Welcome!
2019-20 School Year
Two-year MA Program in Political Science
Topics to Be Covered
Who’s Who
Calendar
Diploma requirements
Sample study plan
Faculty & Supervision Interests, Mentorship
Certificate programs
Course readers, communication
Student representatives
Departmental office
Q&A
Who’s Who
Head of Department
Zoltan Miklosi Associate Professor
Office Budapest: Nador. Str. 9, FT 803
Office Vienna: Quellenstrasse 51, B110
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 36-1-327-3000/2569
MA Program Director
Attila Folsz Assistant Professor
Office Budapest: Nador. Str. 9, FT 807
Office Vienna: Quellenstrasse 51, B110
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 36-1-327-3000/2074
Who’s WhoAdministrative Staff
Eva Lafferthon Department Coordinator
Office Budapest: Nador. Str. 9, FT 808
Office Vienna: Quellenstrasse 51, B111
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 36-1-327-3078
Ildiko Tropa MA Program Coordinator
Office Budapest: Nador. Str. 9, FT 808
Office Vienna: Quellenstrasse 51, B111
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 36-1-327-3416
Fax: 36-1-327-3087
Borbala Darabos MA Program Coordinator
Office Budapest: Nador. Str. 9, FT 808
Office Vienna: she is present only in Budapest
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 36-1-327-2789
Calendar
Pre-session (September 2 – 6) – Budapest
Prepare for the semester:
- get to know CEU facilities like the computer system and the library;
- attend orientation sessions;
- start thinking about what classes to register for;
- mandatory Scope and Methods class at 11.00 today;
- mandatory Academic Writing courses;
- Math Refresher classes;
- General Knowledge Test at 13.00 on September 3.
For further details see the departmental schedule at
https://politicalscience.ceu.edu/course-schedules
Calendar
Zero Week (September 10- 14) – Budapest
- One introductory class from each course (try to attend all these classes and check out the cross-listed courses);
- Welcome Reception - September 12, Thursday at 4 pm in the Nador 13 Rooftop Garden
- Opening Ceremony at 5 pm, on September 13, Friday
CalendarFall term, 2019 (September 16 – December 6) – Budapest & Vienna
- Take five mandatory courses, remedial course if required, academic writing,and quantitative methods course;
- Sep 28-29: students from departments/schools with fall term in Vienna depart for Vienna.
Winter break (December 7 – January 6)
- No exams, just holidays! (but final papers).
Winter term (January 7 – March 27) – Budapest
- Take two mandatory courses + elective courses.
Spring term (March 30 - June 12) – Budapest
- Special elective courses held by visiting faculty.
Fall term 2020
- Take missing mandatory course (if any), choose a mandatory elective course and take elective courses (register at least for 8 ECTS);
- Thesis writing.
Winter and Spring term 2021
- Take elective courses (register at least for 8 ECTS).
Calendar
Thesis scheduling
2020
- March 5-6: Thesis writing workshop - attend only
- March 8: Thesis questionnaire submission (choose topic and supervisor)
- April 9: Thesis topic and abstract (approx. 500-word)
- April 27: Detailed thesis proposal (approx. 2,500-words) including
milestones/deliverables
- May 28: First draft of an introductory/theory chapter (of approx. 5,000 words)
- June 5: Thesis writing workshop - present first chapter
- Summer, 2020: Individual fieldwork/analysis
- Sept.-Oct.: Thesis draft consultation with Center for Academic Writing
- October 5: Second draft: Intro + Fieldwork/analysis chapter (50% of the thesis. apr. 8,000
words)
Calendar
2021
- February 10: Revised/expanded fieldwork/analysis chapters (2/3 of the thesis, approx.
12,000 words)
- March 4-5: Thesis writing workshop - present most interesting part
- May 3: 15,000-word full draft
- May 27: 18,000-word final thesis
- May 31 – June 2: Defense + oral exams
Calendar
Graduation Ceremony
June, 2021
Diploma requirements
I. Complete mandatory and elective credits in courses in two years, earn 100 ECTS credits,
which
1. HAVE TO include
Scope and Methods (Fall)- 4 ECTS
and
Introductory courses (mandatory)
- Academic Writing (Fall) - 0 ECTS
- Remedial courses (Fall) - Depending on educational background, you will be
contacted directly via email
Foundational theoretical and methodological courses (mandatory courses)
- Foundations of Political Philosophy (Fall) – 4 ECTS
- Comparative European Politics (Fall) – 8 ECTS
- Political Economy I (Fall) – 4 ECTS
- Introduction to Political Communication (Winter) – 8 ECTS
Diploma requirements
Core discipline mandatory courses
- Constitutionalism and Democracy (Fall) – 8 ECTS
- Multivariate Statistical Analysis* (Winter) – 8 ECTS
- Thesis Writing – total of 4 ECTS
Mandatory Electives (choose one out of six, recommended in the second year)
- Concepts in Political Economy/ Political Economy II – 8 ECTS
- Introduction to Political Theory: Justice and Equality/ Political Theory – 8 ECTS
- Comparative Politics / Comparative Political Research – 8 ECTS
2. include elective courses offered or cross-listed by the department and...
