Graduate Courses

Below you will find descriptions for courses offered in this field of study. You will find a general overview of the topics covered and any prerequisite course(s) or grade requirements, credit value and exclusions.

Some courses are listed as exclusionary to one another. This means that students may not take both courses for academic credit. Graduate courses which have undergraduate exclusions may be co-located (delivered in parallel). Some courses are restricted to enrollment in specific graduate programs, or may require instructor/graduate coordinator permission to register.

Not all courses are offered each year, and offerings may be cancelled in the event of low registration. Please consult the current timetable for this year's offering. For further information, please contact the program.

Course Descriptions

Courses offered by the Department are organized into four fields, as follows:

  • Canadian Politics
  • Comparative Politics
  • International Relations and Foreign Policy
  • Political Theory

Each field (with the exception of Political Theory) contains courses offered as core graduate seminars, and specialized sub-field courses.  In addition, directed reading courses may be arranged on an individual or small group basis with appropriate faculty members. Reading courses are particularly appropriate in areas closely related to a student's thesis research and are often offered by a student's thesis supervisor.

Note: Not all courses are offered every year. Please consult the current timetable for this year’s offerings.

Canadian Government and Politics

Core Graduate Seminars:

  • POLI 5207.03: Advanced Seminar in Canadian Politics

Sub-field Courses

  • POLI 5221.03: Canadian Parties in Comparative Perspective
  • POLI 5232.03: Urban Governance in Canada
  • POLI 5234.03: Canadian Urban Politics in Comparative Perspective
  • POLI 5240.03: Introduction to Public Policy
  • POLI 5241.03: Introduction to Policy Analysis
  • POLI 5242.03: Politics of Reason, Passion, and Biology
  • POLI 5250.03: Canadian Public Administration
  • POLI 5260.03: The Politics of Health Care

Comparative Politics

Core Graduate Seminars:

Sub-field Courses:

  • POLI 5302.03: Comparative Development Administration
  • POLI 5303.03: Human Rights and Politics
  • POLI 5322.03: The EU as a Global Actor
  • POLI 5355.03: Comparative Perspective on the Development State
  • POLI 5345.03: Politics of Southern Africa
  • POLI 5380.03: Politics of Climate Change

Political Theory and Methodology.

Sub-field Courses:

  • POLI 5403.03: Human Rights: Philosophical Issues
  • POLI 5440.03: The Politics of Affect: Theories of Emotion and Political Life
  • POLI 5450.03: Political Theories of International Ethics and Global Justice
  • POLI 5466.03: The Social and Political Constructions of Health and Medicine
  • POLI 5479.03: Classical Liberalism and Democracy
  • POLI 5481.03: Theories of Violence, Persecution and Genocide

International Relations and Foreign Policy

Core Graduate Seminars:

  • POLI 5523.03: International Relations Theory 1: Order, Conflict and Change
  • POLI 5524.03: International Relations Theory 2: Cooperation, Institutions and Development

Sub-field Courses:

  • POLI 5532.03: Indigenous Global Politics
  • POLI 5550.03: Japanese Foreign Policy
  • POLI 5560.03: Issues in Global Security and Development
  • POLI 5561.03: Security Development Nexus; Theory, Policy & Complex Operations
  • POLI 5565.03: Contemporary Security Studies
  • POLI 5569.03: Canadian Foreign Policy
  • POLI 5575.03: Nuclear Weapons and Arms Control in World Politics
  • POLI 5581.03: International Diplomacy: Institutions and Practices
  • POLI 5587.03: International Political Economy
  • POLI 5589.03: Politics of the Sea II

Research Seminar

  • POLI 5100.03:  Research Methods and Design

Directed Reading Courses

Graduate students taking directed reading courses register under one of the following designations, depending on whether the course extends for the first term, the second term, or the full academic year:

Thesis

Students register for the thesis under the appropriate designation, as follows: