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  • Political Science, Doctor of Philosophy

Contact the Graduate Program Coordinator for the MA and PhD Programs

Email:
piagradcoordinator​@nau.edu
Apply Now

Application deadline

  • February 15 for regular admission for the next academic year

GRE Requirement

The GRE requirement is waived for applications.

Academic catalog

Find more information on classes and degree requirements.

Join our graduate program

Visit us (in person or via webinar) Request more information


Political Science, Doctor of Philosophy

This doctoral plan prepares students for a career in higher education, research, or public service with a choice of emphasis. This plan requires the research, writing, and oral defense of an approved dissertation.

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Requirements Accordion Open

  • To receive a Doctor of Philosophy Degree (PhD) at Northern Arizona University, you must complete a planned group of courses, from one or more disciplines, ranging from at least 60 - 109 units of graduate-level courses. Most plans require research, a dissertation, and comprehensive exams. All plans have residency requirements regarding time spent on the Flagstaff campus engaged in full-time study.

    The full policy can be viewed here.

Overview Accordion Closed

In addition to University Requirements:

  • Complete individual plan requirements.
  • Fulfill Northern Arizona's residency requirements
  • Qualifying Paper Exam required
Minimum Units for Completion63
Additional Admission RequirementsRequired
Dissertation

Dissertation is required.

Oral DefenseOral Defense is required.
ResearchIndividualized research is required.

Purpose Statement

The Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science degree provides students with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to understand and participate in the political systems of the United States and the world.  This degree provides a broad perspective on experiences, international and domestic, from both theory and practice.
 
This degree builds a strong foundation in the expert knowledge of the political world.  The emphasis area of American Politics and Public Administration analyzes political science through the American context.  It focuses on institutional characteristics, behavioral aspects, bureaucracy, and management.  The emphasis area of Comparative Politics and International Relations compares countries and regions and examines the international system and its processes.  The emphasis area of Public Policy focuses on policies created and implemented in political systems and uses analytical methods to evaluate current public policies, political actors' behavior, political events, and institutional arrangements within a diverse world.
 
Building upon this fundamental knowledge, our curriculum ensures that students will define, design, and carry out original scholarly research projects in political science.  In addition, they will be able to make clear and effective oral and written demonstrations of their work in public presentations, including scholarly presentations to academics at professional political science conferences.  Students will also leave this program ready to teach at a university level and to engage in professional research.
 
Our goal is to train students to be active, engaged, and informed participants in the global system who can not only understand the world around them but also shape and influence it. 

Student Learning Outcomes
Core Outcomes  

  • Conceptual and Analytical: Students should have an expert knowledge of the political world, including contemporary political thought, and public policies, and be able to use key concepts and analytical approaches from political science.
    • Evaluate the strengths and limitations of a variety of significant analytical approaches used in political science.
    • Analyze, synthesize, and evaluate the interconnectedness and interdependence of the human experience on a global scale.
    • Develop a disciplinary emphasis as well as foci in environment, development, or diversity politics to an expert level of knowledge.
  • Inquiry and Research: Students will engage in original research and write a scholarly dissertation.
    • Devise an expert research design.
    • Gather original data.
    • Analyze the data and explain the research findings.
    • Write the findings in a scholarly publishable-quality original dissertation that evaluates the effectiveness of the project and the implications of the findings and contributes to the field.
  • Communication: Students should be able to make clear and effective demonstrations of their work in writing and public presentations.
    • Students will demonstrate expert writing skills and be able to summarize and explain scholarly political science articles.
    • Analyze and critique the material read /discussed.
    • Suggest and discuss alternative possibilities and outcomes.
    • Students will defend their dissertation at an oral defense that presents the project, summarizes the findings, and analyzes the implications as well as the effectiveness of the project.
    • Students will be able to communicate at an expert level with other academics in the field of political science, including presenting their research work at academic conferences.
  • Professional and Citizenship: Students should know, understand, and be able to meet the expectations of professionalism and citizenship.
    • Demonstrate professional behavior in terms of demeanor, personal presentation, ethics, and civic participation in experiential learning, classroom settings, and professional conferences.
    • Acquire the skills and knowledge base to understand the importance of and options for environmental sustainability and its tenuous relationship to economic development in local and global terms.
    • Critically reflect upon the nature and consequences of diversity (e.g., race, gender, class, ethnicity, religion, culture, nation), and develop an understanding of how this diversity both alters and is altered in a world characterized by increasing global interaction.

Details Accordion Closed

Graduate Admission Information
  • The NAU graduate online application is required for all programs. Admission to many graduate programs is on a competitive basis, and programs may have higher standards than those established by the Office of Graduate and Professional Studies.

    Admission requirements include the following:

    • Transcripts.
    • Undergraduate degree from a regionally accredited institution with a 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale ("A" = 4.0), or the equivalent.


    Visit the NAU Graduate Admissions website for additional information about graduate school application deadlines, eligibility for study, and admissions policies.

    Ready to apply? Begin your application now.

    International applicants have additional admission requirements. Please see the International Graduate Admissions Policy.

Additional Admission Requirements
  • Individual program admission requirements over and above admission to NAU are required.

