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Waiting it out: Canadian Political Science Programs Fall 2012


icarus99

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You are speaking very sketchy. I do not know how a person who was admitted to phd program in political science can be such brave by saying that Rawls is garbage. the formulation of veil of ignorance by Rawls is very important in the sense of preparing new constitutions and also in the sense of negotiations....

Indeed, Habermas is also very important and I believe that you did not read Between Facts and Norms. I assume that you know about Rawls and Habermas from other books not from their own books...

I've read both of them. Again, influential does not = good. Legitimacy crisis is interesting but he backs himself into a wall with his whole discourse ethics/public sphere/communicative action thing. Assuming clearly bounded political communities and other forms of solipsism plague all political theories that have no theory of the international. And don't get me started on Rawls' figurative and ideal "Law of the Peoples" crap... how does that give us a politics or help us fight injustice in anyway? No wonder people don't take political theory seriously when this sort of crap dominates.

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I've read both of them. Again, influential does not = good. Legitimacy crisis is interesting but he backs himself into a wall with his whole discourse ethics/public sphere/communicative action thing. Assuming clearly bounded political communities and other forms of solipsism plague all political theories that have no theory of the international. And don't get me started on Rawls' figurative and ideal "Law of the Peoples" crap... how does that give us a politics or help us fight injustice in anyway? No wonder people don't take political theory seriously when this sort of crap dominates.

Actually, what Habermas says about mass media in the formation of public sphere in the globalization age is very important. Media's power of setting agenda limits the formation of a real publich sphere in which all interests can be represented. In a sense, media creates the public opinion and it orients the discussion and Habermas wonderfully explains this in Between Facts and Norms.

Indeed, Foucault is much better in the sense of creating a theory which explains what is going on in the world.

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Rawls IS garbage. And if you disagree, you definitely won't fair well at UVic. Popularity/notoriety do not translate directly into nuance or sophistication. Let me guess, you also enjoy Habermas...

Frankly, in my books, having the chutzpah to say "Rawls is garbage" ought to disqualify one from serious academic debate. There are lots of theorists and philosophers I have read over the years I disagreed with. I'd never say their work is "garbage." But this is an internet forum and I guess the "rules" are a little slippery. ;)

Anyway, yes, I like Rawls and I think political liberalism is rightfully the dominant philosophy of our age. As Fukuyama and others have more or less laid out, virtually all mainstream political debate is now over policy and not principle. That's a good thing.

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Sorry for the late response. I was waiting for my offer from Carleton to back-up what I wanted to say. Definitely depends on the program, but at the masters level the funding tends to be more TA/RA positions. Carleton's offer to me is the equivalent of a fully funded masters (though maybe not living as comfortable as some would desire) - so it is possible! I am under the impression, though, that Carleton tends to be quite generous in that regard.

I do agree that Carleton is on the generous side. It tends to offer at least some funding, whereas some universities might offer close to nothing. It kind of depends on the department though...

Also, just a little note on the Rawls discussion: it's leading the thread a bit off topic so maybe the Political Science forum may be more appropriate for that :)

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Does anyone have experience going from a Criminology/Sociology undergrad to a Political Science MA program and have any suggestions about the transition? I am deciding between a couple programs, but am nervous about how difficult the transition will be without the background of a Poli Sci BA.

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Does anyone have experience going from a Criminology/Sociology undergrad to a Political Science MA program and have any suggestions about the transition? I am deciding between a couple programs, but am nervous about how difficult the transition will be without the background of a Poli Sci BA.

I went from a BA in English/Education to a MA in Political Science last year. I had a lot of theory and reading to catch up on the first couple of weeks but I brought different perspectives to discussions. I think as long as you are willing to do some extra reading over the summer or during your first few months, you will do just fine anywhere! Go with the school that you are most excited about - not the safest one!

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This is random, but I'm also applying for Poli Sci MA programs this year and I was wondering if somebody could direct me to any admission statistics (how many people apply/get rejected/get admitted)? I've applied to UWO, McMaster, York and Toronto.

I've looked everywhere (i.e. Google) and can't seem to find admission statistics anywhere.

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I went from a BA in English/Education to a MA in Political Science last year. I had a lot of theory and reading to catch up on the first couple of weeks but I brought different perspectives to discussions. I think as long as you are willing to do some extra reading over the summer or during your first few months, you will do just fine anywhere! Go with the school that you are most excited about - not the safest one!

Thank you very much for the insight!

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This is random, but I'm also applying for Poli Sci MA programs this year and I was wondering if somebody could direct me to any admission statistics (how many people apply/get rejected/get admitted)? I've applied to UWO, McMaster, York and Toronto.

I've looked everywhere (i.e. Google) and can't seem to find admission statistics anywhere.

I've looked for this too. Grad programs seem to be very adamant about disclosing these stats and I have not found any concrete answers to this either. I don't know if these stats are even available through the internet. By browsing through the forums, I've seen people contacting the department directly to find out about past trends. If this is something really important to you, contact the department, I'm sure they would be able to give you more information.

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I emailed McGill last Friday (about the MA decisions) and yesterday they replied saying that applications are currently under review, the committee will convene on March 21st and make final decisions, and that they will be released in the days following the 21st! Up until early April. Eeeek!

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I emailed McGill last Friday (about the MA decisions) and yesterday they replied saying that applications are currently under review, the committee will convene on March 21st and make final decisions, and that they will be released in the days following the 21st! Up until early April. Eeeek!

That's great news! I'll be waiting impatiently til then... Thanks for the info! :)

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