientists include the Ralph Bunche Forum, the Center on Global Ethics and Politics, the European Union Studies Center, the Middle East and Middle Eastern American Center, the Bildner Center for Western Hemisphere Studies, and the Stone Center on Socio-Economic Inequality.

Other Program Opportunities

Tutorials: To assist students in meeting their individual goals, tutorial study and independent reading courses may be taken with the permission of the Executive Officer.

Interuniversity Doctoral Consortium: The Graduate Center is a member of the Interuniversity Doctoral Consortium, which provides for cross-registration among member institutions. Matriculated Graduate Center doctoral students may cross-register for doctoral study in the graduate schools of arts and sciences at the following institutions: Columbia University (including Teachers College), Fordham University, The New School, New York University, SUNY Stony Brook, Princeton University, and Rutgers University.

En-route M.A.

Upon completing 45 credits with an average grade of B, passing the First Examination, and satisfactorily completing a major research paper for an 80000-level course, which is certified by the instructor as a major research paper, a doctoral student may apply for an en-route M.A. degree. Those seeking an en-route master’s degree should have the Executive Officer initiate the appropriate action.