Why Choose WMU?
Why Choose WMU?
» Why Choose a M.A. in Political Science at WMU?
Why Choose a Ph.D. in Political Science at WMU?
Ph.D. Candidate Miguel Centellas in Bolivia during his Fulbright year (2003-4)
Program: Our PhD program centers on the fields of American Politics, Comparative Politics, and Political Theory. The program enrolls a small number of students each year by design. The size allows us to maintain small classes and increases opportunities for students to interact with faculty members.
Graduate Students as Part of the Department: Our graduate students comprise an important part of the intellectual life of the Department, interacting with visiting scholars, participating on committees, and supporting our undergraduate program. The Political Science Graduate Student Association (PSGSA) sponsors its own lectures and other programs to enhance the complete educational experience of all graduate students. Career development is encouraged through required courses on teaching and research, workshops, and mentoring by faculty members and veteran graduate students.
International Students: International students are a welcome part of our program, and in fact comprise around 50% of the graduate student body. Students come from around the the world, including countries such as Armenia, Bolivia, China, Croatia, Egypt, Germany, Ghana, India, Kenya, Madagascar, Romania, Russia, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, South Korea and Turkey.
Conference Activity: Most graduate students are active in professional conferences by their second or third year. Students have presetned papers at conferences organized by:
- American Political Science Association
- Midwest Political Science Association
- Southern Political Science Association
- Western Political Science Association
- Association of Third World Studies
- Assocation for Asian Studies
- American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies
- International Studies Association
Graduate Student Research: Students have been successful in attracting external grant funding, including from IREX, the American Councils, and the Middle Eastern Research Competition. One recent student won a national prize for her research. Students regularly conduct field research all over the world; recently research sites have included Russia, Poland, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Kenya, Bolivia, China, Armenia and Senegal.
Financial Support: Graduate assistantships are available on a competitive basis. Graduate assistants receive a salary/stipend and tuition remission. Assistantships include 20 hours per week assignments in either teaching or research assistance. Additional financial aid opportunities may be available through the Graduate College.
Placement: Our graduates have been quite successful in attaining placements both inside and outside of academia. In the 2003-2004 cycle, five out of five students on the market obtained tenure-track placements in colleges and universities around the United States. Some international graduates have academic appointments in their home countries.
Faculty: The twenty (or so) faculty members in the Political Science Department have established solid records of research, teaching, and service. Their books have been published by major university presses, and their articles have appeared in the top general and specialized journals in the discipline. Several have received funding for their research from the National Science Foundation.
Chen Ke (PhD 1998), works for a joint task force of the Swedish Environment Institute and the China National Development and Reform Commission. His work requires extensive field time where he serves as a liaison between Chinese and international expert teams. He is pictured outside his office in Stockholm.
The University
WMU is a student-centered research university with nearly 30,000 students, including 6,000 graduate students, making it one of the 50 largest universities in the country. WMU is a Carnegie-designated Doctoral/Research-Extensive university, one of only 102 public research universities to be included in this top classification, and is ranked among the top 100 public universities according to U.S. News & World Reports' annual ranking of the nation's over 3,000 colleges and universities. In athletics, WMU is in the NCAA Division I Mid-American Conference (MAC).
The Community
Kalamazoo is the fifth largest city in Michigan, with a county population of more than 220,000 residents. The city is located midway between Chicago and Detroit, 140 miles from each, 2.5 hours driving time on I-94. Kalamazoo offers commercial transportation by train, bus, and major airline.