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2024-2025 Academic Calendar | York University Faculty of Graduate Studies

Political Science

Posted on 17 August 2022

All Programs

LocationEmail AddressProgram Website
6th Floor Ross Buildingpolsgrad@yorku.cayorku.ca/gradstudies/political-science/

The Graduate Program in Political Science is designed to provide students with a broad training in political science and an opportunity for study in cognate fields. Courses will be offered in five fields: political theory; Canadian politics; international relations; comparative politics; and gender and politics.

Research Facilities

The Graduate Program in Political Science takes an interdisciplinary approach to the study of politics and is committed to critical thinking and political change. Among its particular focuses are critical political economy; critical social theory; critical global politics; feminist politics; the history of political thought; social movements and social justice; theories of power; and justice and democracy.

It features Graduate Diplomas in Democratic Administration as well as the Graduate Diploma in International & Security Studies.

Graduate program professors and graduate students are associated with such independent research institutes at York as the Centres for Asian Research, Feminist Research, Global Labour Research, Refugee Studies, Research on Latin America & the Caribbean, and the Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies.

The York University libraries have a comprehensive set of journals and government documents. The Institute for Social Research, one of the largest university-based survey research centres in Canada, provides expert consulting in social statistics and teaches a range of short courses on statistics and social research.

York University has established a distributed computing environment based upon networks connecting a variety of specialized servers. Students have access to Air York Plus which is a wireless internet connection and can access their email from this service and other high-end software required for the downloading of research materials. Political Science provides some computers for the use of graduate students. As well there is access to other computer laboratories on campus such as the William Small Centre Computing Commons, Scott Library and Stedman Library computer classrooms.

Application Procedure

Since the number of places is limited, students should apply as early as possible, according to the deadline and procedures specified on the Graduate Admissions website.

Graduate Diploma in Democratic Administration

Students may specialize formally in the area of Democratic Administration. The diploma is awarded concurrently with the master’s or doctoral degree for which the student is registered. Students must complete the core course for the diploma, Political Science 6155 3.0: Democratic Administration. For more information, including all diploma requirements, please see the “Graduate Diploma in Democratic Administration” page.

Graduate Diploma in European Studies

The Graduate Diploma in European Studies is taken in conjunction with a Master’s or Doctoral degree program at York University. The Graduate Diploma certifies that, in addition to having completed an advanced degree in a related discipline, a student has acquired special expertise about Europe. For more information, including all diploma requirements, please see the “Graduate Diploma in European Studies” page.

Graduate Diploma in International & Security Studies

The Graduate Diploma in International & Security Studies provides master’s and doctoral students the opportunity to specialize in the area of international and security studies, and to have this specialization noted on their transcripts. All requirements for the graduate diploma and relevant degree, either master’s or doctoral, must be fulfilled before the graduate diploma is awarded. For more information, including all diploma requirements, please see the “Graduate Diploma in International & Security Studies” page.

Admission Requirements

MA

PhD

Master of Arts Program

An honours degree in political science or its equivalent from a recognized university with at least a B+ average in the last two years equivalent of undergraduate study.

Doctor of Philosophy Program

A master’s degree in political science, with at least a B+ average, from a recognized university.

Degree Requirements

MA Degree by Designated Research Essay
Candidates for the MA degree by designated research essay must fulfil the following requirements:
Courses
Four full courses, or equivalent, chosen from those offered at the 5000- or 6000-level by the Graduate Program in Political Science; at least three full course equivalents must be at the 6000-level.
Designated Research Essay
Candidates must, as part of the course requirements in one of their 6000-level research seminars, write a designated research essay of approximately 30 pages in length. Candidates should notify the program of their choice of essay no later than the third week of the Winter Term. The designated research essay is subject to revision at the discretion of the supervisor/course director and needs to be passed by a second reader from among the members of the Graduate Program in Political Science. A copy will be left on file with the program along with the readers’ comments.
MA Colloquium
Candidates for the MA degree will be required to attend and participate in a political science colloquium which will be held weekly throughout the first term. The colloquium, graded on a “Pass/Fail” basis, is intended to permit members of the program to explore the discipline and to provide an opportunity for students and faculty to acquire a knowledge of fields other than those of their prime interest.
Program Entry
The MA program can be completed on a full- or part-time basis. Entry is fall term.
Program Length
The expected degree completion time for full-time master’s students is 3 terms. For those students who complete degree requirements earlier than 3 terms, they must register and pay fees for a minimum of the equivalent of 3 terms of full-time study. All requirements for a master’s degree must be fulfilled within 12 terms (4 years) of registration as a full-time or part-time master’s student in accordance with Faculty of Graduate Studies’ registration policies.
MA Degree by Major Research Paper
Candidates for the MA degree by major research paper must fulfil the following requirements:
Courses
Three full courses, or equivalent, chosen from those offered at the 5000- or 6000-level by the Graduate Program in Political Science.
Research Paper
Candidates must undertake research (Political Science 6999 6.0) under direction of a Political Science graduate faculty member on an approved topic and write an extensive research paper on this research. Candidates will be examined orally on their research paper and work in courses by a committee consisting of the research paper supervisor and at least one other faculty member. A copy will be left on file with the program along with the readers’ comments.
MA Colloquium
Candidates for the MA degree will be required to attend and participate in a political science colloquium which will be held weekly throughout the first term. The colloquium, graded on a “Pass/Fail” basis, is intended to permit members of the program to explore the discipline and to provide an opportunity for students and faculty to acquire a knowledge of fields other than those of their prime interest.
Program Entry
The MA program can be completed on a full- or part-time basis. Entry is fall term.
Program Length
The expected degree completion time for full-time master’s students is 3 terms. For those students who complete degree requirements earlier than 3 terms, they must register and pay fees for a minimum of the equivalent of 3 terms of full-time study. All requirements for a master’s degree must be fulfilled within 12 terms (4 years) of registration as a full-time or part-time master’s student in accordance with Faculty of Graduate Studies’ registration policies.
MA Degree by Thesis
Candidates for the MA degree by thesis must fulfil the following requirements:
Courses
Two full courses, or equivalent, chosen from those offered at the 5000-or 6000-level by the Graduate Program in Political Science.
Thesis and Oral Examination
Candidates must conduct a research study and report the results in appropriate thesis form. The research and thesis should demonstrate the candidate’s independence, originality, and understanding of the area of investigation at an advanced level. Acceptable thesis formats in the graduate program are monograph or manuscript-based. For MA students, monograph is strongly encouraged. Students wishing to undertake a thesis that does not align with one of the above-mentioned formats are expected to initiate discussions with their supervisory committee and director of the graduate program concerned as early as possible.
MA Colloquium
Candidates for the MA degree will be required to attend and participate in a political science colloquium which will be held weekly throughout the first term. The colloquium, graded on a “Pass/Fail” basis, is intended to permit members of the program to explore the discipline and to provide an opportunity for students and faculty to acquire a knowledge of fields other than those of their prime interest.
Program Entry
The MA program can be completed on a full- or part-time basis. Entry is fall term.
Program Length
The expected degree completion time for full-time master’s students is 3 terms. For those students who complete degree requirements earlier than 3 terms, they must register and pay fees for a minimum of the equivalent of 3 terms of full-time study. All requirements for a master’s degree must be fulfilled within 12 terms (4 years) of registration as a full-time or part-time master’s student in accordance with Faculty of Graduate Studies’ registration policies.

