Exam for Admission to Candidacy ("Preliminary Examination")

As a Ph.D. candidate, an individual is recognized as needing only to compose and defend one’s dissertation before completing the degree. Candidacy is attained at the conclusion of coursework and upon successful assessment of a student’s readiness to proceed to writing the dissertation. There are two culminating experiences for students to attain candidacy, each of which are designed to facilitate efficient progress on composing and defending the dissertation.

1. Completion of the final specialized independent readings course (aka “capstone” course) with the student’s Ph.D. chair (aka major professor).
2. Successful defense of one’s dissertation prospectus and one’s articulation of how their dissertation informs major themes/schools of thought in both the Political Science and History literature on Security Studies.

Requirement #1 will be completed through the capstone 985 or 986 independent readings course with the student’s Ph.D. chair. This course will entail:

• • finalizing the dissertation topic
  • deepening one’s reading in the fields that the dissertation research covers
  • assembling a bibliography of relevant secondary research on the dissertation topic
  • identifying a data set/archive of primary source documents that will be used in the dissertation research
  • finalizing a dissertation prospectus
  • drafting the addenda on the Political Science and History fundamentals to which the dissertation contributes

Exam Format

The exam focuses on two elements that determine one’s preparedness for candidacy:

1. The dissertation prospectus, which entails a written and an oral component:
   • Written: Students will circulate a full prospectus to the committee members. Required components of the prospectus are detailed below.
   • Oral: Committee members will direct questions, critiques, and commendations of the prospectus in the scheduled candidacy preparedness meeting.
2. Two addenda, which also entail a written and oral component:
   • Written: Students will attach as addenda to their prospectus two written documents, which link their proposed dissertation research topic to relevant literatures in Political Science and History. The addenda should not simply provide a literature review, but they should instead demonstrate the student’s ability to actively engage with and synthesize relevant literature.
     • Addendum A (Political Science): An essay that links the dissertation topic to two or three major Political Science-based theories covered in one’s coursework. Further details are found below.
     • Addendum B (History): An essay that links the dissertation topic to two or three major History-based theories covered in one’s coursework. Further details are found below.
   • Oral: Committee members will direct questions, critiques, and commendations of one of the addenda (according to their field of expertise) in the oral exam.

Preparing the Prospectus

The prospectus will include the following components:

• An introduction to the topic, in a way that is comprehensible to scholars both in your field and outside the field.
• Your research question and a discussion of its relevance
• Your proposed thesis, along with discussion of how it advances scholarly work on your research question in novel ways.
• A literature review of previous scholarly attempts to address your research question and how their methodology differs from your own.
• Discussion of your primary sources. For Political Science-based projects, this includes discussion of the data set(s) you intend to use. For History-based projects, this includes discussion of the archival materials you intend to use.
• An outline of your various chapters, replete with descriptions of how each chapter supports your thesis.
• A bibliography of relevant scholarly works pertaining to your research question.

The length of the prospectus will be around 4,000–5,000 words. There are ways to do this work more economically (3,000 words, for example). Students should solicit the input of their Ph.D. chair regarding what to include or exclude when writing the prospectus, as the Ph.D. chair ultimately determines the structure for the prospectus.

Preparing the Addenda

Each addendum will include the following components:

• It covers at least two major theoretical approaches that have heavily influenced how scholars (political scientists in Addendum A, historians in Addendum B) understand the student’s dissertation topic. These approaches will highly likely have been introduced during one’s coursework.
• While exposing these different theoretical approaches, each addendum will discuss three to five specific foundational texts (from political scientists in Addendum A, from historians in Addendum B), analyzing them as one would expect in a literature review.
• These foundational texts can be chosen in collaboration with the Ph.D. Chair and the other committee members. Members of the Political Science department should be consulted for Addendum A; members of the History department should be consulted for Addendum B.
  • • If a foundational text is already included in the literature review of the prospectus, such discussion may be briefer, building on the material found in the prospectus.
    • If a foundational text is not in the literature review, then the discussion of this text should be more thorough.

When discussing each foundational text, the focus should be on:

• In all cases, the discussion should establish how the student’s dissertation is fortified by this theoretical context.
• Additionally, if the dissertation uses a Political Scientist’s methodology, Addendum A must also articulate how the dissertation will verify, build on, partly refute, or amend a particular scholarly understanding of how a core Political Science-based theory operates.
• Additionally, if the dissertation uses a Historian’s methodology, Addendum B must also articulate how the dissertation will verify, build on, partly refute, or amend a particular scholarly understanding of how a core History-based theory operates.

Each addendum will comprise 1,500-4,000 words. The variance in size depends upon these factors:

• How much additional consideration of core texts is required beyond the prospectus’s literature review.
• Whether the dissertation intends to intervene in Political Science discourse (in which case Addendum A will be longer) or in History discourse (in which case Addendum B will be longer).

Conduct of the Oral Exam

The live oral exam will devote time to scrutiny of both the prospectus and the two addenda. Thus, each member of the Ph.D. committee is expected to devote time in his/her questioning to both these tasks.

