1. Credits

The Program consists of 36 credits (Comprehensive Study Option) or 30 credits (Thesis Option):

•  up to 6 credits for thesis writing and research (PSCI 599) can count for the Thesis Option
•  at least half of all M.A. credits (excluding thesis and research credits) must be at the 500 (graduate) level

2. Course Requirements

Core Seminars:  one course from each of the four major subfields, plus two Core Elective courses from any of the subfields, from the list below:

American Government/Politics                         Comparative Politics
PSCI 540: American Government                                    PSCI 520: Comparative Politics
PSCI 595: Special Topics in American Politics                 PSCI 582: Politics of World Economy
PSCI 580: Research Goals & Strategies *                       PSCI 521: Globalization
                                                                                         PSCI 580: Research Goals & Strategies * 

International Relations                                    Political Theory
PSCI 530: International Relations                                   PSCI 553: Modern Political Theory
PSCI 521: Globalization                                                  PSCI 557: Ancient/Medieval Pol.Theory
PSCI 582: Politics of the World Economy                       PSCI 580: Research Goals & Strategies *
PSCI 580: Research Goals & Strategies * 

* with prior consent of instructor for subfield credit

 _______     _______   Elective Courses (2 from list above, in addition to the 4 subfield courses)

Additional Coursework

18 additional credits (Comprehensive Study Option) or 12 additional credits (Thesis Option), from the following: 

• Other PSCI graduate (500-level) courses or UG (400-level) courses with the course's graduate increment completed; special approval from the MA co-director is required to count more than 12 credits of UG courses.
• Other graduate or 400-level UG courses in other departments (Sociology, History, Economics, Law, Journalism, etc.); 6 credits maximum (Thesis), 12 credits maximum (Comprehensive Study) with prior approval from the MA Co-Advisor
• PSCI 596, Independent Study (6 credits maximum)
• PSCI 598, Internship (6 credits maximum)
• PSCI 595, Special Topics (9 credits maximum)
• PSCI 599, Thesis (6 credits maximum, only for students completing the Thesis Option)

Note: No more than 6 credits of PSCI 598 (internship) may be counted toward the M.A., and no more than 6 credits of PSCI 596 (independent study may be counted toward the M.A.). No more than 12 credits may be taken outside the Political Science Department (6 credits for the thesis option.)

3. Comprehensive Exam

The Comprehensive Exam is a written and oral exam with three faculty, as detailed in the main “Graduate Program” webpage: https://hs.umt.edu/polsci/graduate/default.php    
Comprehensive exams are graded as: with distinction, pass, or not pass; students are allowed to re-take a failed exam once.

Comprehensive Exam Committee:  

________________________________     

________________________________     

________________________________  

Exam Results:         ________________________________

4. Final Research and Writing

Comprehensive Study Option

Research Papers: three professional-quality research papers, in at least two subfields with at least two faculty:

    Paper #1 – title:                                           Professor #1:
    Paper #2 – title:                                           Professor #2:
    Paper #3 – title:                                           Professor #3:

Or:

Thesis Option

Extensive research thesis, with the advice of the Thesis Committee chair and at least two other committee members, one from Political Science and one from outside the department.      Students may take up to 6 credits of PSCI 599 in researching and writing the thesis.

Thesis
     Title:
     Date defended:

Thesis Committee:
     Chair:
     Faculty Member (Political Science):
     Faculty Member (outside member and their department):