The Master of Arts Program in International Relations
The Master of Arts Program in International Relations (MAIR) offers a 30-unit curriculum of comparative politics and international relations. The goals of the program are to allow students to pursue advanced understanding of world politics and to enhance their career options in a wide array of international fields, including government, education, private business, and non-governmental organizations. USD also offers a joint degree (MA/JD) in conjunction with the School of Law; interested students need to apply for admission to the two programs separately.
Students who successfully complete the MAIR program should be able: (1) to distinguish among leading schools of thought in international relations (e.g., realism, liberalism, post-modernism) and to apply and discuss these approaches in understanding and explaining international phenomena; (2) to distinguish among leading schools of thought in comparative politics (e.g., theories of state building, state-society relations, democratization) and to apply and discuss these approaches in understanding and explaining domestic phenomena; (3) to be able to identify and discuss the interaction between domestic- and international-level variables in explaining political phenomena; (4) to be able to develop and execute empirically grounded and theoretically based research projects.
The full time political science faculty supervise the MAIR program and eight of the ten courses required for the degree must be taken in that department. The two remaining courses must be approved by the graduate adviser and are selected by the student from internationally oriented courses in the fields of history, economics, law, business, and/or political science. The culmination of the program is a comprehensive exam. Its purpose 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.
Full-time students typically need one and a half years to complete the coursework and two years to complete the program. The comprehensive exam generally takes place in the semester after the coursework is complete and can be done in absentia, although the oral exam must take place at USD. Part-time study is also welcomed and accommodated by a schedule that convenes graduate classes one evening per week. During the summer months the department generally offers up to two seminars that meet two evenings a week for seven weeks.
Requirements for the Degree
- Approval of courses by Graduate Director
- 24 units of political science at the 500-level including POLS 570, Theories of International Relations and POLS 550, Comparative Politics
- Additional 6 units of relevant courses chosen from among political science, international relations, economics, history, business administration, or law. Under exceptional circumstances and with special graduate level adjustments, students may enroll in other relevant courses numbered 300 and above.
- Only one course with a grade of "C+", "C", or "C-" may count toward the degree
- No courses with a grade of "D" or "F" will count toward the degree although the grade will be calculated in the GPA
- Satisfactory performance on a comprehensive examination in the final semester
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