Security Studies (Ph.D.)

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

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 Graduate School 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.

Doctoral degree requirements

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 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 911 - Historical Approaches to Security Credits: (3)
HIST 912 - Historical Methods in Security Studies Credits: (3)

2. The Political Research Sequence.

This sequence also consists of two courses. The first, Research Design and Qualitative Methods, 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, will introduce students to the statistical tools used by political scientists studying international security issues.

POLSC 900 - Advanced Research Methods I Credits: (3)
POLSC 901 - Advanced Research Methods II Credits: (3)

3. The final PhD-level required course

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 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.

HIST 985 - Readings in History Credits: (1-3)
or
POLSC 785 - Readings in Political Science Credits: (3)

Notes

The other fifteen hours of coursework will be elective courses chosen in consultation with the Ph.D committee 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.