3. MAY include:
8 ECTS offered by the Department of International Relations or the School of Public Policy;
8 ECTS of any other courses offered at CEU without permission;
and/or 8 ECTS in PhD-level political science courses, with a permission of the doctoral committee and the department. Such a request must be sent to ds(at)ceu.edu AND polsci(at)ceu.edu.
II. Defend a thesis
*Multivariate Statistical Analysis
You will have to take the Multivariate Statistics course in the Winter semester –
this course requires some background knowledge in statistics. This course has a
prerequisite of
passing the Introduction to Statistics course in Fall. Attending the classes
should give you the proper background necessary for Multivariate Statistics.
Sample study planFall 2019
Academic Writing
Foundations of Political Philosophy (Fall) – 4 ECTS
Comparative European Politics (Fall) – 8 ECTS
Political Economy I (Fall) – 4 ECTS
Research Design and Techniques [Scope and Methods] (Fall) – 4 ECTS
Introduction to Statistics (Fall) – 4 ECTS
Constitutionalism and Democracy (Fall) – 8 ECTS
Winter 2020
Introduction to Political Communication (Winter) – 8 ECTS
Multivariate Statistical Analysis* (Winter) – 8 ECTS
+ Elective courses 8 - 12 ECTS
Sample Study planFall and Winter 2020/21
One of the following courses
Concepts in Political Economy (Fall)
Political Economy II (Winter)
Introduction to political theory: Justice and Equality (Fall)
Political Theory (Winter)
Comparative Politics (Fall)
Comparative Political Research (Winter)
+ Elective courses (at least 8 ECTS in each teaching term)
Take mandatory thesis writing courses (altogether 4 ECTS starting in Winter 2020)
Faculty & Supervision InterestsFaculty mentors:
After your arrival at CEU, you can choose a personal mentor from among the faculty, whom you can always consult with any kind of issue related to your studies.
Check the faculty profiles at https://politicalscience.ceu.edu/faculty and signal three professors whom you would like to have as a mentor in this survey until Sep 8, 2019: https://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/5168339/Select-a-Mentor-2019-20
Mentors will be distributed on a first come, first serve basis, as each faculty member can mentor 3-4 students, based on their availability.
The MA Welcome Reception is a good opportunity to make contact with your mentor, and otherwise you should just email them or pop in during their office hours when you want to meet them.
N. B.: Mentorship is voluntary and informal, and not related to thesis supervision.
Besides courses, you will also need to write a thesis, therefore pick a thesis supervisor by Mar 8, 2020: http://politicalscience.ceu.hu/research-interests
Students are expected to work closely with their approved supervisor during their thesis writing.
Certificate programs
Basic idea
In the course of your studies for an MA in Political Science
you can, if you so wish, specialize in a field of your choice,
and receive from the department – in addition to your MA
diploma – a certificate proving this.
Certificate programs
Available programs in 2019/20
- Social and Political Theory
- Comparative Politics
- Political Economy
- Political Communication
- Electoral Politics
- Research Methodology
- Comparative European Politics
- Post-Communist Politics
- Public Policy
- Constitutional Politics
Certificate programs
Requirements
you will earn at least 40 ECTS (20 CEU credits) in courses related to
the given specialization,
receive a B+ or better grade in each course and
write your MA thesis on a topic related to the given specialization.
The list of courses belonging to each specialization will be available
through the departmental website
(https://politicalscience.ceu.edu/certificates).
Course readers, communication
Course readers
The readers for all the courses are available in electronic form. You will get
information on them via e-mail. Please check also CEU's e-Learning site:
http://ceulearning.ceu.edu
Communication
Primary communication is via email (polsci [at] ceu.edu). It is your duty as a
student to check your CEU email regularly (at least daily) and respond
promptly to all departmental requests.
If you receive regular mail it will be delivered to the secretariat and an e-
mail notification will be sent to you.
Student Representatives As MA students of the Department of Political Science, you have the right to vote
and the right to be elected as a representative to the Student Union of the MA
students.
You are to elect your representative and his/her deputy.
Representatives will be invited to dept. meetings to take part in decisions.
Representatives can also take up positions in various university bodies.
As of the rights and obligations of students and their representatives, please visit
the site of the CEU Student Union http://www.ceu.edu/studentlife/student-union
Please send a short statement that you would like to run as a candidate to the
departmental email (polsci(at)ceu.edu) by Monday, September 9. There are no
other requirements for nominations, and we will circulate these statements to all.
Election date and time will be announced later on. (Please note that MA1 students
will elect their own representative so there will be two elections.)
Departmental office
Our offices have an open-door policy.
Please visit the Secretariat on work days between 9:30 -16:30, if possible.
Location: Office Budapest: Nador. Str. 9, FT 808
Office Vienna: Quellenstrasse 51, B111
Central e-mail address: polsci [at] ceu.edu
Q&A