Political Science PhD Programs with an emphasis on Southeast Asia?

[kampachi]

Hello,

I'm keen on doing a phd in political science with a focus on Southeast Asia politics. More specifically, I'm interested in the fields of electoral, identity and development politics.

I'm considering schools in the US mainly, but there are really not many schools that have anything to do with Southeast Asia. What I've done so far is to look out for schools such as Cornell, WashU, UWisconsin-Madison while cross-referencing with the list of polsci faculty with thematic interests that matches mine. These schools are pretty competitive though and I'm really not sure about how my application is gonna stand.

A professor has suggested that I explore the option of first doing a masters in Southeast Asia studies, before applying to a polsci phd program.

Was wondering if anybody has any suggestions, either about schools in the US with a strong focus on Southeast Asia or alternatives that I could look into?

Would appreciate any advice very much. Thank you!

[Penelope Higgins]

You're not going to find any poli sci departments with a "strong focus" on SE Asia because few if any departments will have more than one scholar working on the region. You should instead be looking for departments with one good SE Asia person as well as some people who do work you find interesting on your substantive areas of interest. Off the top of my head, in addition to the departments you list, tenured faculty doing work on Southeast Asia at PhD granting departments include Dan Slater (Chicago) Richard Doner (Emory) Tuong Vu (Oregon) and Ben Smith (Florida).

[TheSquirrel]

Yeah, like Penelope said, you won't find many departments with more than one or two profs who specialize in SE Asia. Also, maybe it would be better if you market yourself more broadly in your personal statement, rather than limiting yourself to one region. That could increase your chances of admission.

That said, have you looked at McGill university , in Montreal, Canada? They have at least one prof working on SE Asia. His name is Erik Kuhonta.

[kampachi]

wow thanks guys. the info's really helpful.

yeah uchicago was one school i was looking up bcos of dan slater (he seems to be co-writing with everyone!). i hadn't looked up the other three schools Penelope Higgins suggested before this though, and I must say that it definitely gave me more options to think about.

TheSquirrel, im guessing you're studying at McGill? I've read Erik Kuhonta's works but I guess I never really considered Canadian universities. I know McGill is one of the top schools in the world for polsci, but where I come from unfortunately, US schools still get more recognition. I'm pleasantly surprised though that McGill has a Southeast Asia programme. If I do take the MA-PhD route instead of a direct PhD, McGill would be a consideration even though Montreal looks like a really cold place to live ha.

[northstar22]

I know this post was from a few months ago, but for what it's worth, Northern Illinois University's comparative program is focused mainly on Southeast Asia. I don't know if the school's location (suburban Chicago) would work for you, though.

[cafejc]

UC San Diego would be a great choice. There's a huge concentration of Asia scholars (mainly political science, but some economics/other fields) at the School of International Relations and Pacific Studies (IR/PS), which is next to the Political Science Department. Those faculty frequently advice the poli sci PhDs. See http://irps.ucsd.edu/faculty/faculty-directory/ .

[Penelope Higgins]

Not so great for Southeast Asia - the only tenure track there working on the region is Malesky, and though a smart guy, he's not exactly a senior scholar.

[mv0027]

There are others at IR/PS! Miles Kahler surely fits the bill as a "senior scholar." He isn't solely focused on SE asia but certainly knows the region well. There are also many economist that cover the region that are open to working with pol sci students (not sure if that helps with elections but maybe development politics). Plus, if you are interested in elections, Shugart is at UCSD....that man is brilliant!

If you are interested in SE asia I agree that UCSD is a great choice! I'm baised I went there....

[breaks0]

I thought Cornell was good (at least when Ben Anderson was there) and I thought they still were strong at least in other fields and that they still had someone in the department. But maybe that's changed. If you like post-structuralist approaches, James Scott is at Yale.

[Penelope Higgins]

Cornell has Pepinsky, who is great, but still junior.

[rogerfed]

Uiuc has matt winters.

[hupr]

Yale has James Scott and Cornell has Benedict Anderson...

[CookieJar]

You might try find those schools with a southeast asian studies program, then you can look at which professors they have in association with the polisci department.