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M.A. & Ph.D Program in Security Studies

Contacts

Mark Parillo, Associate Professor
Department of History
208 Eisenhower Hall
(785) 532-0374
Email

Click to jump to M.A. Program Outline

Ph.D Program

This is a rigorous, interdisciplinary program intended to prepare its students for careers in research, teaching, and international affairs through a broad exploration of issues relating to international security. Many students will already have a Master of Arts in Security Studies from Kansas State, but this is not required. Students with other relevant masters degrees may apply to the Ph.D program directly.

Ph.D coursework

The Ph.D degree will require 90 hours of course work. Up to 30 hours from a previous masters degree may be counted towards these 90 hours. The Ph.D committee will judge the suitability and applicability of the previous credits. An additional 30 hours of those 90 will be research hours towards the dissertation. The remaining coursework to reach the total of 90 hours will include 15 hours of required courses The required courses consist of:

1. The Historical Research Sequence. This sequence consists of two courses of three hours each. The first (Hist 911) will study various approaches to the history of security, international relations, and military affairs. The second will be a methodology course in the theory and concrete practice of historical research in security studies (Hist 912)
2. The Political Research Sequence. This sequence also consists of two courses. The first, Research Design and Qualitative Methods (Poli Sci 900), focuses on the construction of social science research and the various research design issues students must understand to construct qualitative social science studies. The second course, Quantitative Methods (Poli Sci 901), will introduce students to the statistical tools used by political scientists studying international security issues
3. The final PhD-level required course must be taken after completing the history and political science two-course research sequences. Each student must complete a directed reading (Hist 985 or Poli Sci 785) with the chair of the student's Ph.D committee. The course is intended to allow the student to hone his or her dissertation topic in one-on-one consultation with the PhD chair.

The other fifteen hours of coursework will be elective courses chosen in consultation with the Ph.D commitee to prepare the student for research and teaching in security studies, as well as to help prepare for the Ph.D exams. These electives may be drawn from History, Political Science, or from other disciplines deemed appropriate by the committee.

The intent of the Ph.D coursework is to prepare students for writing the dissertation. Upon completion of the Ph.D coursework students will have the research skills necessary to complete a dissertation-length scholarly study on a well-defined topic developed in consultation with their PhD Chair.

Ph.D comprehensive exams

After completing coursework, the student will take comprehensive exams. Comprehensive exams will consist of two components. Each component will be a take-home written exam to be completed within a specified time limit. The first will be a general field exam consisting of two parts:

1. The History of International Security
2. The Politics of International Security

The second will be a special field, devised by the student in consultation with his or her committee. The special field can be geographic in focus (post-Soviet states, Africa, or Latin America, for example) or thematic (civil-military relations or arms proliferation, for example). Format of the special field will be determined by the examiner in consultation with the student's Ph.D committee.

An interdisciplinary Exam Committee of Security Studies faculty at KSU will administer the written comprehensive exam. The content of the general field exam will be uniform for each matriculating class of students. After passing the written exam, students will take the oral exam. The oral exam will be administered with live streaming video as needed between KSU and Ft. Leavenworth by the same interdisciplinary Exam Committee that designed and evaluated the written component of the exam. The make-up of the Exam Committee will change annually, as will the content of the written exams. The examination committee will organize repeat exams for those who fail. A second failure will result in dismissal from the program.

Dissertation prospectus defense

Following the completion of the Ph.D coursework, the student will submit a written dissertation prospectus to his/her Ph.D Committee. The Committee will provide written feedback on the prospectus. After the student revises the prospectus, he/she will present and defend it orally to the Committee (via live video streaming if necessary). After completion of comprehensive exams and the completion of an acceptable prospectus, the student officially becomes a Ph.D candidate in the program and commences the dissertation.

Writing the dissertation

The student will research and write the dissertation, consulting with the Ph.D Committee as often as necessary. The dissertation should be a substantial and original contribution to knowledge and scholarship.