Doctor of Philosophy Program

Candidates for the PhD degree must choose two fields of study, one of which is designated as major and the other as minor. The major field of study must be chosen from Canadian Politics, Comparative Politics, International Relations, Political Theory and Gender and Politics. Normally the minor field of study is also chosen from these fields. However, upon approval of the Executive Committee a student may substitute a specialized minor. Specialized minors may lie within political science or in such disciplines as history, philosophy or sociology. In addition candidates must successfully complete at least one half course at the graduate level in a third field.

Candidates (PhD I & II) for the PhD degree must fulfil the following requirements:

Courses  

All PhD candidates must take four full graduate courses, or equivalent, normally spread over two years, at least three of which must be chosen from those offered by the Graduate Program in Political Science. Normally a student will be required to take: (a) the core course in the major field; (b) the core course in the minor field or, for a specialized minor, a full course which is deemed equivalent to a core course; (c) at least one half course in a field other than the major and minor (unless satisfied at the MA level); (d) an additional course in the major field.

Qualifying Examination  

All PhD candidates must take written examinations in their major and minor fields. Normally these examinations are written in May and June following completion of the core course for the field. The written examinations may be followed by oral examination where the Examination Committee deems it to be appropriate.

Dissertation Proposal Workshop

PhD III candidates are required to register in and attend Political Science 7000 0.0: PhD Dissertation Proposal Workshop. The proposal workshop consists of 3 three-hour sessions offered on a monthly basis during the Fall term of the academic year (with dates set for late September, October and November), plus two individual meetings (totalling 1.5 hours) with the Graduate Program Director to discuss their dissertation proposal, to set up a supervisory committee and to go over the draft proposal. Students receive a passing grade by attending the three sessions and the one and one-half hour meetings with the Graduate Program Director.

The requirement of the workshop is the submission of a completed 12-page double-spaced (approximately 3000 word) dissertation proposal draft by the end of the third week of December, PhD III. Students receive a passing grade by attending all three collective sessions, a half hour preliminary individual meeting with the Graduate Program Director in the first week of October and a one hour individual meeting with the Graduate Program Director in November where they go over their working draft proposal prior to the third collective session in which the student is required to prepare, circulate and present a draft of the proposal.

Dissertation and Oral Examination

Upon successful completion of the course requirements, and the qualifying examinations, candidates must conduct a research study and report the results in appropriate dissertation form. Acceptable dissertation formats in the graduate program are monograph or manuscript based. Students wishing to undertake a thesis that does not align with one of the above-mentioned formats are expected to initiate discussions with their supervisory committee and director of the graduate program concerned as early as possible.

The research and dissertation should demonstrate the candidate’s independence, originality, and understanding of the field of investigation at an advanced level. After the formal submission of the dissertation, an oral examination, normally centred on the dissertation and matters related to it, is held.

Language and Cognate Requirement

All candidates for the PhD degree must have completed successfully at least one year of a foreign language in a university or the
equivalent, or one year in a cognate skill (such as statistics), or its equivalent. French is a required language for all graduate students
wishing to major in Canadian Politics. The language and cognate requirements may be fulfilled by formal coursework or by special
examination after admission to the program.

Program Entry

The PhD program can be completed on a full- or part-time basis. Entry is fall term.

Program Length

Normal degree completion time for full-time PhD students is 18 terms (6 years). Doctor of Philosophy students must register and pay fees for a minimum of the equivalent of six terms of full-time registration. All requirements for a doctoral degree must be fulfilled within 18 terms (6 years) of registration as a full-time or part-time doctoral student in accordance with Faculty of Graduate Studies’ registration policies.