MAIR Comprehensive Exam Rules and Guidelines

The MAIR comprehensive exam is offered once every semester. In the Fall, the comp exam session begins in early September and generally ends by early December. The Spring session begins in early February and generally ends by early May. Important due dates are listed below. Please note that it is the student’s responsibility to abide by all deadlines. To go directly to the current calendar click here.

General Information

The purpose of the comprehensive exam is to provide students with an opportunity to use the knowledge gained during the program to deepen their understanding of a particular issue of interest. The exam also serves as a method of evaluating students’ progress by requiring them to integrate different types of material and to think critically about how this material contributes to a broader understanding of the discipline of International Relations.

The exam is offered once in the Fall and once in the Spring. The calendar is generally available one month before the beginning of each semester. Students take the comprehensive exam during or after their last semester of coursework for the program. Because the exam builds on what students have learned in the program, students cannot take the exam until they have completed at least 21 and preferably 24 units. Furthermore, because the exam requires a substantial amount of work, students are advised to register for no more than six units during the semester in which they plan to take the exam. This is particularly true of students who have demanding outside commitments (e.g., full-time job, family, etc.). For those students who prefer to take the exam after completing all of their coursework, but who will no longer be in San Diego, it is possible to submit exam documents via courier service or email. However, these students are required to 1) request and receive prior approval from the Graduate Director, 2) assume responsibility for knowing and respecting any and all deadlines, and 3) be physically present for the oral exam.

Please note that if you are not registered for classes while you are taking the comprehensive exam, you must fill out a Petition for Leave of Absence at the Registrar’s office before the semester during which you plan to take the exam begins. Failure to do this will automatically convert your enrollment status to “withdrawn,” and you will not be able to take the exam until you reapply for admission to the MAIR program—a process that can take several weeks, and several dollars, to complete. This is a University rule that cannot be waived by the MAIR director.

Exam Format

The exam has three parts: the dossier, the paper, and the appendix. A general description follows. Each of the three components is discussed in greater detail below.

For the paper, students propose a question that they will answer in a 25 to 30 pages (double-spaced, 1-inch margins, 12 point font with numbered pages). The topic should build upon knowledge acquired in the graduate seminars. During the question formulation process, it is highly recommended that students meet with one or more member of the faculty to receive feedback on their proposed topic or question. This will help clarify what constitutes a good question and help students avoid some of the pitfalls mentioned below.

Each student is assigned to a committee of two full-time faculty members. The committee will review the question and revise it if necessary. Students receive the revised version of the question and then have two weeks to craft an answer. After reviewing the paper, faculty committees will either advance the student to the oral exam phase or request a rewrite. Students who are asked to rewrite the paper have two weeks to submit a revised draft. Faculty committees then determine whether the student is cleared to take the oral exam. The oral exam is typically one-hour long and will include discussion of the paper and the student’s program of study as a whole. After the oral exam, the committee will inform the student of his/her overall performance on the comprehensive exam. Students who do not pass the exam may retake it once during another semester.

Below are some more specific guidelines for each stage of the comprehensive exam. See the Comprehensive Exam calendar for specific due dates.

Dossier

Three copies of the dossier should be submitted with the proposed exam question. It is a two-page document that contains the following information:

Name
Semester in which you intend to take the exam
An indication of whether you will be in San Diego during the exam process
A list of the courses (and professors) taken for the degree (including those in progress)
A list of the titles of the papers written for each course
A proposed question for the comprehensive exam
A description of how the material from three of the courses taken shaped the exam question
A statement of how you plan to incorporate a specific theory (or theories) from IR Theories and/or Comparative Politics into the answer

Exam Question

Students should propose a question that draws on at least three of the graduate political science courses taken for the degree. It should be designed as an integrative research paper with sound analysis that draws together ideas and analysis culled from the student’s graduate experience. Furthermore, the argument should be theoretically based and supported by empirical evidence. Students should solicit advice from individual faculty regarding the construction of a sound question, however, it is the student’s faculty committee that will ultimately determine the final version of the question. If you have questions about how to incorporate theory into your analysis, you should see a faculty member during the process of formulating the question. Some of the most common problems with exam questions are listed below.

Too broad: remember that this is only a 25-30 page paper. If you propose to examine how globalization has altered the international system, you can be relatively certain that the committee will narrow the question down substantially. In order to avoid a situation where a committee revises the question in an undesired direction, make your question as specific as possible. For example, “How can Realists account for the level of economic integration that has occurred over the past fifteen years and what are the implications of this aspect of globalization for state sovereignty in the international system?”
Too vague: similar to the problem mentioned above, but in this case it is not clear what you really intend to examine, e.g., “How effective is the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty?” Again, try to be very clear about what you intend to do, e.g., “Many argue that the NPT has done little to stop the spread of nuclear weapons material and technology. Does its failure mean that Neoliberal Institutionalists are wrong about the ability of institutions to facilitate cooperation and peace?”
Too narrow: it is not generally the case that proposed exam questions are too specific, however, it is common for them to be too limited in scope or in geographic focus. For example, “What are the prospects for democracy in Iraq?” This is a valid question, but it should be cast more broadly, e.g., “It is commonly believed that Islam and democracy are fundamentally incompatible. What is the basis of this assertion and what does it suggest about the prospects for democracy in Iraq and other countries in the Middle East?”
Theoretically void: while the question itself need not mention a specific theory, it is expected that all answers will be theoretically well-grounded. That is, if your question is “What is the most pressing security challenge facing the United States in the XXI Century?” you should be prepared to situate the issue within a larger theoretical context, whether that is Realism, Idealism or something else altogether. In order to avoid this pitfall, you will need to think about how your question relates to material covered in your courses on IR Theory and/or Comparative Politics.
Too much overlap with previous work: while you are strongly encouraged to build on work you have already completed in the program, simply rehashing a paper submitted for one of your classes is unacceptable.

