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Home : Graduate Studies

Graduate Studies

For students interested in graduate study in political science, the University of Minnesota's Department of Political Science provides excellent opportunities. It has a distinguished and diverse faculty strongly committed to working closely with graduate students; bright and dedicated graduate students, who typically receive full financial support to pursue their degrees. Our location in a major research university in one of the larger metropolitan areas in the country provides exciting extra-departmental opportunities.

Garrison Keillor – Wish You Were Here

A Distinguished and Diverse Faculty

The principal attraction of the department is its distinguished faculty. More than 30 regular faculty members represent a wide variety of theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of politics, while sharing a strong interest in explaining empirical regularities in contemporary political life. These faculty members are active scholars, and their work appears regularly in the discipline's leading journals and various university presses.

Faculty members are integrally involved in graduate training, both in the classroom and through daily interaction with graduate students. Faculty work with students on research projects, which often result in collaborative papers and publications. The department gives graduate students opportunities to develop teaching skills, and faculty provide close mentoring of teaching and other professional development.

Talented and Dedicated Graduate Students

The department's currently enrolled graduate students are another attractive aspect of the University of Minnesota to prospective students. We compete successfully for students against the best universities in the nation. The department works to provide an intellectually challenging and supportive setting for its graduate students. Graduate students are an integral part of the intellectual life of the department, and we take special pride in their intellectual development and professional placement. The Department has colloquia in each field of political science.

We are also committed to providing the support students need to function effectively in a graduate program. PhD students can typically expect up to five years of financial support (tuition + stipend). Students receive office space. The Department has a fully equipped computer lab (Arleen C. Carlson Computer Lab). We also fund a portion of the costs of travel to professional meetings.

Fields of Study

The graduate program offers a rich array of courses distributed among the fields American politics, comparative politics, international politics, political theory, political economy, political psychology, human rights, and political methodology. Instruction in the traditional fields is grounded in the mainstream, and yet it is responsive to the latest theoretical and methodological developments. Students leaving the program are well prepared to teach and conduct research in each field with a good blend of general and specialized training. The political economy field combines departmental work in rational choice theory, comparative political economy, and international political economy with interdisciplinary opportunities in economics. The interdisciplinary political psychology field draws upon the University of Minnesota's strengths in both political science, psychology, and journalism to provide training.

Related Links

Alumni of PhD programs
Alumni of MA programs

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Contact Info

Graduate Studies Assistant
Beth Ethier
1408 SocSci
612-624-1187
bethier@umn.edu

Director of Graduate Studies

Dara Strolovitch
1408 SocSci
612-624-1028
dzs@umn.edu