Graduate
Race and Ethnic Politics
Conceptions of race and ethnicity shape political attitudes, behavior, institutions, and ideas and are central to power relations. The Race, Ethnicity and Politics (REP) subfield places these conceptions, their origins and consequences, at the center of their research. Scholars specializing in REP study political identity, attitudes and behavior, public policy and law, inequality and criminal justice, political institutions, among other topics, and also explore theoretical approaches to conceptions of race and ethnicity in relation to gender, citizenship, immigration, empire and colonialism.
Students who opt for the REP first minor must do their second minor in one of the Department’s subfields: American politics, Comparative politics, International Relations, Political Theory, Women and Politics, Public Law, Methods.
Race, Ethnicity, and Politics Courses
Faculty
Nikol Alexander-Floyd (Women & Politics)
Cynthia Daniels (Women & Politics)
Elena Gambino (Political Theory)
Curriculum
Formal Requirements
Students who wish to pursue a first minor in REP must complete the following requirements:
16: 790: 636 Race, Theory, and Methods in Political Science:
This course examines the concepts of race and ethnicity methodologically and provides an overview of the major theories and empirical approaches to the study of race, ethnicity, and politics. In this course, the objectives are to understand and analyze major theories of intergroup attitudes; identify different methodological approaches to the study of race and ethnicity; and critically analyze and recognize the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches given your own research questions. Areas of research design, measurement, and analytical approaches serve as the focal points of the course design. What does it mean to choose a census racial and ethnicity box? Are there other methodological ways of getting at race and ethnicity and ultimately what it means for people? What role does the researcher’s race/ethnicity play in research design and analysis? How does the social construction of race and ethnicity influence how researchers measure race and ethnicity? What are the appropriate methodological choices given your own research question(s)?
790:637 Immigration Politics:
The Politics of Belonging: US Immigration Politics and Policy Immigration in the United States has been and continues to be about delineations of boundaries, of belonging. By definition, immigration delimits American national identity; however, it does so by defining it as a cultural notion. American-ness is a cultural identity, one that is explicitly descriptive about who belongs and who does not belong. Immigration not only defines the boundaries of American citizenship racially, but it also defines it in relation to the boundaries of the American nation-state. From its inception, the
16: 790:638 Race/ethnicity, Gender, and the U.S. Party System
This course examines party scholarship related to race/ethnicity and gender. It asks how U.S. political parties are implicated in the creation and reproduction of race/ethnicity, gender, and their intersection and asks whether party research is sufficiently attentive to inequality.
16:790 660 Intersectional Political Theories: Race, Gender, and Sexuality
This course situates the specific theoretical paradigm of “intersectionality” within and among currents in political theory more broadly. By encouraging conversation between intersectional writings and currents in the broader context of feminist political theory, we will explore the ways that intersectionality has been claimed, transposed, broadened, and appropriated by a wide variety of political thinkers beyond its “origins” in Black and Third World feminisms.
Students are required to take two additional REP courses:
EXISTING COURSES
Introduction to Race and Ethnic Politics in the United States – Greene/Matos [Am Pol]
Immigration in American Politics – Matos [ Am Pol]
Gender, Race, and Parties – Sanbonmatsu [ W&P]
Black Feminist Theory – Alexander-Floyd [ W&P}
Inter-Racial Politics in the United States
Race and American political Institutions
Race, crime, and punishment in American Politics
Examinations
Ph.D. students must pass a comprehensive exam in their major field of study and their first minor field. Both the major and minor examinations are given twice a year, usually over a week's time in November and April. The dates of examinations are announced at least a month in advance, at which time students are asked to inform the Graduate Department of their intention to take these tests, along with a statement of the field and sub-field to be taken. In announcing their intentions, students are responsible for adhering to the following regulations:
The written examinations are constructed by all faculty in the field and graded by three-person committees. The major and the minor exams may be taken in the same semester or in consecutive semesters, typically starting in the semester following the completion of the 48th credit. Both must be taken by the end of the third year of graduate study. Students entering the program with a masters degree in hand will typically begin taking their exams in their 4th semester at Rutgers.
- The minor exam from all subfields will be offered on one day, announced early in the semester. The exam lasts 8 hours but may be taken anywhere the student prefers. Questions and completed essays can be distributed and turned in via email. In fact, students must turn in an electronic word version of their essays to the graduate office, where they will be saved for at least five years. Students can use any aids they want during the exam, including books, articles, electronic versions of notes, pre-written exam answers, and whatever printed documents they can find on the internet. The only thing that is not permitted is help from other people, including artificial Intelligence (AI) and email messages written during the exam.
- The major exam is comprised of both a written and an oral examination. The written portion of the major exam from all subfields will be given on the same day, typically one week after the minor exam. The oral portion of the exam is normally scheduled within two weeks of the written exam. Students cannot pass or fail the major exam based on the written portion of the exam alone, both the written and oral portions of the exam matter. [If, however, (a) all three members of the reading committee agree that the written portion of the exam is of such poor quality that it cannot possibly be "saved" by an oral exam, and (b) the student concurs, then the oral portion of the exam need not be taken.] Questions on the major exam should be field-integrative: that is, they should ask students to go beyond the material that was covered in any particular seminar they may have taken. The written portion of the major exam lasts 12 hours and may be taken anywhere. Questions and completed essays are distributed and can be turned in via email. Students can use any aids they want during the written exam, including books, articles, electronic versions of notes, pre-written exam answers, and whatever printed documents they can find on the internet. The only thing that is not permitted is help from other people, including artificial Intelligence (AI) and email messages written during the exam. Students have none of these aids available to them during the oral exam, however. Examiners typically ask a student to elaborate on his or her responses from the written exam, to probe the student's ability to defend and elaborate his or her ideas in greater depth and detail. But the oral exam may also ask a student question from the written exam that the student had not answered and/or other general questions about the subfield. As with the minor exam, students must submit an electronic word version of their essays to the graduate office when they turn in their major exam.
If any student fails an exam, they have one more opportunity to take the exam - presumably, the next time the exam is offered. Students who pass one of their exams but fail the other do not have to repeat both exams - just the one they failed.
Students successfully passing both major exams may apply to the graduate school for a master's degree in political science. There are no additional requirements for obtaining this degree, and while it is not particularly useful, it is free. Master’s Degree without Thesis | Rutgers School of Graduate Studies
PhD program
The PhD program provides cutting-edge training in a supportive environment. Our approach is methodologically pluralistic, encouraging the use of both quantitative and qualitative approaches to research. Classes are small and students work closely with faculty in their field, who often co-author articles with their students, in addi-tion to providing mentorship throughout students’ own research.
All students who are admitted to the program are offered funding packages that cover tuition expenses and a combination of fellowship stipends and positions as teaching assistants (TAs) or research assistants (GAs) to provide living expenses. Funding is limited, and so we also admit students who are supported by outside scholarships.
Being located within easy reach of New York, Trenton, Newark, Philadelphia and Washington, the program has extensive resources for pursuing advanced studies and research in politics. Rutgers is a member of the Inter-University Doctoral Con-sortium, which allows our graduate students to take courses at other universities in the area, including Columbia University, New York University, the New School, and Princeton University.
