Graduate Courses

Term 1-2 | 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM | Friday (alternate weeks)

POLI 500 is a required class for 2^nd year PhD students in Political Science that is recommended for Political Science Master’s students.

This class is designed to help you recognize, articulate and enhance your academic skills, develop and apply self-awareness to complement those academic skills’ including learning about and practicing evidence-based professional and personal development skills which research shows can lead to greater motivation, output and success. These include developing your emotional intelligence and regulation, presentation and feedback communication skills, self-awareness of about potential barriers to realizing your academic and professional goals, and establishing actionable strategies and habits such as a regular writing practice. These competencies are designed to support your timely and successful completion of your research and other activities in your graduate program, and set you up for success in academic and non-academic careers.

The course will also explore career options for an M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science and have you practice tools for exploring possible careers. Class will meet every other week across Terms 1 & 2 as a 3-hour seminar and build a cohort environment where you receive feedback and support from your peers. The course is designed to provide you with the time, and a confidential and safe space, to work on your growth for credit rather than having to undertake such opportunities as additions to your existing workload. As such, class time will be provided to engage with core materials such as the videos and exercises from the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity’s Dissertation Success Curriculum, a program to which UBC subscribes to support graduate students in your professional growth.

Term 1 | 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM | Tuesday

Counts as core Canadian requirement

This is the graduate core course in Canadian politics. Its mandate is to familiarize students with both contemporary and enduring themes, methods and controversies in the study of Canadian politics and government. The course will consider institutions and processes as well as Canadian society, political culture and behaviour. For graduate students this serves as the ‘core course’, thus it is intentionally broad in focus. Topics discussed will include; federalism and the constitution, parliamentary government, political parties, elections, regionalism and nationalism, interest groups and social movements, bureaucracy, courts, rights and Canadian political thought.

The course will help students to identify possible research and thesis topics as well as prepare PhD students for comprehensive examinations in Canadian politics. Course readings are chosen to reflect the diversity of topics and approaches. Students will be graded on the basis of participation, seminar presentations, videotaped lectures, reading summaries and a term paper.

Term 1 | 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM | Monday

Counts as Canadian field requirement

Recent political developments in established democracies, from Brexit to the (re)-election of Donald Trump, have renewed attention to the politics of identity. In this course, we will examine the psychological underpinnings of group identity, and the circumstances under which group identity becomes politicized, affecting political behaviour. We will begin by covering key theories around the study of group identity and group-based political cohesion. We will then examine how different social identities influence political behaviour, including identities based in partisanship, nationality, race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, and place. Throughout the course, we will also critically analyze measures and methods used to capture identity in politics.

Term 1 | 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM | Mon

Counts as Canadian field requirement

This graduate seminar explores how behavioural science can improve public policy, with a comparative focus on Canadian challenges. We investigate how cognitive biases, social norms, and decision-making environments shape outcomes in key areas such as the economy, immigration, elections, and climate change. Emphasizing rigorous evaluation, especially randomized experiments, the course equips students to critically assess behavioural approaches and apply them in real-world contexts. Through engagement with contemporary literature and hands-on research design, students will build the skills and mindset needed for high-impact policy work and academic research.

Term 1 | 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM | Thursday

Counts as core Comparative requirement

POLI 511 is designed to: (1) assist doctoral students prepare to write the comprehensive field examination in comparative politics; (2) provide doctoral students with a sense of the breadth of the field, its intellectual history, and current challenges; (3) equip research-oriented students with the background necessary to assess the state of the art in comparative politics as a precursor to developing their own theses or thesis proposals; and (4) provide doctoral students with the background necessary to teach comparative politics. Master’s students are welcome, but the workload and academic requirements are commensurate with the needs of doctoral students.

