Department of Political Science (GRAD)
The political science graduate program is small and very selective. Each year about 12 students enroll to pursue the doctor of philosophy in political science. However, the department also offers a master of arts in political science through the TransAtlantic Masters (TAM) program.
Admission
The general prerequisite for admission to graduate study is a bachelor of arts degree or equivalent. A student is not required to have an undergraduate major in political science but will normally be expected to have had at least nine semester hours of coursework in political science.
The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is required. Applicants are encouraged to have their applications completed by December 1 and no later than the posted deadline. Applicants are also required to submit a writing sample, a statement of purpose, and 3 letters of recommendation. Unless a waiver is approved by the Graduate School, international applicants are required to submit a Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or International English Language Testing System (IELTS) score.
The Center for European Studies
The Center for European Studies (CES), a Jean Monnet Center of Excellence and a U.S. Department of Education Title VI National Resource Center, advances understanding of the social, political, and economic events that shape contemporary Europe. The overarching mandate of the center is to enhance undergraduate and graduate instruction in contemporary European studies, to promote scholarship and training for students and faculty from all disciplines and professional schools, and to stimulate institutional and public awareness of Europe’s economic, cultural, and political importance on campus, in North Carolina, and across the nation. CES has close ties to the TransAtlantic Masters program, which offers an M.A. in political science and includes study at UNC and at one or more partner universities in Europe. For more information on TAM please visit the dedicated website. CES furthermore brings many European experts to campus, holds conferences and lecture series on events surrounding contemporary Europe, and offers Foreign Language Area Studies Fellowships to graduate students to support intensive language training.
Center for Slavic, Eurasian, and East European Studies
The Center for Slavic, Eurasian, and East European Studies (CSEEES) is an interdisciplinary center run jointly with a sister center at Duke University. In addition to offering an undergraduate major in Russian and East European studies, the center actively promotes graduate education and research in this area of the world.
As a U.S. Department of Education Title VI Center, CSEEES awards Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowships to a few graduate students each academic year and summer to help them acquire the language skills and area expertise necessary for advanced study and field research in this part of the world.
The Louis Harris Data Center
The national polling company Harris Interactive (formerly Louis Harris & Associates) has been surveying Americans' opinions on issues of national importance since the late 1950s. Harris surveys cover many topics, including national morale, the arts, energy policy, women's roles, political candidates, violence, health, and housing. The breadth and scope of the Harris surveys make them a rich source for secondary analysis by social scientists.
In 1965 Louis Harris agreed to make his data available for secondary analysis by researchers. Harris and the University of North Carolina jointly agreed to establish at Chapel Hill the Louis Harris Data Center as the national archive for all Harris data. Since 1965 more than 200 national, state, and community studies conducted by Harris Interactive have been deposited at the Harris Data Center for use by researchers at the University and elsewhere.
Courses
Numbered 400-999:
Programs
The focus of our graduate program is to train students for professional careers in political science, usually in academic institutions but also (and increasingly) in government agencies and non-governmental organizations. Our program emphasizes the acquisition of substantive knowledge, methodological skills, and communication tools that will allow the student to conduct cutting-edge research and to teach effectively.
We aim to train political scientists for competence in the discipline as a whole, as well as with expertise in specific subfields and topics. To this end, we offer our students small graduate classes on a wide array of substantive and methodological topics. Our graduate students also receive a great deal of individual attention from faculty members, with many opportunities for collaboration and co-authorship. Our students also gain substantial experience in teaching, both through teaching assistantships and the opportunity to teach one’s own course. This experience, coupled with the research training we offer, is essential for success in careers in university-level teaching and scholarly research. Ph.D. candidates who elect to work in nonacademic settings, including think tanks and government agencies, also find that our program’s combination of substantive training and methodological competency is invaluable.
We do not offer a terminal Masters degree. Students accepted to our PhD program spend their first two years completing M.A. requirements and immediately continue to the doctoral requirements.
At the M.A. level, the student is required, in addition to passing the course programs successfully, to write a thesis and to be examined orally on the major field of interest and in defense of the thesis. Students who have an acceptable MA thesis from a previous program may submit an MA bypass paper upon approval from committee members and the Director of Graduate Studies.
At the doctoral level, preliminary examinations are both written and oral, in that order. Written examinations are given annually in September. The final part of the examination is an oral defense of the dissertation proposal. Successful completion of these examinations permits a student to become a doctoral candidate. Following completion of the dissertation, a final oral examination will be held, which is primarily a defense of the dissertation but may include such excursions into underlying theory and related fields as are germane to the dissertation.
Field and Course Requirements
The political science curriculum is designed to ensure that graduate students develop a professional competence in the discipline as a whole, as well as expertise in one major and one minor field. The courses in the department are grouped under the following broad categories: international relations, comparative politics, political theory, American politics, and methodology.