Dissertation defense

After completing the dissertation, the student will defend it orally before the Ph.D Committee (again, via live video streaming if necessary).

Submission of dissertation

Upon successful completion of the oral defense, the student will make any additional revisions to the dissertation required by the Ph.D Committee and submit the final version of the dissertation to the College of Arts and Sciences at KSU.

Ph.D committee

Within their first two semesters in the program, students will choose a Ph.D Committee consisting of at least four members of the KSU Security Studies faculty, including at least one member from History and at least one member from Political Science. As in any graduate program, adjunct professors are eligible to serve on committees. This committee will work with the student to craft an appropriate and feasible dissertation topic and advise the student on suitable coursework and preparation. Students will report to their committee at regular intervals. The Ph.D Committee may require the student to master specific research skills appropriate for the dissertation, including foreign languages or quantitative methods.

M.A. Program

This is a rigorous, interdisciplinary program intended for career professionals in the military and international affairs. It will be a professional degree providing a broad, analytical perspective on security issues. Coursework will concentrate on issues of strategy, politics, economics, and society from both historical and social science perspectives. Although this is a professional MA, its focus will be on issues complementing those emphasized in the military's professional training.

• Course requirements

Course requirements will consist of 30 hours of graduate-level work, up to 12 hours of which may be transfer credit from other graduate-level work. The masters program's admissions committee will evaluate the suitability of transfer credits. The remaining hours will consist of 18 hours of required courses and additional graduate-level electives as needed to total 30 hours.

• Required course: Fundamentals of Security (3 hours)--Hist 812 / Poli Sci 812

This course will introduce students to major themes covered in the new MA. It is designed to provide students with foundations for the MA's four core courses. It must be completed before enrolling in the core courses, typically in the summer before beginning the program proper. Its content will be largely the same from year to year, though individual instructors may tailor it to some degree. Students will read key texts on international security, military history, and strategy, as well as works on the theory and research practice of history and political science. They will write essays on the assigned readings, participate in on-line synchronous and asynchronous discussions, and compose a final paper or take a final exam on the issues raised by the course.

• Required courses: History and Security of Pivotal Regions (6 hours)

Students will take at least two courses on the history of regions of central importance to international affairs. These courses may focus on East Asia (Hist 850), Latin America (Hist 851), the Middle East (Hist 852), Russia and Central Asia (Hist 853), or Sub-Saharan Africa.

• Required courses: International Security and Transnational Security (6 hours)--Poli Sci 813 and Poli Sci 814

Political Science will offer two courses. International Security will focus on traditional issues of the causes of war, deterrence, the relevance/role of international institutions, arms proliferation, the politics of international intervention, and conflict resolution. The second, Terrorism and Transnational Security, will cover security issues that have been given increasing emphasis over recent years. Examples include the unique context of security problems in the developing world, demographic developments and internal/external conflict, environmental issues and their relation to security, economic globalization and security, post-conflict reconstruction, and humanitarian emergencies.

• Required course: Capstone Research Course (3 hours) Hist 815 / Poli Sci 815

The capstone course will allow students to synthesize knowledge acquired in the core and other MA courses. In the first third of the course, students will review basic readings on research design and methodology from the disciplines of history and political science introduced in the core courses. They will provide response essays on the readings and participate in synchronous and asynchronous discussions of the works with classmates and the instructor. The remaining two-thirds of the course will be devoted to the production of a publishable quality research paper of roughly 30-35 pages in length.

Course delivery and flexible scheduling

The new MA degree is designed with maximum flexibility in its course offerings, and is intended to be attainable within one calendar year of full-time study while maintaining academic standards in accord with existing MA degrees in History and Political Science. It will make maximum use of web-based, evening, and summer courses to provide this flexibility.

Committees

Each student will be supervised by a masters commitee consisting of three members of the Security Studies graduate faculty. As in any graduate program, adjunct professors are eligible to serve on committees.