The department offers the following guidelines for comprehensive exams in the subfields of Theory, American, Comparative, International Relations, Quantitative Methods, and Formal Theory.

  • The Exam Period for all subfields is one or two days, with continuous blocks not to exceed 8 hours each.
  • Each year the department chair will appoint one person in each subfield to coordinate exams in that field, on a rotating basis.
  • Exams will be offered once a year during the month of September. Re-takes are scheduled for December. 
  • Subfields will retain autonomy over all aspects of the exam process not specifically addressed above.

The rules for each specific sub-field exam can be found below.