About the Program
Graduate Study in Political Science at Purdue offers specializations in traditional fields such as AmericanPolitics, Comparative Politics, International Relations, and Public Policy, and possesses strengths in areas that cut across traditional fields, such as technology and governance, political methodology, political economy and development, political institutions and institutional reform, environmental policy, national security, human rights and political violence, and politics related to group identity and conflict.
Graduate students and faculty at Purdue participate in research labs and programs in the department, including the Governance and Responsible AI Lab (GRAIL), the International Politics and Responsible Tech (iPART) Lab, the Computational Social Science Lab, the Law and Conflict Research Lab, and the labs associated with the Purdue Program on American Institutional Renewal.
Students and faculty also participate in Purdue’s many interdisciplinary research centers and collaborative groups on campus including the Center for CSPAN Scholarship and Engagement, the Institute for a Sustainable Future, the Purdue Policy Research Institute. Students receive rigorous training in a wide range of research methods in the department and through workshops, coursework, and speakers in the cross-college initiative Advanced Methods at Purdue (AMAP).
Doctoral students become deeply immersed in the process of scholarly research and are quickly prepared to be full collaborators and independent researchers. Students are encouraged to execute research projects in preparation for academic and applied careers. In addition, the program prepares doctoral students for independent classroom instruction and makes every effort to provide an independent teaching experience for each doctoral student.
Program Website
Required Courses (15 credits)
POL 60900 shall be taken after completing qualifying exams.
Major Field Courses (12 credits)
12 credits must be in a major field of political science. At least 9 of those credits must be in 600-level political science courses. Major fields include:
- American Politics
- Comparative Politics
- International Relations
- Public Policy
Minor Field Courses (9 credits)
9 credits must be in a minor field of political science or a self-defined specialization. Minor fields include:
- American Politics
- Comparative Politics
- International Relations
- Interdisciplinary Ecological Sciences and Engineering
- Public Policy
- Research Methodology
Electives (9 credits)
Elective credits are selected in consultation with the major advisor to
complement the student’s program of study and career goals. These may be taken inside or outside the department with the following exception:
Students minoring in Political Research Methodology or a customized minor with more than 6 credits taken outside of the Political
Science department must use 6 elective credits to take coursework in one of the major fields (AP, CP, IR, PP), unless the Graduate Studies Committee and Graduate Advisor approve a petition for an exception to this rule.
Dissertation Research (30 credits)
After completing all graded course requirements, students must register for POL 699 every semester. Failure to receive a grade of S in POL 699 in two consecutive semesters (whether by not registering for POL 699 or by receiving a grade other than S) will result in the student’s dismissal from the program. Exceptions may be made for students who receive absentia status or who have an approved leave.
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