Program Requirements

Admissions and Financial Support

Frequently Asked Questions

Faculty

Graduate Courses

Teaching Opportunities

Research Facilities

Library Resources

Placement

Current Graduate Student Information

Current Students

Hire an Emory Ph.D

Dissertations in Progress

Degrees Conferred

Papers Presented

Fellowships and Awards

Administration and Staff

Donate to the Political Science Department

Emory Faculty Lead in Journal Publications

Political Science Department Summer 2009 Newsletter

Newsletter Archive

Contact Us

Graduate School of Arts & Science

Graduate Courses Fall 2009

POLS 507: Research Design & Data Collection

Giles, M 1:00-4:00, MAX: 12

Content: This course is designed specifically for students in their first year of the Ph.D. program. It provides an introduction to the discipline, the philosophy of science and research design.

POLS 508: Data Analysis

Linzer, F 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM, MAX: 12

Content: This course will introduce students to the philosophy and techniques of quantitative empirical political science. Students will gain basic skills in conceiving and conducting statistical analyses for their own research, in addition to becoming more informed readers of the quantitative research published in the major social science journals. Although some statistical theory will, by necessity, be covered, the emphasis of this course will remain primarily applied: how to prepare a dataset, choose an appropriate statistical procedure, estimate a model, and interpret and present your findings. Topics will span both descriptive and inferential statistics, including measures of central tendency and dispersion, tabular analysis, bivariate and multivariate linear models, probability, and maximum likelihood estimation. Students will also be taught and gain proficiency in statistical programming in R, an extremely flexible and powerful (and free!) software package that is becoming increasingly popular across the field of political science.

POLS 510: World Politics

Reiter, Th 1:00-4:00, MAX: 12

Content: This is the introductory course to international relations for political science graduate students. The emphasis is theoretical, covering issues such as international conflict, decision-making, trade, and system structure. The class uses a discussion format.

Particulars:
One exam; several short papers. All students other than political science graduate students must receive permission from the instructor.

POLS 514: Advanced Game Theory

Esarey, Tu 8:30-11:30, MAX: 12

Content: This course is the second in the formal theory sequence offered in the political science department. The class builds on the skills learned in the Introduction to Game Theory class by applying the solution concepts learned in the introductory course to more complicated games. The course will address many topics, including (but not limited to): social choice theory, bargaining, principal-agent relationships, and behavioral game theory (particularly quantal response approaches).

Particulars: Each student will be responsible for completing a problem set each week that reinforces the techniques learned in class. There will also be a midterm and a final exam.

POLS 540: American National Government

Abramowitz, Th 8:30-11:30, MAX: 12

Content: General survey of "classic" and recent research on American politics. Topics will include U.S. political culture, public opinion, political parties and elections, interest groups, Congress, and executive branch politics. Various theoretical perspectives on American politics will be considered, including pluralism and its critics and rational choice theory.

Particulars: Students will present a literature review paper and lead a class discussion on one of the major topics for the course during the second half of the semester.

POLS 570: Limited Dependent Variable Model

Linzer, W 1:00-4:00, MAX: 12

Content: This course presents an overview of the likelihood theory of statistical inference, and its wide range of uses in applied quantitative political science. When dependent variables take the form of ordered or unordered categories, event counts, measures of duration, are censored or truncated, clustered, or otherwise violate the traditional assumptions of ordinary least-squares linear regression, models estimated by maximum likelihood provide an essential alternative. Topics covered include binary, multinomial, and ordered logit/probit, Poisson regression, duration models, mixture models, loglinear analysis, missing data, and matching and causal inference. We will rely heavily on computational methods of analysis using the R statistical computing environment, and instruction on how to use R for applied research will be provided throughout the length of the course.

POLS 585: Variable Topic Seminar

Davis, W 1:00-4:00, MAX: 12

Content: This graduate seminar, open to students from the Graduate School, the Law School, and the School of Public Health, examines the theory and practice of global human rights from an interdisciplinary perspective. In addition to issues of the history, origins and legitimacy of universal human rights, the seminar will discuss standards, institutions and processes of implementation. The seminar will also examine human rights across a variety of substantive issues areas, including: conflict; development; globalization; social welfare; public health; and rights of women and other vulnerable groups.

Particulars: Evaluation will be based on seminar participation, a series of short thought papers and major research paper. Students will also make brief presentations of their final papers.

POLS 585: Variable Topic Seminar

Gandhi, M 9:00-12:00, MAX: 12

Content: This course offers a thematic introduction to the politics of economic development in dictatorships. The course begins with an introduction to growth models in preparation for understanding how politics is "introduced" (in the form of political regimes) into standard economic explanations. After evaluating theories and evidence comparing democracies and dictatorships, we move on to the primary focus of the course: understanding the institutional organization of dictatorships and its effects on countries' development trajectories. The course finishes with a look at regime dynamics and development, or whether growth has effects on the durability of authoritarian regimes.

Particulars: TBA

Top