Open-minded political theory programs?

[simonluo]

I am planning to go for a Ph.D program in theory Fall 2015. Actually I am now doing Marxism, but it seems that few departments in the States welcome this interests. I was wondering if any of you guys know some programs that are more open-minded, or that allows students more freedom to do researches on their own?

 

I am now expecting my M.A. in theory in NYU Politics.

 

Thank you so much. 

[joesephsci]

I am planning to go for a Ph.D program in theory Fall 2015. Actually I am now doing Marxism, but it seems that few departments in the States welcome this interests. I was wondering if any of you guys know some programs that are more open-minded, or that allows students more freedom to do researches on their own?

 

I am now expecting my M.A. in theory in NYU Politics.

 

Thank you so much. 

UMASS Amherst. The program is not rated high overall, but it used to be top 15 in theory, so i assume its still not too bad. If Marxism is your thing, this is definately one of the places you want to check out. Their economics department is known more for being Marxist than political science dept, but you will meet people who will shar your interests.

[simonluo]

UMASS Amherst. The program is not rated high overall, but it used to be top 15 in theory, so i assume its still not too bad. If Marxism is your thing, this is definately one of the places you want to check out. Their economics department is known more for being Marxist than political science dept, but you will meet people who will shar your interests.

 

Thanks man. I do know about UMASS Amherst, also York University in Canada, both of which excellent in Marxism.

 

The thing is that I may go back to China to find a teaching job, and China is strangely obsessed with overall reputation of the university rather than the program, so I will definitely apply for UMASS and York, but I may also have to prepare for some better-ranked ones.

 

Thank you very much.

[hj2012]

New School immediately comes to mind, but they're also known for poorly funding their students. Perhaps Columbia, Hopkins or Minnesota? From what I know, Marxist perspectives are not as common in political science as they are in other fields, like Literature, Philosophy or Sociology. If you're firmly committed to doing work on Marx, you might also want to check out some interdisciplinary programs like Duke Literature, Chicago Committee on Social Thought or Stanford MTL.

[cooperstreet]

What political theorists do you like that do marxism? Check their programs.

[makeitstopalready]

Syracuse has a small political theory program, but depending on your strain of Marxism, but may be worth considering. Check out the work of Mark Rupert, who is concerned with Marx (and Gramsci) from an IR perspective.

[mockingjay634]

Not to be a downer but if you are at all considering to get a job in the American market, it would be extremely difficult to get a placement with theory as your first field. Barely any jobs searches available for those specialists.

 

Just to put this into consideration - a lot of theorists wish they knew this when they started.

[Whatishistoryanyway]

New School immediately comes to mind, but they're also known for poorly funding their students. Perhaps Columbia, Hopkins or Minnesota? From what I know, Marxist perspectives are not as common in political science as they are in other fields, like Literature, Philosophy or Sociology. If you're firmly committed to doing work on Marx, you might also want to check out some interdisciplinary programs like Duke Literature, Chicago Committee on Social Thought or Stanford MTL.

 

I've been warned that Chicago's Committee on Social Thought is gradually moving more to the right. And if you look at their faculty page, it looks as if the vast majority work on something related to ancient civilizations. I'm not sure this program is necessarily something simonlou would be interested in.

[hj2012]

I've been warned that Chicago's Committee on Social Thought is gradually moving more to the right. And if you look at their faculty page, it looks as if the vast majority work on something related to ancient civilizations. I'm not sure this program is necessarily something simonlou would be interested in.

 

Hah, good point. I've always just associated the Committee on Social Thought with a number of folks who work on Chinese philosophy and thought, and that's why I brought it up. 

[cooperstreet]

also characterizing marxist political theory as 'open-minded' and other types of political theory as 'not open minded' is a unfortunate way to go about learning political theory.

 

And seconding what everyone said about the marxist theory job market.

[Whatishistoryanyway]

also characterizing marxist political theory as 'open-minded' and other types of political theory as 'not open minded' is a unfortunate way to go about learning political theory.

 

And seconding what everyone said about the marxist theory job market.

I'm not sure we both got the same thing out of the original post. At no point did the poster refer to non-Marxist departments as not open minded. Instead, he asked for recommendations on programs that would be open minded enough to allow that perspective into their department. We would be naive to think that every department would be open to this.