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The Department of Government trains students for political
science careers in university teaching and advanced research. The Harvard
Ph.D. degree signifies mastery of a broad discipline of learning, together
with competence in a specialized subfield within the discipline. (A master's
degree is not a prerequisite for the Ph.D. program, and the department
does not offer an independent master's degree program. It is, however,
possible to obtain a master's degree in the department without additional
work while completing the requirements of the Ph.D. program.) Most students
complete the program in approximately six years, with two years of formal
course work, followed by three or four years of work on a dissertation,
combined with supervised teaching and the possibility of additional course
work and training. Studies suggest that, compared to other major graduate
political science programs, the proportion of students who successfully
complete our doctoral program is relatively high. How much time it takes
any given student depends on whether overseas research is required for
his or her dissertation, whether special fellowship aid is available,
and other individual factors.
Under current requirements, during your first two years
as a graduate student at Harvard, you take twelve courses, including at
least eight in the Government Department. During the first three terms
you complete three research papers in conjunction with course work. The
fourth term is devoted primarily to intensive preparation for the General
Examination, which is taken at the end of the second year. During these
two years you also receive training in statistics and other research methods,
in necessary foreign languages, and in political philosophy. Students
receive training in four related fields, including one major field (American
politics, comparative politics,
international relations, or
political philosophy), a "focus
field" within that major, a minor field, and political philosophy.
This pattern of instruction is designed to ensure that you acquire both
breadth in political science and depth in one particular area of research.
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