2003-2005 - Graduate School - The University of Alabama

198 The University of AlabamaDoctor of PhilosophyAdmission RequirementsAdmission to the Ph.D. program requires either a bachelor’s or a master’s degree. Applicantsmust submit scores from the Graduate Record Examination general test or fromthe Miller Analogies Test. All students admitted to the Ph.D. pro gram without a master’sdegree will be required to undergo an eval u a tion of their progress in the program by theGraduate Studies Committee after the completion of 27 hours in residence.Degree RequirementsMajor and minor fields. Ph.D. students must choose and develop com pe tence inone major and two minor fi elds. The fi elds the department offers are American politics,comparative politics, international relations, public policy and administration, and politicaltheory. In exceptional cases, a student may choose one minor fi eld outside thede part ment, with special permission from the graduate studies committee.Course requirements. Ph.D. students must complete at least 60 hours of graduatecoursework. Up to 30 hours may be transferred from other in sti tu tions, with the permissionof the graduate studies committee. At least 18 hours must be taken within the student’smajor fi eld, and at least 12 hours must be taken within each of the two minor fi elds.Students must take the core seminars in their fi elds (see the list under “M.A. CourseRequirements” above). Ph.D. students who choose American politics as their major orminor fi eld must take both PSC 611 and PSC 615. In addition, all students must complete9 hours of methods courses, including PSC 521 Research Design, PSC 522 QuantitativeMethods in Political Science I, and either PSC 621 Quantitative Methods in PoliticalScience II or PSC 622 Seminar in Political Science Methodology.Students interested in pursuing a topic in greater depth than the standard courseofferings allow may take up to 12 hours of PSC 595 Directed Reading and PSC 598Individual Research, with up to 6 hours in any one fi eld.Language requirement. A foreign language is required of Ph.D. students if ap pro pri ateto the student’s research interests. The appropriateness of the foreign lan guage requirementshall be de ter mined by the relevant faculty in the student’s primary fi eld of interestpri or to the student’s completion of 18 hours in residence in the Ph.D. program.Comprehensive examination. Before writing a dissertation, but only after completingat least two full years of graduate study and satisfying the language re quire ment, Ph.D.students must take and pass written and oral comprehensive examinations in their threefi elds. These will be given during fall and spring semesters only.Candidacy. Students who have fulfi lled the course requirements and passed thecomprehensive examination become Ph.D. candidates.Dissertation. As soon as possible after satisfying the requirements for candidacy,each student should submit three copies of a dissertation prospectus to the departmentchairperson, who will establish a dissertation committee of fi ve faculty members, withat least three from the Department of Political Science and at least one from anotherdepartment. The prospectus should contain the same information as an M.A. thesisprospectus (see above).The department chairperson will decide whether to approve the pro spec tus, on therecommendation of the dissertation committee. Once the pro spec tus has been ap proved,the student may begin work on the dissertation itself, under the supervision of his orher dissertation committee. When fi nished, the student must submit four copies of thecompleted dissertation and take a fi nal oral examination to defend it and demonstratecompetence in the fi eld in which it lies. The examination, conducted by the dissertationcommittee, must ordinarily be held during the fall or spring semester. Following asuccessful defense, the student must deposit two copies of the dissertation, as fi nallyapproved, with the department, and another two with the Grad u ate School.