Political Science

• CAS PO 702: Professional Development for PhD Candidates in Political Science
  For political science PhD students in their second or third year of study and who are preparing for comprehensive exams or are working on a PhD prospectus. Addresses core issues in numerous fields and is taught by members of the GFPS.
• CAS PO 711: Approaches to the Study of American Politics
  Graduate Core Seminar. Introduces students to major theoretical, substantive, and methodological problems in the study of American politics by examining two sets of literature: scholarly debates and discussion of theory and research, and the concrete research of leading Americanists.
• CAS PO 751: Approaches to the Study of Comparative Politics
  Graduate Core Seminar. Provides an overview of major theoretical approaches and areas of research in comparative politics, including the comparative method, statebuilding, nationalism, democratization, revolution, culture and identity, electoral and party systems, systems of government, economic development, business politics, and the welfare state.
• CAS PO 771: Approaches to the Study of International Relations
  Graduate Core Seminar. Focuses on the ongoing conversations in the discipline of International Relations. The course addresses the various ways international relations scholars understand and study the world. It also addresses the types of questions international relations scholars ask and how they answer them.
• CAS PO 789: International Relations of Asia-Pacific
  Focuses on the Asia-Pacific region. Analysis of issues that have defined international relations; the impact of the Cold War, of regional economic growth and dynamism, and the emergence of contention over regional identity and its relations to global politics.
• CAS PO 791: Approaches to the Study of Political Theory
  Graduate Core Seminar. An overview of some of the more significant texts for the study of political theory today, with attention to both substantive and methodological issues. Selections may vary from year to year.
• CAS PO 841: Quantitative Research Methods
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: Social Science Math Boot Camp or consent of instructor. - An introduction to probability, descriptive statistics, hypothesis testing, and ordinary least squares regression analysis as used in the social sciences. Emphasizes both theory and applications.
• CAS PO 842: Qualitative Approaches to the Study of Political Science
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: Graduate student or consent of instructor. - Introduces the analytical tools and methods that underpin qualitative and multi-method research in the social sciences. Covers conceptualization and measurement, process tracing, comparative historical analysis, archival research, ethics, ethnography and participant observation, interviews, content and discourse analysis, and mixed methods.
• CAS PO 844: Methods for Causal Inference
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: GRS PO 841 or consent of instructor. - Research methods for causal inference in political science. Randomized experiments (lab, survey, and field), natural experiments (including regression discontinuity and instrumental variable designs), difference-in-differences and fixed effects models, multiple regression and matching, comparative case studies, process tracing, and multi-method designs.
• CAS PO 845: Special Topics in Methodology
  Topics vary; may be repeated for credit if the topics are different. Topic for Spring 2022: Survey Methods: Survey research. Methods in political science. Sampling techniques, questionnaire design, survey modes (in-person, phone, and online), interviewing, survey ethics, survey experiments, international surveys, analyzing survey data.
• CAS PO 846: Survey Research Methods
  Survey research methods in political science. Probability and convenience sampling, survey modes, questionnaire design, sensitive questions, survey experiments, pre-analysis plans, ethics, analyzing survey data. Global applications, including the Global South. Students design their own survey research plan.
• CAS PO 903: Research Workshop
  Graduate Prerequisites: enrollment in the Political Science PhD program. - This course is for Political Science PhD students of all years. It includes preparation for the second year paper, the dissertation prospectus, the dissertation, job talks, and grant and fellowship proposals.
• CAS PO 904: Research Workshop
  Graduate Prerequisites: enrollment in the Political Science PhD program. - This course is for Political Science PhD students of all years. It includes preparation for the second year paper, the dissertation prospectus, the dissertation, job talks, and grant and fellowship proposals.