Ph.D. students are required to demonstrate competence in two fields of study and, by participating in the instructional program, to undergo training as teachers. A minimum of four courses and a comprehensive examination is required in the major field. Three courses are required in the minor field.
The Institute for the Study of the Americas and the Graduate Certificate
The Institute for the Study of the Americas and the Consortium in Latin American Studies at UNC–Chapel Hill and Duke University serve as a medium for interdisciplinary communication on Latin America, encouraging and stimulating instruction and research on the region. They provide funding for interdisciplinary working groups, visiting scholars, research workshops, and guest lectures, as well as support for graduate students through academic year and summer fellowships and research and conference travel grants. The program has been funded as a National Resource (Title VI) Center since 1991 by the U.S. Department of Education.
Although the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill does not grant an interdisciplinary postgraduate degree in Latin American studies, graduate students seeking to document their area expertise are encouraged to earn a certificate in Latin American studies in conjunction with any advanced degree in any University graduate program. The requirements for the certificate are
- A minimum of two semesters of residence
- Language competence in Spanish or Portuguese
- Four graduate courses on Latin American topics
- A thesis on a topic related to Latin America, and
- An oral defense of the thesis
Graduate students interested in obtaining a certificate in Latin American studies should contact the director of the Institute for the Study of the Americas.
Following the faculty member's name is a section number that students should use when registering for independent studies, reading, research, and thesis and dissertation courses with that particular professor.
Professors
Navin Bapat (68), International Relations, Conflict Processes, Political Economy
Frank Baumgartner (72), Public Policy, Agenda Setting, Interest Groups, Lobbying
Mark Crescenzi (05), International Relations, Conflict Processes, Political Economy
Stephen Gent (08), International Relations, Conflict Processes
Marc Hetherington (21), American Politics, Political Behavior
Liesbet Hooghe (04), Comparative Politics, European Union, Western European Politics
Gary Marks (18), Comparative Politics, Western European Politics
Cecilia Martinez-Gallardo (69), Comparative Politics, Latin American Politics
Kevin McGuire (60), American Politics, Judicial Politics
Jason Roberts (73), American Political Institutions, Congress
Graeme Robertson (07), Comparative Politics, Russian and Eurasian Politics
Timothy Ryan (61), American Political Behavior, Political Psychology
Donald Searing (30), Comparative Politics, Political Psychology
Jeff Spinner-Halev (11), History of Political Thought, Contemporary Political Theory, Democratic Theory
Sarah Treul Roberts (23), American Political Institutions, Congress
Isaac Unah (62), American Politics, Judicial Politics
Milada Vachudova (12), Comparative Politics, Western and Eastern European Politics
Associate Professors
Ashley Anderson (63), Comparative Politics, Middle Eastern and North African Politics
Cameron Ballard-Rosa (19), International Relations, International Political Economy
Anna Bassi (41), Formal Theory, Experimental Methodology
Susan Bickford (58), History of Political Thought, Feminist Theory, Democratic Theory
Christopher Clark (16), American Politics, Race and Representation, State Politics
Lucy Martin (24), Comparative Politics, Political Economy, African Politics
Cara Nine (56), Political Theory, PPE (Philosophy, Politics & Economics)
Santiago Olivella (25), Quantitative Methods, Comparative Politics
Simon Weschle (59), Comparative Politics – Europe
Assistant Professors
Caitlin Andrews-Lee (40), Comparative Politics – Latin America
Brian Guay (44), American Politics
Kaneesha Johnson (45), American Politics – Southern Politics
Mary Kroeger (39), American Politics, State Politics
Junghyun Lim (65), International Relations, International Political Economy
Neil O'Brian (42), American Politics
Tyler Pratt (67), International Relations, International Political Economy
Alexander Sahn (14), American Politics
Ye Wang (22), Quantitative Methods
Teaching Professor
Robert Jenkins (26), Slavic, Eurasian, and East European Studies
Teaching Associate Professors
Suzanne Globetti (15), American Politics
Matt Weidenfeld (27), Political Theory, American Politics
Teaching Assistant Professors
Amanuel Gebremichael (48), American Politics
Nicklaus Steiner (57), Comparative Politics
Annie Watson (66), Methods
Jakob Wiedekind (64), Comparative Politics
Postdoctoral Research Associates
Sasha de Vogel
Professors Emeriti
Pamela Conover
Virginia Gray
Jonathan Hartlyn
Michele Hoyman
Evelyne Huber
Michael Lienesch
Stuart Elaine Macdonald
Michael MacKuen
Timothy McKeown
Lars Schoultz
John Stephens
James Stimson
James White
Department of Political Science
