Academic
Catalog August 2007 - August 2008 Undergraduate
and Graduate
Our doctoral plan prepares you for a career in higher education, research, or public service.
For this plan, you must complete the following 78-81 units beyond the bachelor’s degree:
63 units of coursework approved by your plan advisor
at least 15-18 units of dissertation credits
However, to accommodate individual plans of study, you may be required to take an additional 18-39 units to meet language or research requirements, take the profession development seminar, or allow for reading for comprehensive exams and dissertation research as specified by your advisor. Specific course requirements vary by emphasis, as described in the follow sections.
In addition to the requirements for your particular emphasis, you must:
perform satisfactorily on comprehensive written and oral exams
satisfy a research tool requirement in one of two ways:
demonstrate proficiency in a language other than English that is equivalent to two years of university coursework, by taking language courses or through proficiency testing
or obtain a grade of B or better in POS 601 and take 6 additional units of research methods, selected with your advisor’s approval
fulfill NAU’s residency requirements
(For more information about residency and other requirements that pertain to this academic plan, see Doctoral Requirements.)
pass the oral exam on your dissertation (dissertation defense)
To complete this emphasis, you take
the political science core:
POS 600, 601, and 607 (9 units)
POS 610, 612, and 641 (9 units)
12 additional units in American politics and public administration
18-21 units from one of the other emphases
12-15 units of coursework in a cognate supporting American politics and public administration, of coursework approved by your plan advisor or in one of the emphases that you haven’t already used
coursework, beyond the 63 units needed in your plan of study, needed to complete your language and/or research requirements, prepare for comprehensive exams, ensure adequate preparation for your dissertation research, and, if applicable, complete the professional development course
15-18 units of POS 799, for the research, writing, and oral defense of an approved dissertation
(Please note that you can only count 15-18 units of dissertation credit toward your degree. However, you may end up taking more units because you must enroll for POS 799 each term while you are working on your dissertation.)
To complete this emphasis, you take
the political science core:
POS 600, 601, and 607 (9 units)
POS 670, 676, 680, and 683 (12 units)
9 additional units in comparative politics and international relations
18-21 units from one of the other emphases
12-15 units of coursework in a cognate supporting comparative politics and international relations, approved by your plan advisor or in one of the other emphases that you haven’t already used
coursework, beyond the 63 units needed in your plan of study, needed to complete your language and/or research requirements, prepare for comprehensive exams, ensure adequate preparation for your dissertation research, and, if applicable, complete the professional development course
15-18 units of POS 799, for the research, writing, and oral defense of an approved dissertation
(Please note that you can only count 15-18 units of dissertation credit toward your degree. However, you may end up taking more units because you must enroll for POS 799 each term while you are working on your dissertation.)
For this emphasis, you take:
the political science core:
POS 600, 601, and 607 (9 units)
POS 643 and 671 (6 units)
6 units from POS 552, ECO 655, or other courses that apply economic reasoning to public policy
9 additional units in public policy
18-21 units from one of the other emphases
12-15 units in a policy concentration approved by your plan advisor, including at least 6 additional units of POS courses
coursework, beyond the 63 units needed in your plan of study, needed to complete your language and/or research requirements, prepare for comprehensive exams, ensure adequate preparation for your dissertation research, and, if applicable, complete the professional development course
15-18 units of POS 799, for the research, writing, and oral defense of an approved dissertation
(Please note that you can only count 15-18 units of dissertation credit toward your degree. However, you may end up taking more units because you must enroll for POS 799 each term while you are working on your dissertation.)
Click here for more information about Political Science graduate courses and our Political Science Faculty.