Doctoral Program in Political Science

Program Description

The objective of the Program is to train top academics with the capacity for independent research and teaching in different areas of Political Science.

The curriculum of general and specialized Courses and Seminars of the Doctoral Program in Political Science is semi-flexible and is structured based on three core areas: (1) Political Theory, (2) Comparative Politics, and (3) International Relations. At the same time, a minor in Methods is offered, although this cannot be a core area of specialization.

The Doctoral Program program is structured around two cycles: the academic cycle (4 semesters during which students are mainly dedicated to taking courses) and the thesis residency cycle (4 semesters during which students develop their doctoral thesis). At the end of the academic process, Doctoral Examinations are taken, and the Doctoral Thesis Project is defended. Upon successfully passing this stage, students obtain the Doctoral Candidacy and a Master’s Degree in Political Science.

Accreditation

Program accredited by CNA-Chile for four years until November 2022.

Program Objectives

General Objectives

– To strengthen research in Political Science in Chile and the region, training top-level academics in Comparative Politics, Political Theory, and International Relations.

– To contribute to the development of novel approaches, in theoretical and methodological terms, that allow a better understanding of current political, economic, and social dynamics.

Specific Objectives

– To provide a program of courses and integral academic training in research and teaching that will allow our students to develop as full academics, with the capacity for independent research and teaching excellence.

– To develop collective research areas around pluralistic theoretical and methodological approaches that allow for a critical and constructive dialogue with diverse currents of contemporary political science.

– To insert our students in the best schools of political science at the national and regional level.

This training oriented to academic work is ideal and is valued to fulfill high political science consultancy functions in the public and private sectors.

Learning Outcomes

Doctoral Programs in Political Science with a solid and pluralistic theoretical-methodological training, capable of autonomously developing frontier research and teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The main aspects of being developed include:

• Capacity for a critical and analytical understanding of highly complex ideas, and their communication through oral and written language.
• Competence to research at the frontiers of the discipline and to generate new knowledge autonomously.
• Mastery of the body of knowledge accumulated by Political Science, its methods, and its transmission to third parties.
• Competence to become part of the centers of elaboration and teaching of Political Science at the highest international level.
• Capacity for moral judgment to recognize potential conflicts of interest, projects, or issues at odds with ethics and to develop teaching and research work by the person’s intrinsic dignity.