2nd Field

[peternewman89]

I'll be starting a PhD in the fall with 5 years of funding.  My primary field is Political Theory.  That's what I want to teach and study and do.  I know, however, that I also need to have a second field, both to make me more marketable down the line and due to program requirements.  At this point I'm leaning towards American, but my undergrad experience in anything other than theory was fairly limited and I'm at something of a loss.  I have essentially no quantitative experience, and really just don't know what academic study of the other fields focuses on or entails.  Any help just wrapping my head around the other subfields of Political Science and getting an idea of what graduate study in that as a secondary field would be like would be great.

[Cesare]

I also have a similar question. My primary field is IR, but coming from a European background where a lot of Political Theory is included with IR Theory I am now confused as to what my secondary field(s) should be. I originally wanted to do comparative and/or methodology because my research interests require knowledge of these fields, but I am now considering Political Theory because I've been checking out a lot of schools (even those I didn't apply to) and I've noticed that a lot of people who teach Political Theory in the US would be teaching IR Theory in Europe. Obviously, I really like theory, but I don't know how "marketable" it is to be an IR theorist in the US. Can any IR person that is VERY familiar with the way IR is taught in the US (i.e. someone who has done more than just undergrad in the US) can provide insight as to what a good secondary field should be for someone interested in theory? If you can answer this without discussing the philosophy of science, it will be a major plus.

Edited March 18, 2013 by anxiousphd

[PoliSwede]

I think that this is a tough question for someone else to answer. Ideally, your research interests should guide the subfields that you eventually select. For example, my main specialization is war and conflict, but I am also interested in low-intensity conflicts such as protests and and social movements. It is therefore rather natural for me to pick IR and CP as my two subfields.

 

As for what makes a political theorist "marketable", I really don't know. I know of Political Theorists who do both American and CP and they seem to be doing fairly well with that.

[eponine997]

You have some time (usually).  Your research interests may change considerably once you start your program; its hardly something they'd expect you to know on your first day.  Unless you are using this (your second field) to decide between programs, I honestly wouldn't worry about it at all right now.  Your actual experience in graduate coursework will provide you with a clearer picture of which second field is most appropriate for you much moreso than anyone on some anonymous forum ever can.  

What Lemeard said, this is a tough question for someone else to answer, though the most appropriate person would probably be your advisor.