MSS program requirements
Students in the MSS program have a maximum of four years to complete their requirements, but are expected to complete their programs in two years.
Students in the MSS program have a maximum of four years to complete their requirements, but are expected to complete their programs in two years.
Students must complete 6 HCEs (Half-Course Equivalents) and a non-credit one-week block course at the beginning of the program:
All students must take the following three half-courses:
Each student may choose any other three half-courses that are pertinent to their program of studies. These classes are subject to approval by the Graduate Program Director and the student's supervisor.
Students must complete 12 HCEs (Half-Course Equivalents) and a non-credit one-week block course at the beginning of the program:
All students must take the following three half-courses:
Each student may choose any other nine half-courses that are pertinent to their program of studies. These classes are subject to approval by the Graduate Program Director and the student's supervisor.
As a part of the course-based MSS, students participating in a Co-op opportunity will complete 9 HCEs. An 8 month paid work placement will be worth an additional 3 HCEs. Students must complete all course work prior to the start of the work placement. CMSS does not guarantee that co-op students will obtain a work placement. Those students who do not obtain a work placement will be expected to take the remaining courses required for the course-based degree.
Block week course:
Half-courses:
In their Co-op terms, Co-op students will enroll in:
8 month paid work placement (worth 3 HCEs)
MSS students in the thesis stream are required to present their supervisor with a formal thesis proposal normally no later than the end of their second term of their first year of studies.
The proposal should generally be 7-10 double-spaced pages in length, not counting a brief preliminary bibliography. The content of the proposal should generally cover the following components:
An MSS thesis student must present and defend a thesis before an examining committee consisting normally of the supervisor and at least two other examiners, one of whom is external to CMSS. The Neutral Chair will be appointed by the Graduate Program Director.
A notice of the date and composition of the examining committee, should be submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies at least four weeks before the defence. The final copy of the thesis should be presented to the examiners, either in hard copy or electronically, at least three weeks before the defence.
Students in the PhD program have a maximum of six years to complete their degree requirements, but are expected to complete their programs in four years.
Each student must normally take six half-course equivalents including three core courses:
All PhD students will also take STST 603: Questions and Methods
Students will have two major fields of study, one of these being strategic studies and the other the dissertation area, and will be required to take one half-course in each, namely POLI 685 and an appropriate elective. This may include, with the approval of the Graduate Director, one or more of:
*These courses are to be arranged between student and supervisor.
CMSS ad hoc Candidacy Committee
Approved January 6, 2015
These assessment guidelines are part of the doctoral candidacy requirements for the PhD in Strategic Studies at the Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies at the University of Calgary.
Preamble
High quality research is grounded in a solid command of the literature. The candidacy examination is intended to establish that the student is sufficiently well prepared in his or her major fields to go on to dissertation research and writing and can demonstrate competence to use such preparation. The Faculty of Graduate Studies Handbook states that
The candidacy examination should focus on the background knowledge of students in their discipline, as well as their preparedness to conduct research of high quality in their particular fields of study.
Students should recognize that merely taking appropriate core and elective courses should not be regarded as sufficient in itself as preparation for the candidacy examination.
Guidelines
Our expectation is that the student should be able to succeed on the following components of the exam.
The student should provide a direct answer. To the extent that a student seeks to draw on material not covered on the reading lists, he or she will directly relate that material to the question at hand and connect it to the relevant literature under consideration.
If asked about a practical historical or present-day case the student will provide an adequate answer grounded in the relevant literature from the two reading lists. It is understood that examiners may ask students about such empirical cases as long as they are related to the student’s preparation as defined by the examination committee.
A candidate must present a dissertation research proposal to his or her supervisory committee for its approval. As of Fall 2014, this should normally be no later than eight weeks after the successful completion of the oral candidacy exam. Students and supervisors should note that the development of applications for Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and other competitive scholarships will greatly assist the development of this proposal. After the proposal is approved in a meeting of the supervisory committee, the student can go on to the dissertation research phase. Successful completion of the proposal phase will be a factor noted in the student's annual progress report.
The proposal should be of 15-20 double-spaced pages in length, not including a brief preliminary bibliography. Its content should general include the following components:
A copy of the final text of the proposal, after its acceptance by the supervisory committee, should be placed in the student's file. With the student's agreement, copies could be made available to others as a guidance.
The PhD candidate is required to submit a dissertation for oral examination.
As a general guideline, Faculty of Graduate Studies regulations state the following with regard to dissertation requirements:
The doctoral thesis should employ original work and must be adjudged to constitute a significant contribution to knowledge in the candidate's field of study. It should contain evidence of broad knowledge of the relevant literature and should demonstrate a critical understanding of the works of scholars closely related to the subject of the thesis. The material embodied in the thesis should, in the opinion of scholars, merit publication.
The Centre strongly recommends that a PhD dissertation in Military and Strategic Studies should, in most cases, be no longer than 300 pages.
The Faculty of Graduate Studies Thesis Guidelines can be found on the Faculty of Graduate studies website.
Once the dissertation has been completed, the Dissertation Oral Examination Committee will examine the thesis. This Committee consists of the supervisory committee plus two other examiners external to the Centre, one of whom must be external to the University and a recognized authority in the thesis field of research. The Neutral Chair will normally be the Graduate Program Director or his or her designate.
A notice of the oral defence must be submitted to and approved by the Faculty of Graduate Studies, at least four weeks in advance of the defence date. Following approval, it must be posted at least two weeks in advance of the defence date. In addition, it may be necessary to allow an additional three weeks for Faculty of Graduate Studies approval of the examiner external to the University. The final draft of the dissertation should be supplied, in hard copy or electronically, to the examining committee at least three weeks in advance of the defence date. Candidates and Supervisors should keep these requirements in mind.
For Faculty of Graduate Studies regulations regarding examinations visit the Faculty of Graduate Studies website.