The learning objectives for this course are that students will:

• Deepen and broaden their understanding of many of the common references and debates in contemporary comparative politics;
• Hone their skills to understand and critically engage with comparative politics scholarship, including texts using a range of qualitative methodologies;
• Create a foundation from which to build their own original theoretical arguments and research projects in comparative politics; and
  (where relevant) Significantly strengthen their preparation for the department’s PhD program comprehensive examination in the field of comparative politics by developing their own understanding of how elements of the field fit together.

Comparative politics is a sprawling and dynamic field of study, with ancient roots. The course examines current scholarship in light of the evolution of the field, and in relation to knowledge in other disciplines. Approaches to the study of comparative politics, and comparative politics as a method of analysis, will be examined. Topics vary modestly from year to year, but typically include such issues as: political order and change, constitutionalism and civic virtue, the sources of resistance and rebellion, culture and institutions, cooperation and social capital, democracy and authoritarianism, and transnational influences on domestic politics. Work will be discussed for both substantive findings and methodological contributions. Students will read some of the great books produced by the field in recent decades, as well as cutting-edge work from the journal literature.

Term 2 | 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM | Wednesday

Counts as Comparative course requirement

In the last few decades, North and South American as well as European countries have been reckoning with their past histories of slavery and genocide. Formal apologies have been made for the treatment of Indigenous peoples, Africans and others who were murdered, killed by disease, enslaved, and pushed off their land in the name of capitalism and empire. Colonialism and slavery were the beginnings of social and political processes that still have global impact. These are the foundations upon which nation-states were formed and are a critical component to understanding the politics of race and immigration policy today.

The study of the politics of race often focuses on the national level, particularly in the United States. This class will take a historical and transnational approach to understanding the origins of structural discrimination in North America, Latin America, and Europe, examining the connections to settler colonialism, enslavement, immigration and racial capitalism. Course materials and a focus on current events will allow students to examine current issues related to the conflation of immigration and race, including the impact on indigenous peoples, civil rights movements, reconciliation, and reparations. We will draw on works from political theory and critical race theory to provide background on the politics that have led to the current politics of race and immigration.

Term 2 | 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM | Wednesday

This course can count as either a US Politics field requirement or Comparative field requirement

This seminar offers a broad introduction to the major questions and research literature on US politics, with special attention to Trump-era governmental dysfunction and threats to democratic processes . Although it is required for Ph.D. students who will major or minor in U.S. politics, it primarily serves MA students, Ph.D. students who are specializing in other areas, and fourth-year undergraduates. An additional objective is to promote work on US-related topics among students specializing in comparative politics, international politics, or political theory.
The course surveys a wide range of areas: the Constitution, political development, Congress, the Presidency, courts, bureaucracy, political parties, interest groups, the media, elections and voting, public opinion, public policy, and the US in comparative perspective. We will give considerable attention to changes in the functioning of the US political system over recent decades—including issues of polarization, populism, racial tension, post-truth politics, and authoritarianism. In particular, we will address the severe and ongoing Trump-era attacks on democratic processes, the US political system's vulnerability to such attacks, and the politics of reform designed to defend and stabilize democratic processes.

Students may write their major paper (see below) either on a strictly US-focused topic or on a US-related topic in comparative politics, international politics, or political theory.

Term 1 | 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM | Tuesday

Counts as Comparative field requirement

This graduate seminar focuses on the policies that structure migration and migrants’ lives. We consider two sets of policies. The first concerns the rules, procedures, and barriers to entry into a state’s territory, spanning a host of legal statuses, including permanent admission, temporary visas and asylum. The politics of entry always entails policies of exclusion. Why do many advanced capitalist countries favor the free movement of goods, services, and capital, but balk at the free movement of people? Who is excluded, and why? What determines entry policy?

A second set of policies encompasses programs and laws related to integration. Integration involves membership, and thus we consider the laws and procedures to access citizenship. Citizenship generally ensures the fullest set of rights, the greatest security of residence, and clearest path to political voice. Beyond citizenship, integration policies can also include initiatives like refugee settlement programs or policies of multiculturalism. Comparatively, across both entry and integration policies, scholars debate whether countries are converging toward a common policy stance, and what drives convergence, or whether instead we find variation. How do ideas, institutions and interests drive entry and integration policy? This class is open to students outside of political science, and will draw on a range of interdisciplinary scholarship.