    • A bachelor's degree in a closely related discipline
    • Cumulative undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or above or  6 units of subsequent coursework at the graduate level with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better
    • Three letters of recommendation
    • A writing sample
    • A personal statement or essay
    • Resume or Curriculum Vitae
Doctoral Requirements
  • This Doctoral degree requires 63 units distributed as follows:

    • Political Science Core Coursework: 12 units
    • A Primary Field - Select one: 15 units
      • American Politics/Public Administration
      • Comparative Politics/International Relations
    • Secondary Coursework: 3 units
    • Foci Coursework: 6 units
    • Dissertation: 15 - 18 units
    • Additional Coursework: 9 - 12 units


    Take the following 63 units:

  • Political Science Core Coursework (12 units)

    • POS 602, POS 604, POS 607, POS 609 (12 units)
  • Primary Field - Select one (15 units)
    • American Politics/Public Administration Field (15 units)

      • POS 641 (3 units)
      • Select from the following (3 units):
        • POS 610, POS 612
      • Select additional from the following (9 units):
        • POS 527, POS 603*, POS 610, POS 612, POS 642, POS 644, POS 652, POS 658*, POS 659, POS 671
      • Electives approved by your advisor.
    • Comparative Politics/International Relations Field (15 units)

      • POS 670, POS 680 (6 units)
      • Select additional from (9 units):
        • POS 552, POS 603*, POS 652, POS 658*, POS 672, POS 679*
      • Electives as approved by your advisor.
      *Select topic in consultation with your advisor.
  • Secondary Coursework (3 units)
    • If your primary field is American Politics/ Public Administration, select from the following (3 units): 
      • POS 670, POS 680
    • If your primary field is Comparative Politics/International Relations, select from the following (3 units): 
      • POS 610, POS 612, POS 641
  • Foci Coursework (6 units)
    • In consultation with your advisor, select additional coursework relevant to your research interests. The following areas are suggested:
      • Diversity
      • Development
      • Environment
  • Dissertation (15 - 18 units)
    • POS 799, for the research, writing, and oral defense of an approved dissertation.
      • You may count only 15-18 units of dissertation credit POS 799 toward your degree. However, you may end up taking more units, since you must enroll for it each term during which you work on your dissertation.
  • Additional Coursework (9 - 12 units)
    • Select from the following to complete degree unit requirements:
      • POS 691, POS 798
      • Additional coursework as approved by your advisor to ensure adequate preparation for your dissertation research.
Additional Information
  • Some courses may have prerequisites. For prerequisite information, click on the course or see your advisor.

Availability Accordion Closed

  • Flagstaff

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Marija Anna Bekafigo
Associate Teaching Professor
Department of Politics and International Affairs
Marija.Bekafigo@nau.edu
+1 928 523-0923
Raul H. Castro Social and Behavioral Sciences , room 212
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Andrew Bryan Dzeguze
Associate Teaching Professor
Department of Politics and International Affairs
Andrew.Dzeguze@nau.edu
+1 928 523-6544
Raul H. Castro Social and Behavioral Sciences , room 219
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Gretchen Knudson Gee
Chair, Politics & International Affairs; Teaching Professor, Politics & International Affairs
Department of Politics and International Affairs
Gretchen.Gee@nau.edu
+1 928 523-8104
Raul H. Castro Social and Behavioral Sciences , room 224a
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Maiah Jaskoski
Professor
Department of Politics and International Affairs
Maiah.Jaskoski@nau.edu
+1 928 523-8605
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Paul Ernest Lenze
Teaching Professor
Department of Politics and International Affairs
Paul.Lenze@nau.edu
+1 928 523-6601
Raul H. Castro Social and Behavioral Sciences , room 207
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Stephen August Meserve
Graduate Coordinator, Politics & International Affairs; Associate Professor, Politics & International Affairs
Department of Politics and International Affairs
Stephen.Meserve@nau.edu
+1 928 523-6571
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Stephen Andrew Nuno
Professor
Department of Politics and International Affairs
Stephen.Nuno@nau.edu
+1 928 523-6374
Raul H. Castro Social and Behavioral Sciences , room 322
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Eric E Otenyo
Professor
Department of Politics and International Affairs
Eric.Otenyo@nau.edu
+1 928 523-6653
Raul H. Castro Social and Behavioral Sciences , room 240
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Sean Parson
Associate Professor
Department of Politics and International Affairs
Sean.Parson@nau.edu
+1 928 523-3946
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Carie Anne Steele
Associate Professor
Department of Politics and International Affairs
Carie.Steele@nau.edu
+1 928 523-4126
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Minzi Su
Associate Professor of Practice
Department of Politics and International Affairs
Minzi.Su@nau.edu
+1 928 523-7494
Social Behavioral Sciences (West) , room 214
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Hal Tagma
Associate Professor
Department of Politics and International Affairs
Hal.Tagma@nau.edu
+1 928 523-7418
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Alan Brent Wood
Teaching Professor
Department of Politics and International Affairs
Alan.Wood@nau.edu
+1 520 879-7982

To accommodate individual plans of study for this political science graduate program, you may be required to:

  • Take additional units to meet language or research requirements
  • Additional readings or dissertation research as specified by your advisor

Students have the option to choose between two tracks in political science:

  • International Relations and Comparative Politics
  • American Politics and Public Administration

You must choose between three foci:

  • Environment/Sustainability Politics
  • Diversity and politics
  • Political Development

In addition to the requirements for your particular emphasis and foci, you must:

  • Perform satisfactory on qualifying papers and an oral defense of the qualifying papers
  • Complete required set of tools and and methods courses
  • Complete professional development coursework
  • Pass the oral exam on your dissertation defense
Politics and International Affairs
Location
Building
Raul H. Castro Social and Behavioral Sciences
5 E. McConnell Dr.
Flagstaff, Arizona 86011
Mailing Address
PO Box 15036
Flagstaff, Arizona 86011
Contact Form
Email
politics@nau.edu
Phone
928-523-3163
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