Graduate Degrees, page 3
Department of International Relations
College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

Doctor of Philosophy in International Relations

The degree requirements are fulfilled by: completion of a minimum of 60 units (15 courses) and a dissertation (minimum of four units of IR 794 Doctoral Dissertation); passing a foreign language requirement; passing a core theory examination; completing a publishable paper, a dissertation proposal and a syllabus; passing the qualifying exams in two or three fields; and writing a dissertation. In some cases a student's guidance committee may impose additional requirements at their discretion.

Foreign Language

Each Ph.D. student must show proficiency in at least one foreign language at fourth semester competence and, if deemed necessary by the guidance committee, attain competence in the use of quantitative research techniques or an additional language.

Course Requirements and Fields

Students are required to take and be examined in the core and two fields. In certain circumstances a student will be permitted to take and be examined in three fields. The mandatory core consists of: IR 500, 501, 513 and either 514 or 515. (Students who opt to take both IR 514 and 515 will receive credit for both.)

A field in the Ph.D. program comprises a minimum of four courses at the 500-level or above from the field lists. Courses used to fulfill the requirements in one field cannot be used to fulfill the requirements of another field.

International Politics and Security: IR 502, 503, 505, 506, 508, 531, 533, 534, 535, 537, 581, 601.

International Political Economy: IR 504, 541, 542, 543, 544, 545, 547, 549, 550, 552, 553, 641.

United States Foreign Policy: IR 521, 522, 524, 526, 556, 557; HIST 565, 684.

Special Fields: Students may focus on regional approaches. These fields usually involve a combination of courses from international relations and other departments subject to the approval of a principal advisor and the graduate curriculum committee of the school.

East Asia: IR 534, 561, 563, 570, plus cognates.

Latin America: IR 555, 556, plus cognates.

Middle East: IR 581, 582, 583, plus cognates.

An Approved Field Taken Outside the School of International Relations:

International Economics: ECON 503, 505, 550, 551, 553.

Development Economics: ECON 503, 505, 575, 576.

Epistemology, Philosophy of Science, Methodology and Research Design

This area of inquiry and preparation is not regarded as a field. Rather, students take courses as appropriate, with the exception of IR 513. Courses offered in the School of International Relations in this area are: IR 414, 513, 514.

Screening Procedure

Every doctoral student is required to report to the Graduate School the results of a screening procedure undertaken prior to completing 24 units in the doctoral program. The screening process consists of an oral examination of the applicant by the faculty with whom the course work was completed. The procedure also includes a review of the student's complete file. The student must obtain the form Report on the Ph.D. Screening Procedures from the Graduate School. The student should prepare in writing an academic plan, showing proposed fields. For each field, the titles of courses for which transfer credit is sought, the USC courses completed, and the USC courses underway and planned should be listed. For transfer credits, transcripts should be provided along with syllabi if possible. The academic plan should also show the student's foreign language (and quantitative skills, if required) with date of completion or projected completion. The student should identify five professors who agree to serve on the guidance committee, including a professor from outside the School of International Relations.

Guidance Committee

The student's program of study is under the direction of a guidance committee, composed of at least five faculty members, one of whom must be from outside the school. The student's guidance committee decides which option is most appropriate for the combination of fields being offered by the candidate for the qualifying examinations. Appropriate levels of competence in quantitative research techniques are established by a faculty committee in each individual case. In some cases a student's guidance committee may impose additional requirements at their discretion.

Core Theory Examination

Prior to taking the qualifying examination, the student must pass a written examination in international relations theory and methods. This examination is administered twice each year in spring and summer. By the end of their second year of study students are required to take the exam. The core examination may be retaken once. Students who have not passed the core examination by the end of their third year of graduate study will be terminated for Ph.D. candidacy.

Publishable Paper Requirement

To assist students in making the transition to professional life, students are required to produce a publishable research paper before taking qualifying examinations. This requirement can be satisfied by substantially improving a paper submitted in one of the school's seminars of graduate study. The chair and one member of the student's guidance committee must judge the paper to be of publishable quality before the student takes the qualifying examination.

Dissertation Proposal

Each student is required to complete a dissertation proposal before taking the qualifying examination. The proposal is judged as part of the oral qualifying examination. Students should seek advice on proposal preparation early in the program.

Syllabus Requirement

In an effort to improve the ability of doctoral students to teach international relations effectively, students are encouraged to undertake some systematic preparation for teaching. They are required to design a complete syllabus for an undergraduate course in their special field of interest. The syllabus will be presented and critiqued during the oral qualifying examination.

Qualifying Examinations

A student must pass written and oral qualifying examinations. The written portion normally covers two fields. In certain circumstances, a student will be permitted to present three fields. The oral examination includes the presentation and critique of the student's dissertation prospectus and proposed undergraduate syllabus.

The Ph.D. qualifying examinations are scheduled twice each academic year in spring and summer. Prior to taking the examinations, students must have met the school's other requirements and obtained the guidance committee's recommendation to take the examinations. The student must obtain permission to take the examination 60 days before the date of the examination. All portions of the examination must be completed within 60 days.

If a student fails any written field examination, all written field examinations must be retaken. The student must pass all written examinations before proceeding to the oral examination. If the student fails the oral examination, he or she may retake the entire examination once. Ph.D. examinations cannot be passed conditionally.

Dissertation

Upon successful completion of the qualifying examination, the student is admitted to candidacy and should concentrate on writing a dissertation. The student selects a three-person dissertation committee. One member of the dissertation committee must be from outside the school. The Ph.D. candidate must defend the dissertation before the dissertation committee prior to approval for final typing. The defense is made on the basis of an approved, preliminary copy of the dissertation. If the defense is satisfactory, the committee signs the approval for final typing. If additional work is required the forms are signed at a later date. The recommendation of final acceptance must be unanimous.

Consult the Requirements for Graduation section and the Graduate School section of this catalogue regarding time limitations for completion of the degree and other Graduate School requirements.

All graduate students should have research, teaching and advisement experiences as part of their program of study.

Doctor of Philosophy in Political Economy and Public Policy

The School of International Relations, the Department of Economics and the Department of Political Science jointly offer a program of study leading to the Ph.D. degree. Applicants must apply to the Graduate School and meet the admission requirements of all three departments.

Required courses include both core requirements and area requirements. Core requirements include courses in economic theory and history of economic theory; history of political thought; scope, methodology and research methods; and political economy and public policy. Area requirements include courses drawn from one of the following three areas of concentration: comparative and developmental political economy; politics, economics, and the policy process; and international political economy.

For a detailed description of this program, see the Political Economy and Public Policy section of this catalogue.

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Produced by the USC Division of Student Affairs, Office of University Publications, May 1, 1995
Joye Day day@mizar.usc.edu