Term 1 | 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM | Thursday

Counts as Political Theory field requirement

This course explores foundational and contemporary approaches to Indigenous political thought, with a focus on critiques of settler colonialism and the politics of recognition. Central to our inquiry is Glen Coulthard’s Red Skin, White Masks, which challenges liberal multicultural frameworks and advances a vision of Indigenous resurgence rooted in self-determination and grounded normativity. We will examine how settler colonial power operates not only through the state, but across social, cultural, and economic formations. Drawing comparative connections between Turtle Island and Palestine, the course investigates how Indigenous struggles for land, life, and liberation challenge dominant political paradigms and offer alternative futures. Readings will engage Indigenous scholars, activists, and thinkers to deepen our understanding of sovereignty, resistance, and the decolonial horizon.

Term 1 | 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM | Wednesday

Counts as a Political Theory field requirement

This core field seminar introduces major themes and texts in the discipline of political theory. The course is designed to prepare PhD students for comprehensive exams and to give an overview of the field. We will begin with a deep reading of Plato’s Republic, and then move to the question: What is Politics? Once warmed up, we will discuss methodology before moving through thematic areas that bring together both historical and contemporary texts. These themes will include: democracy, conservatism, freedom, power, justice, diversity and identity, and feminism.

One goal in the course is to engage with texts that are illuminating, complex, and enjoyable. The other goal is for students to gain an understanding of the terrain of debates in the field. Texts will include selections from Plato, Hannah Arendt, Carl Schmitt, Quentin Skinner, Sheldon Wolin, J.J. Rousseau, Joseph Schumpeter, Juergen Habermas, Edmund Burke, Michael Oakeshott, Robert Nozick, Isaiah Berlin, Max Weber, Michel Foucault, John Rawls, Iris Marion Young, Judith Shklar, Charles Taylor, Frantz Fanon, W.E.B. Du Bois, Judith Butler, Seyla Benhabib, and Audre Lorde.

Term 2 | 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM | Thursday

This course is intended to provide a foundation in climate policy for non-experts from any discipline (including political science of course!). With participation of students from diverse disciplines, there will be ample opportunities to learn from each other. Concepts will include basics of climate science, approaches to policy analysis, domestic policymaking in the context of international climate negotiations, policy instruments for climate change mitigation (including consumer and industrial carbon taxes, emissions trading, subsidies, offsets) and adaptation policy.  Case studies will include building decarbonization, vehicle emissions, oil and gas production emissions, and protecting low-income renters in extreme heat. Students will complete applied policy analysis projects on topics of their choice (subject to instructor approval).

Term 2 | 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM | Thursday

Counts as Political Theory field requirement

This course will survey major interpretive and critical approaches to political inquiry including hermeneutics & interpretive social science, Critical Theory, Foucauldian genealogy, deconstruction, critical realism, and feminism. Substantive topics will include gender, racism, and Indigenous politics. It will provide an introduction to these approaches, but for the most part it will not be a “how to” methods course.

Karl Marx famously said, “The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point is to change it.” In so doing, he pinpointed a central point of contestation for students of politics and political actors: the tension between seeking to understand the political world and aiming to change it, particularly with respect to its oppressive aspects. Marx also set the tone for one approach to political criticism when he said that religion “is the sigh of the oppressed ... the opium of the people.” This remains a provocative challenge to how prevailing beliefs are shaped by prevailing relations of power; but it also remains at odds with how many people understand and enact their religious convictions.

