Graduate Students – Ph.D. Program
Comprehensive Exams
Students must pass two written preliminary comprehensive field examinations administered in a format determined by each field. These field examinations may be taken in the same academic division or in different divisions. If they are taken in the same division, the student must then also take three courses in another academic division, as well as one course in the third division.
Curricular divisions and the fields within them are as follows:
Division 1—Political Theory
Field A—Historical Theory
Field B—Contemporary Social and Political ThoughtDivision 2—American Politics
Field A—National Government and Politics
Field B—Public Law and Judicial Behavior
Field C—Public Administration & PolicyDivision 3—World Politics
Field A—International Relations and Law
Field B—Comparative Politics
Field examinations test a student's comprehension of the substance, theories, methods, and literature in that field. Examinations tend to be general in character, designed to cover a field. Normally, a student will take at least three courses in a field before being examined, but field examinations are not necessarily related directly to courses. Reading lists for fields and copies of previous examination questions are available in the office of the Graduate Secretary.
Field examinations are offered twice a year during the first week of the Fall and Spring Semesters. Students are required to sign up for these examinations prior to the end of the preceding semester.
The grading scale for these examinations is "Distinction," "Pass," and "Fail." A student who fails an examination may, on the recommendation of faculty in that field and with the permission of the Graduate Studies Committee, repeat the exam. Permission to retake a field examination may be granted only once, and in all cases where a re-examination is authorized, the entire examination must be retaken.
The format of field examinations and field papers is determined by the faculty in each field subject to approval by the Graduate Studies Committee. The currently approved formats for written examinations, by field, are:
Political Theory: one week, take-home exam with an oral.
American Politics: National Government & Politics has a four-hour, sit-down exam with an oral; Public Law offers the option of a three-day OR one-week take-home exam with an oral; Public Administration and Public Policy have a three-day, take-home exam with an oral.
World Politics: Comparative politics has a four-hour, sit-down exam with an oral. International Politics has a 24-hour take-home exam with an oral.
Oral exams should be held within two weeks of the written exam or the submission of the final research paper. No oral examination will be scheduled until the committee members agree that an oral examination is merited following a review of the written examination or research paper. All members of the examination committee will be present for the oral examination. If this condition cannot be met for the originally scheduled date, the oral examination shall be rescheduled.
