Doctor of Philosophy in Cultural, Social, and Political Thought

The Cultural, Social, and Political Thought major in the Ph.D. program is interdisciplinary in nature. It is based on a cohort learning model that fosters an environment of interdisciplinary engagement and exchange, research, peer mentoring, and collaboration. The overall academic aims of the major are to emphasize the breadth and depth of social, cultural, and political thought and to inculcate the intellectual and practical tools needed to work successfully with community partners and agencies to facilitate social change. Students graduating from the Cultural, Social, and Political Thought major are trained experts, who demonstrate a range of professional skills (e.g., teaching, peer reviews, presentations, critical thinking, etc.) and research competencies. Graduates are capable of producing novel, relevant, and rigorous research that makes significant and substantive contributions to interdisciplinary knowledge.

This major is thesis-based. Students are required to complete 9.0 to 18.0 credit hours of graduate semester courses and a thesis.

This program is highly theoretical and interdisciplinary in nature and intended to ground students in a body of cognate critical theories and methodologies. Across disciplinary boundaries, the Cultural, Social, and Political Thought major emphasizes the critical engagement of ideas and their manifestation in shifting cultural, social, and political contexts.

The Cultural, Social, and Political Thought major in the Ph.D. program is interdisciplinary in nature and is based on a cohort learning model that fosters an environment of interdisciplinary engagement and exchange, research, peer mentoring, and collaboration among a small group of students, within a team-based learning experience.

The program consists of:

• Thesis
• Coursework
• Comprehensive examination

Students in this program have the opportunity to develop comprehensive expertise and advanced understanding of:

• Theoretical frameworks related to cultural, social, and political thought such as Feminism, Poststructuralism, Postmodernism, Settler Colonialism & Postcolonialism, Critical Theory, and Culture & History;
• The interdisciplinary area of cultural, social, and political thought. Research topics are not constrained but are likely to include such problems, issues, and concepts as gender, race, class, disability, sexuality, equality, citizenship, justice, power, and resistance;
• Relevant methodology and methods such as Discourse Analysis, Ethnography, and Qualitative Interviewing;

and advanced ability to propose, design, present, and disseminate original and relevant research in the interdisciplinary area of cultural, social, and political thought.