Accordingly, some commentators have suggested that Marx wrongly counterpoised interpreting the world and working to change it. They contend that the aim of changing the world is integrally connected to that of adequately interpreting or understanding it. From this perspective, Marx’s criticism of religion fails to address sufficiently religion’s meaning and significance. Interpretive social scientists emphasize that political activity is thoroughly embedded in and shaped by people’s everyday languages and conceptions. From a hermeneutical interpretive perspective, efforts to explain political phenomena must be joined with efforts to comprehend what political agents understand themselves to be doing. That is, political inquiry must take account of the self-understandings of political agents. This does not mean, however, that political analysis comes to an end with agents’ self-understandings.

Arguably, Marx was right that prevailing relations of power, including forms of domination, shape people’s beliefs and self-conceptions just as people’s actions can shape prevailing institutions and relations of power.

Term 2 | 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM | Monday

Counts as Political Theory requirement

In politically turbulent times, democratic institutions once thought stable are under attack. Similarly, many rights long believed to be universal, unalienable, and necessary for democratic politics are questioned.

In this course, we explore and rethink some of the very foundations of democracy by asking: Who constitutes a demos in a democracy? Who is authorized to speak in the name of a democratic people? Who should have a hand in making the laws and policies that can affect others? How should citizens relate to one another, to their representatives, and to outsiders? What are the necessary conditions for democratic inclusion and what normative consequences do non-participation and exclusion have? What constitutional mechanisms can give ordinary citizens an effective role in democratic decision-making?

In asking such questions, this course aims to bring into conversation different ways of critically interrogating the very foundations as well as the future possibilities of democratic practices. In doing so, we interrogate the concept of democracy from a variety of normative, institutional, and theoretical perspectives. We will pay attention to some of the on-going as well as new debates in democratic theory and politics: debates over the promise and limits of political deliberation and representation; debates over the relationship between democracy and capitalism; debates over citizenship and who counts as a “people”; and debates over democratic responsibility.

Term 2 | 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM | Tuesday

Counts as an IR requirement

This course offers an examination of the plight and possibilities confronting relatively less powerful actors in the contemporary international environment. It will consider how global underdogs survive and even thrive in a world ostensibly defined by power, and the interests of those who wield it. Examining examples including but not limited to the role of small island states in global climate negotiations, the cooptation of global human rights regimes, and the tactics of rogue states, this course will map out and empirically support the range of strategies and policies employed by weak states.

In terms of organization, this semester will be divided into four parts. In part 1, we will explore relevant core concepts including power and sovereignty from a small state perspective, and develop an understanding of some of the challenges and opportunities confronting small and “weak” states, past and present. Part two will explore spaces and places of small and “weak” state influence in greater detail, including that derived from institutional roles, normative suasion, and (mutual) dependency.

Part 3 turns to specific examples in greater detail, examining historical and contemporary cases from both the Global South and Global North, ranging from ASEAN and small island states, to the minor European powers, to global rogue states such as Iran. Finally, in part 4, during the last two weeks of class students working in groups will have the opportunity to lead discussions regarding cases and phenomena of their own choosing.

Term 2 | 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM | Tuesday

Counts as an IR requirement

This is an introductory graduate seminar in international political economy. The primary audience is political science graduate students intending to take the qualifying exam and/or conduct further research in areas of international political economy. The goal of the course is to (1) give students a brief introduction to the large academic literature on international political economy, with the goal of helping them to prepare for the synthesis and analysis they will be required to carry out on the qualifying exam; (2) introduce students to a variety of research problems that animate current work in the field, so they can see and evaluate examples of how empirical research is actually conducted rather than just commenting on the classics or reading pure theory; and (3) initiate one or more of their own empirical research projects, to gain practical experience in elaborating a theoretical argument, drawing out testable implications, assembling and analyzing relevant evidence, and presenting the work in stages before colleagues.

Term 1 | 2:00 AM - 5:00 PM | Mon

Counts as International Relations field requirement

POLI 563A is a course on core issues in International Security, including interstate war, nuclear deterrence, intrastate war, and state failure. Students will be exposed to theoretical models and cutting-edge empirical work.

