LIU Louis Posted March 30, 2015 Posted March 30, 2015 Hello guys, I just got the admissions of MA in political science from McGill University and the master's program in development study from the Graduate Institute( IHEID). Now I cannot make up on mind which one should I choose. McGill undoubtedly has a good academic reputation while IHEID seems to emphasize on practical training related to international affairs. Any suggestion, please?
victorydance Posted March 30, 2015 Posted March 30, 2015 I think it's a fairly straightforward decision if you know whether you want a more academic or practical program.
LIU Louis Posted March 31, 2015 Author Posted March 31, 2015 I think it's a fairly straightforward decision if you know whether you want a more academic or practical program. Thanks! Well, I was not very sure if I was right in my surmise... and I would like to know how people think of these two schools!
victorydance Posted March 31, 2015 Posted March 31, 2015 What do you study exactly? I know the faculty of McGill very well.
LIU Louis Posted March 31, 2015 Author Posted March 31, 2015 What do you study exactly? I know the faculty of McGill very well. That's very kind of you!!! I wanted to get in the "development study option" within the political science MA. However this development study program couldn't offer me the admission, I was just admitted to the political science MA degree. I suppose the only difference is that I cannot participate in some development study seminars. Besides, I have checked out the courses of the political science department on the website, but it seemed that development-related courses were not so abundant? (Or I just mistook the information on minevera). Thanks very much!
victorydance Posted March 31, 2015 Posted March 31, 2015 Yeah, but what do you study? "Development" is a very broad term. From what I know, the only difference between the MA in political science and the development studies stream is one seminar.
LIU Louis Posted March 31, 2015 Author Posted March 31, 2015 Thanks for your quick response! I am particularly interested in democratization. Also, I look forward to studying development economics. Besides the International Relation BA. I obtained a BA in Economics. That's why I wanted to choose the development study option---this program is said to be interdisciplinary.
victorydance Posted March 31, 2015 Posted March 31, 2015 Well if you didn't get into the development stream, then it's pretty much a straight-forward political science program (one elective I think). I mean, you can write your thesis on an interdisciplinary topic, but the coursework is almost all poli sci. If you haven't looked at this yet, you should: https://www.mcgill.ca/politicalscience/files/politicalscience/2014-2015_ma_program_guide_3.pdf No one really works on solely democratization really in the faculty, democratization is kind of an older topic in political science. If you are interested in Asia, there is Prof. Kuhonta (SE Asia - political economy and political parties/systems), Subramanian (South Asia, India - identity politics), and Prof. Wang (China - local politics and contentious politics). Prof. Oxhorn is the head of ISID at McGill and he more broadly works on political economy and civil society, but with a focus on Latin America. As far as developmental economics, you have Grimard (labour and consumption), Laszlo (labour, development economics), and Chemin (institutional economics); but I'm not sure how much access you would have to these people.
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