Writing (and Rewriting) the Paper

The comprehensive exam paper is an opportunity for you to demonstrate to the committee not only what knowledge you have acquired about the topic at hand and the field of international relations, it is also a demonstration of your critical thinking skills and your ability to apply theory to reality. These are the most important assets that you will take away from the program. Therefore, faculty committees are looking to see that you have a solid base of knowledge about your chosen subject and the relevant theoretical approaches. You are expected to be able to discuss the issue at hand, present convincing evidence in support of your argument, and that you can use your knowledge of the subject to understand a broader array of issues. In other words, demonstrating, for example, how and in what specific ways NAFTA has increased the interdependence of the US and Mexico is important, but it is also important that you can talk about the broader implications of such interdependence (e.g., for a specific theory, for the Americas, for globalization, for international competitiveness, etc.).

Students have two weeks to write the paper. It should be treated as an open book exam. However, exam takers may not confer with other individuals, including fellow students or faculty, about the exam during this time frame. All citations and bibliography should follow the latest edition of the Chicago Manual of Style (available at Copley Library). Furthermore, all students are required to submit their final version to Turnitin.com. Specific instructions on how to do this will be given to students when they pick up the revised version of the exam question.

It should be noted that it is quite common that students are asked to rewrite their papers. In this case, students should speak to the faculty on the committee and respond to their comments and concerns in the rewrite. Second drafts that do not address the main concerns of the faculty committee may result in a required addendum or in failure of the comprehensive exam.

Appendix

This is a two-page document submitted with the first draft of the paper that addresses the following three issues:

A statement of precisely how three or more MAIR seminars influenced the argument/information presented in the paper.
A statement that explains how a particular theory (or theories) are used in your answer
Observations on how the MAIR program shaped and developed your ability to analyze international phenomena.

Oral Exam

The oral exam is really a conversation between the committee and the student. It provides students the opportunity to clarify or respond to questions posed by the committee, and it gives faculty members the opportunity to evaluate how well the student knows the subject, and importantly, how well the student can apply what he or she has learned to other related issues within international relations and comparative politics. For this reason, students should be prepared to discuss not just their paper, but material covered during the course of their program.

Following the oral exam, the committee informs the student whether s/he passed, received a conditional pass, or failed. A conditional pass generally means that the student will pass as long as he or she satisfactorily makes the necessary changes/additions, etc., to the paper. Failure of the exam is generally determined by a student’s inability to demonstrate one or more of the following skills: knowledge of the history and contemporary situation of key cases studies included in the paper, knowledge and understanding of relevant literature and concepts, knowledge and understanding of major theories and arguments in the field of International Relations and Comparative Politics. Students who do not pass the exam can retake it one time in another semester.

If you have questions about the comprehensive exam process or the specific requirements, please do not hesitate to contact the Graduate Director of the MAIR program:

Emily Edmonds-Poli, Ph.D.
IPJ 286A
260.7802
edmonds@sandiego.edu

Comprehensive Exam Calendar Spring 2010

Wednesday, February 3: All students who plan to take the comprehensive exam must submit a tentative question and dossier by 12 noon to the Political Science department via email to Kari de Longpre at kdelongpre@sandiego.edu

Wednesday, February 17: Revised questions and directions for submitting paper draft to Turnitin.com available after 12 noon in IPJ 261. Please see or email Kari de Longpre.

Wednesday, March 3: Three copies of the dossier, paper, and appendix are due by 12 noon in the Political Science Department Office, IPJ 261. Each copy should have a cover sheet with the student’s name, exam question, and names of the faculty committee members.

Please note that students completing the exam somewhere other than San Diego are still responsible for submitting the materials by this day and time. In addition, students completing the exam in absentia must provide a pre-paid overnight Fed-Ex envelope for the department to return the drafts with committee comments in the event of a rewrite.

Wednesday, March 17: Notification of results: pass or rewrite. Please see or email Kari de Longpre after 12 noon for results.

Wednesday, March 31: Rewrites due by 12 noon in IPJ 261. Please resubmit the two copies of the original draft and appendix along with three copies of the revised version. Students must also submit the revised paper to turnitin.com.

Monday, April 12: Oral exams begin. Faculty committees will contact students by this date with paper results and to schedule oral exam.

For more information about the requirements of the exam, please see the Information and Guidelines for the MAIR Comprehensive Exam.

If you have any questions about the comprehensive exam or the calendar, please contact the Director of the MAIR program:

Dr. Emily Edmonds-Poli

Tel: 260.7802 Email: edmonds@sandiego.edu

Political Science and International Relations

University of San Diego

Department Chair

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