Term 1 | 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM | Wednesday

Counts as a Methods field requirement

This course is an introduction to qualitative research methods in contemporary Political Science. The course is structured as a survey of qualitative methods in research design, data creation, and data analysis. We will read about and discuss one method or topic per week with readings that focus on both methodological training and development and on applied examples of each method. We will briefly cover research ethics and decolonization, causal inference with qualitative data, setting up fieldwork, conducting interviews, political ethnography, process tracing, case studies, coding qualitative data, multi-method approaches, and writing qualitative analysis.

Each week will introduce students to a topic and students can expect to spend considerable time outside of class collecting data and implementing two of the surveyed methods over the course of the term. The assignments are structured to give students hands-on experience with research logistics and to push students to develop their skills in one qualitative data creation method and one qualitative data analysis method. Through the assignments, students will draft a Research Ethics application, write a research design, collect data, and analyze their data in a final paper.

The goals of the course are to 1) train students in at least one qualitative methods that they plan to use in their research with hands-on assignments; 2) give students the tools they need to learn new qualitative methods later in their careers; and 3) introduce students to the research logistics of Ethics applications, fieldwork, and relevant software. The logic of causal inference will also be present throughout the course as we ask how we know what we know, why we select the methods we use, how we justify our methodological choices to others, and how we evaluate evidence.

Term 1 | 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM | Friday

Counts as Methods field requirement

This course introduces basic statistical methods used in the study of political science, and the social sciences at large. Statistics are an efficient and accepted way of communicating ideas; they are a means of bridging the gap between implication and inference. Contemporary political science research in all subfields utilizes statistical techniques and, consequently, a basic understanding of these methods is crucial if one is to be a sophisticated consumer of political science literature and to become a producer of such research.

The lectures, homework, and exams are designed to instruct you in the understanding and proper use of social science methods and promote your critical analysis of statistical findings. Students will learn to describe data, understand the impact of randomness in statistical research, conduct statistical tests, and most importantly learn to evaluate the implications of quantitative results. Students will learn to compute most of the techniques discussed in class both “by hand” and “by computer”. We will also devote portions of the course to the use of statistical software and commonly used archival sources of political science data.

Term 2 | 2:00-5:00 PM | Friday

Counts as Methods field requirement

This course covers the basic principles of using statistics for causal inference in the social sciences. We focus on fundamental concepts in  causal inference then on least squares regression as a tool that we can use to estimate causal effects.

This course takes as its departure point, a view of statistics as one part of a social science that engages in severe testing of theories and claims (Mayo 2018). That is to say: using evidence that is capable of showing claims to be wrong and using evidence that has itself been probed/audited for possible errors. In short, this involves knowing and understanding the assumptions that underlie evidence, knowing when those assumptions are testable, knowing how to test for whether these assumptions are violated (and the implications of that), knowing how to argue for the plausibility of those assumptions, knowing how to relax these assumptions, knowing how to show robustness to making a variety of different assumptions.

The course is broken into four parts. First, we introduce core concepts of severity and causal inference, particularly they Neyman causal model (potential outcomes) framework. Second, we cover a variety of foundational approaches to solving the fundamental problem of causal inference. Third, we learn the basic linear algebra behind least squares and its interpretation as a way of estimating the conditional expectation function. Finally, we bring these two concepts together to derive the key assumptions required to draw both statistical and causal inferences using regression, and what to do when these assumptions are violated. This course assumes completion of POLI 572A (or similar course in basic mathematical statistics). While we will use some basic linear algebra, the course does not assume prior knowledge of this topic and the course will focus on practical applications of linear regression models.

In a broader sense, this course starts by giving you a grounding in the theory that undergirds statistical analysis and the assumptions that are required to use mathematical statistics to make inferences about the world. Then, in the last third of the course, we turn to applying these models to the real world and address how (1) we evaluate or judge whether the models of the assumption hold and (2) what we do when the assumptions are not reasonable.