Graduate

Research and Writing

Level
Semester
Spring 2024
Units
4
Number
290B
CCN
25544
Course Description

The goal of this yearlong course is to provide a forum in which students propose, develop, and complete a research project that produces a journal-length paper of publishable quality. This paper will typically serve as students' second-year M.A. essay, and the course is intended as a complement to that requirement. This course is primarily oriented towards second-year Ph.D. students in any subfield (students in other years may participate with the professors’ consent). The course meets regularly during parts of the fall semester and irregularly during the spring semester. In the first few weeks of the course, we discuss the process of moving from research topic to research question; and we survey published articles by recent Ph.D. students/assistant professors, focusing on the structure and nature of the writing and presentation as well the quality of the argument and evidence. We then move to students’ research proposals for the rest of the fall semester. During the spring semester, students meet individually with the course instructors and their advisors, develop and revise drafts of their papers, and present their work at a department “APSA-style” conference. In order to complete the course and receive credit, students must complete the requirements for both semesters.

Selected Topics in Comparative Politics: Politics & Gender

Level
Semester
Spring 2024
Instructor(s)
Units
4
Section
2
Number
210
CCN
26217
Times
Thurs 330-530pm
Location
SOCS749
Course Description

This seminar is designed for Ph.D. students as a foundation for future research on the origins and persistence of gender inequality in politics and other positions of power. We will look at variation in gender inequality indicators to systematically address how women’s and men’s socio-economic status and political power has varied across time (in historical perspective) and place (in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas). Throughout the course, we will pay particular attention to the way gender intersects with other identities, such as race, ethnicity, sexuality and class. We will draw on readings primarily from political science and economics, but also sociology, psychology, law, and anthropology. The course readings include selected works from the canon of gender in politics research—those that have proven classic to the theoretical foundations of the subfield—as well as recent cutting-edge empirical work from top academic journals.

 

Course number will change to PS204 after Phase 1.

Emerging Research in American Political Institutions and Public Policy Workshop

Level
Semester
Spring 2024
Units
1
Section
1
Number
290PI
CCN
33392
Times
Fri 11am-12pm
Location
SOCS749
Course Description
 

The main aims of this workshop are met through a forum in which faculty and graduate students at various career stages work closely together to incubate research in American political institutions and public policy. It is an applied workshop with an emphasis on learning by doing and on learning how to be a more constructive colleague. Rather than segregate PhD students by cohort, the workshop is designed to bring cohorts together in order to facilitate student-to-student, in addition to student-to-faculty, transfer of knowledge.

 

Class will meet in SOCS791 on 1/19/24.

Emerging Research in American Political Behavior Research Workshop

Level
Semester
Spring 2024
Units
1
Section
1
Number
290PB
CCN
33318
Times
Mon 11am-12pm
Location
SOCS291
Course Description

The practice of carrying out research is an acquired skill. Everyone has to learn it, although traditionally most of it is self-taught. This course is designed to provide students with guidance, structure, and feedback that will help them to frame and execute well-specified and coherent research projects on American political behavior. The seminar also offers students an opportunity to work through their ideas and test their arguments in an informal, small, and collegial setting. Students will present their own research, comment on the research of their peers, and learn about different types of feedback mainly through example.

The workshop provides a forum for students to improve how they think about conducting research projects, to workshop early work, conference papers, and ideas for MA or PhD proposals, and, finally, to develop a community in which they can work through specific practices for research and problems that arise in conducting their projects. These main aims of the workshop are met through a forum in which faculty and graduate students at various career stages work closely together. It is an applied workshop with an emphasis on learning by doing and on learning how to be a more constructive colleague. Rather than segregate PhD students by cohort, the workshop is designed to bring cohorts together in order to facilitate the student-to-student transfer of skills and knowledge.

 

 

HISTORY OF POLITICAL THOUGHT: MODERN (FRENCH REVOLUTION THROUGH WORLD WAR II)

Level
Semester
Spring 2024
Instructor(s)
Units
4
Section
1
Number
212C
CCN
26029
Times
Wed 4-7pm
Location
SOCS749
Course Description

A weekly seminar on political thought from the late 18th century onwards. In Spring 2024, we will be focusing on late 18th and early 19th-century French political thought: Rousseau, Siéyès, Robespierre, Babeuf, Constant, and possibly Tocqueville.

Workshop in Law, Philosophy & Political Theory

Level
Semester
Spring 2024
Units
4
Section
1
Number
211
CCN
26152
Times
Friday 12-3pm
Location
BLAW141
Course Description

This course is a workshop for discussing work-in-progress in moral, political, and legal theory. The central aim is to enable students to engage directly with legal scholars, philosophers, and political theorists working on important normative questions. Another aim is to bring together scholars from different disciplines and perspectives, such as economics, history, sociology, and political science, who have normative interests.

The theme for the Spring 2024 workshop is "Intelligence: Human, Animal, Artificial."

The format of the course is as follows: for the sessions with guest presenters, a designated student commentator will lead off with a 15-minute comment on the paper. The presenter will have 5-10 minutes to respond and then we will open up the discussion to the group. The first part of the course will be open to non-enrolled students, faculty, and visitors who wish to participate in the workshop discussion. We’ll stop for a break at 2:00 and those not enrolled in the course will leave. Enrolled students will continue the discussion with the guest until 3:00.

This is a cross-listed/room-shared course with the Philosophy and Political Science Departments. Students may enroll through Law (Law 210.2A), Philosophy (Philosophy 290), or Political Science (PS 211).

This semester the workshop is co-taught by Joshua Cohen and Chris Kutz.

 

RESEARCH WORKSHOP IN THEORY

Level
Semester
Spring 2024
Instructor(s)
Units
1
Section
1
Number
291T
CCN
26130
Times
Mon 2-4pm
Location
SOCS749
Course Description

This course is a  seminar which can be taken for 0 - 2 units, Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory with the following course description:

A forum for the presentation and discussion of research in progress by graduate students. To receive credit for the course, the student will participate fully, including, as asked, either making a presentation of work in progress or serving as lead  discussant for another student's work. Appropriate works-in-progress include  (but are not limited to) a paper in preparation for submission to a journal, a dissertation prospectus (including early drafts), a dissertation chapter, or a job market paper. Anyone working on theory is welcome.

Research Workshop in Quantitative Modeling

Level
Semester
Spring 2024
Instructor(s)
Section
1
Number
291F
CCN
25917
Times
Thurs 2-4pm
Location
SOCS202
Course Description

A forum for the presentation and discussion of research in quantitative modeling. Anyone working on quantitative modeling or empirical testing of quantitative models is welcome to attend. To receive credit for the course, a student must attend regularly and participate actively.  Some weeks we will invite external speakers to present their work.  In other weeks, students may present their own work-in-progress or lead a discussion of work by other scholars (including both influential/classic works or interesting current working papers).

Variable Unit Course: 1.0 to 3.0

COMPARATIVE POLITICS COLLOQUIUM

Level
Semester
Spring 2024
Units
2
Section
1
Number
291AS
CCN
25916
Times
Thurs 12:30-2pm
Location
SOCS202
Course Description

This colloquium exposes graduate students and faculty to work by leading scholars of comparative politics working in diverse substantive areas. Graduate students are expected to read circulated papers of visiting speakers ahead of the colloquium and participate actively in raising questions and making comments.  They are encouraged to meet visiting speakers in their areas of interest in group or one-on-one sessions. 

 

 

This description is from Spring 2015