Master of Arts - Political Science

Program description

The Department of Political Science at Memorial University offers graduate courses, a graduate diploma, and supervises MA students in all of the discipline's major subfields, including international relations, comparative politics, Canadian politics, public policy, and political theory. Election campaigns and voting behaviour; ethnic conflict within and between states; public administration; provincial politics; aboriginal law and politics; gender and politics; the politics of financial regulation; health care policy and governance; foreign policy; international peace building; the history of international thought; and identity and political theory are among our faculty's research interests. We also have specialised knowledge of Western and Southern Europe (especially Italy, Spain, and the Balkan countries), the United States, and Newfoundland and Labrador. Furthermore, our MA programme provides high-quality instruction in political research methods.

Our programmes and students' results reflect the quality of our research and teaching. Our Graduate Diploma in Political Science programme allows you to gain graduate-level academic credentials without committing to a full master's programme. The curriculum allows students to broaden their political knowledge and may also be used for professional career development (e.g. public servants; individuals in the private sector with links to policy and politics; and individuals in non-governmental or voluntary organizations). Students can study in any of the four major branches of political science (Canadian Politics, Public Policy, Political Theory, International Relations, Comparative Politics). Our Department specialises in political behaviour, research methodologies, public policy, and international political economics.

Graduate students might pursue a master's degree that focuses on research or an internship. Students in our MA programme are prepared for both academic and professional professions. It draws students from universities all throughout Canada and the world. While many of our alumni go on to careers in the public service, our graduate students are often admitted to top PhD programmes such as McGill, UBC, Toronto, Alberta, the London School of Economics, and others. Twelve students from the Department have received renowned Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) fellowships in recent years.

Internship, research paper, and thesis choices are available in the MA programme. The internship option entails coursework plus a one-semester internship with a political group, government agency, or volunteer agency that can be completed in one year of full-time study. Courses and a research paper are required for the research paper option, which can be completed in one year of full-time study. Courses and a thesis are required for the thesis option, which can be completed in two years of full-time study.