Fall 2013 course planning

In its present format, the PhD program in political science at the University of Toronto requires each student to take core seminars and comprehensive examinations in two subfields. These are chosen from among Canadian politics, international relations, comparative politics, public policy, political theory, and development.

Beyond the core seminar, you need to take a set number of credits in courses related to each subfield.

Provided I passed my comp, I have dealt with the first requirement. The department is pushing me strongly to do international relations as my second option – because they can give me some course credit for the M.Phil in the subject I already completed – but I feel like I have already had more than enough of the core IR literature. I’m really not interested in the realist, liberal, constructivist debate.

My plan is to attend the first core seminar for at least IR, comparative, and public policy and then decide which seems most promising. I can then finalize my selection of an additional course in the field for the first term.

Some of the more interesting options include:

• Advanced Environmental Politics and Policy in Canada – Andrea Olive
• Politics and Policy Analysis – Jonathan Craft
• Intelligence and International Relations – TBA
• Globalization, Internationalization, and Public Policy – Grace Skogstad
• Government, Law and Politics in Russia – Peter Solomon
• Contentious Politics and Social Movements – Diana Fu
• Globalization and Indigenous Politics – Rauna Kuokkanen

It may also not be a bad idea to take one of the methods courses.

Peter Russell is again teaching Canada in Question: A Country Founded on Incomplete Conquests, which I highly recommend to anyone interested in Canadian politics.

I was also planning to maintain my personal tradition of informally auditing one class per term, with HIS 343Y1-Y: Wesley Wark’s History of Modern Espionage course, for which I already read the textbook, but it seems he isn’t teaching it this term. The course is still running, however, so I may drop in regardless.

Author: Milan

In the spring of 2005, I graduated from the University of British Columbia with a degree in International Relations and a general focus in the area of environmental politics. In the fall of 2005, I began reading for an M.Phil in IR at Wadham College, Oxford. Outside school, I am very interested in photography, writing, and the outdoors. I am writing this blog to keep in touch with friends and family around the world, provide a more personal view of graduate student life in Oxford, and pass on some lessons I've learned here. View all posts by Milan