The oral exam can be held only if the student has submitted all written materials (prospectus and addenda) to the committee members 30 days before the scheduled meeting. Since professors are not on contract during the summer months, the exam must take place during either the Fall or Spring semester.

The oral exam will take place either in-person or online, according to the preference of the student and the availability of the faculty. Committee members may individually elect to attend remotely.

The oral exam will last two hours.

The role of the major professor is as follows:

• The major professor presides over the meeting and allocates speaking/questioning time between the committee members in an equitable manner.
• The major professor plays a role equal to all other committee members in terms of assessment of both the prospectus and the addenda.
• As such, regarding the addenda, the major professor plays a role only in assigning a grade on either the Political Science or the History component, depending on one’s affiliation.
• Within this specific field of the comprehensive exam, the assessment of the major professor is equal to any other committee member(s) from the same department. If they are the lone representative of this department, then they alone assign the grade for that discipline.

Each committee member shall devote their questioning/critique in this manner:

• Members from the Political Science department should focus on both the prospectus and Addendum A.
• Members from the History department should focus on both the prospectus and Addendum B.
• Members from outside departments or from outside the university are not required to address the comprehensive exam materials, though they are welcome to. They are, however, required to address the prospectus.

Evaluating the exam

Together, the committee members will review the student’s achievements as found in the written prospectus, the two written addenda, and the proceedings of the live meeting to assess the student’s preparedness for candidacy.

To proceed to candidacy, the following criteria must be met:

1. The student’s performance on both addenda must be assessed as “passing.”

1. • The committee member or members from the Political Science department must deem that the degree of knowledge exhibited in this field reflects a level of proficiency befitting a scholar on the cusp of receiving a doctorate in Security Studies. This assessment will be made based on the cumulative material of both the prospectus and Addendum A.
   • The committee member or members from the History department must deem that the degree of knowledge exhibited in this field reflects a level of proficiency befitting a scholar on the cusp of receiving a doctorate in Security Studies. This assessment will be made based on the cumulative material of both the prospectus and Addendum B.
   • Committee members from outside departments or from outside the university will not have a vote on either the Political Science or the History material in the comprehensive exam
2. The student’s performance on the prospectus must be assessed as “passing.”

• • All committee members, including those from outside departments or from outside the university, will assess whether the knowledge exhibited in the prospectus reflects a significant scholarly contribution to the field that would warrant, if successfully produced in the dissertation, reception of a doctorate in Security Studies.

One of two grades will be assigned for each component of the exam (the prospectus, Addendum A, and Addendum B): Pass or Fail. There is an additional option in which a grade for one or more components is withheld.

In sum, the student must receive a grade of Pass on all three of these components to proceed to candidacy:

• The Political Science addendum
• The History addendum
• The prospectus defense

When faculty bestow a grade of Fail or withhold a grade on any exam component, the process detailed below should be followed.

Required revisions to the exam components

Committee members can require revisions to any of the documents reviewed before allowing the student to proceed to candidacy, regardless of what grading decision is made in the candidacy preparedness meeting:

When bestowing a grade of Pass:

• There may be cases in which the candidate is given grades of Pass on all three elements, but the committee still desires revisions to the written prospectus and/or to the addenda.
• As such, the committee can require these revisions, also prescribing the deadline for them. In the meantime, the committee can decide whether to hold the Preliminary Examination Ballot or to proceed with processing it.
• In cases where the committee requires revisions to one or both addenda, these revisions are circulated to the members of the Political Science or History departments for review, according to their field.
• In cases where the committee requires revisions to the prospectus, the committee can determine whether the full committee needs to review these revisions or whether they may be reviewed by the major professor alone.

The committee can opt to withhold grades for either addendum, the prospectus, or multiple of these grades. In this case:

• The period of withholding a grade can last for up to two months while the student’s materials are revised according to the recommendations of the committee.
• After the revision period, the committee can then decide:
  • • To assign a grade of Pass or Fail based on the student’s written revisions alone. The committee members relevant to the grade shall evaluate the resubmitted materials (Political Science faculty for Addendum A, History faculty for Addendum B, all committee members for the prospectus).
    • To require a second live meeting of the entire committee before assigning a grade of Pass or Fail.
    • After the revisions are received or evaluated, each of the three aspects will be graded as either Pass or Fail. There is no option for an additional revision round.

When bestowing a grade of Fail:

• A grade of Fail on any of the three parts ends the evaluation process for this round. The process will begin anew in the next semester. The Preliminary Examination Ballot will be submitted to the Graduate School with the failing grade.

• In the meantime, the student will significantly rework those parts that failed. Additional revisions can also be required to the parts that passed.
• A second failure of the exam is grounds for dismissal from the program.

The grades for all three components of one’s candidacy preparedness will be made available to the student and the Security Studies Director in a timely fashion.

• This can be done immediately at the conclusion of the meeting or at any time seven days thereafter.
• If the committee opts to require revisions while withholding a grade, this decision must also be made within seven days.
• The major professor will share the results of the candidacy preparedness assessment to the student as well as to the Director of Security Studies.