Boston College

Ph.D. in Political Science

Welcome to the Department of Political Science at Boston College

我们是一个不同寻常的系，我们抵制了将政治学研究从与公民和政治参与者相关的问题中推开的趋势。虽然我们在人文主义和定性政治方法方面特别强大，但我们也推崇方法论的多样性。26 名全职教师（包括资深和初级教师）在该系任教。我们也很幸运有同事担任各种其他研究和实践职位。这导致主题和学术方法的范围相当广泛。我们全国知名的教师的共同点在于认识到政治问题的首要地位，并坚信这些问题应该决定适合每种情况的方法。

硕士和博士课程在学习领域和课程方面非常灵活。除了系内提供的广泛课程外，学生还有机会在Boston College以及组成波士顿地区联盟的其他机构学习其他领域的课程。欢迎学生来到Boston College政治学系学习政治学的四个传统领域中的任何一个：美国政治、比较政治、国际政治和政治理论。

The small size of the program—about five to six students are admitted to the doctoral program each year—allows for personal attention and close contact with the faculty. Informal colloquia and more formal presentations supplement the regular order of scholarly exchange; advanced students have an opportunity to teach under faculty supervision. While our primary focus is on the education of our students, we pay a great deal of attention to their professional development, preparing them for the academic and non-academic job markets. Most of our students are given the opportunity to teach their own classes, and all receive advice and instruction on publishing their work.

Many of the graduate courses are seminars in which a considerable amount of responsibility is placed upon the student to analyze readings, prepare written and oral presentations, and guide class discussions. These are experiences we encourage generally in our courses, but the seminar, with 15 or so students, is ideally suited to this purpose. The classes are small, which fosters not only conversation but also close associations among students and faculty. The atmosphere is informal and collegial: both graduate students and faculty display an unusual blend of practical and philosophical concerns within a tradition of friendly but serious debate and scholarly exchange.