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.
Graduate program requirements
Thesis-based course work
Students must complete 6 HCEs (Half-Course Equivalents) and a non-credit one-week block course at the beginning of the program:
- STST 603: Military and Strategic Studies: Questions and Methods
All students must take the following three half-courses:
- POLI 681: Advanced Analysis of International Relations
- POLI 685: Strategic Studies Advanced Seminar
- STST 655: Classics of Strategy
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.
Course-based course work
Students must complete 12 HCEs (Half-Course Equivalents) and a non-credit one-week block course at the beginning of the program:
- STST 603: Military and Strategic Studies: Questions and Methods
All students must take the following three half-courses:
- POLI 681: Advanced Analysis of International Relations
- POLI 685: Strategic Studies Advanced Seminar
- STST 655: Classics of Strategy
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.
Co-op opportunities
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:
- STST 603: Military and Strategic Studies: Questions and Methods
Half-courses:
- POLI 681: Advanced Analysis of International Relations
- POLI 685: Strategic Studies Advanced Seminar
- STST 655: Classics of Strategy
- Any other 6 HCEs that is pertinent to their studies
In their Co-op terms, Co-op students will enroll in:
- STST 601: MSS 1st Term Co-operative Education (Winter Term)
- STST 602A: MSS 2nd Term Co-operative Education (Spring Term)
- STST 602B: MSS 2nd Term Co-operative Education (Summer Term)
8 month paid work placement (worth 3 HCEs)
MSS Thesis proposal
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:
- State the research problem and explain its context and significance in the relevant literature
- Intent of the research project, including any hypothesis to be tested
- Subsidiary or component issues that show further research
- Any relevant methodological issues, including information and data sources, data analysis methods and case selection
- Suggest an initial general structure for the thesis.
MSS Thesis Requirements and Examination
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.
PhD program requirements
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.
Required course work
Each student must normally take six half-course equivalents including three core courses:
- Political Science (POLI) 681: Advanced Analysis of International Relations
- POLI 685: Strategic Studies
- Strategic Studies (STST) 655: Classics of Strategy
All PhD students will also take STST 603: Questions and Methods
Field of study courses
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:
- STST651: Reading Seminar*
- STST653: Research Seminar*
- STST751: Reading Seminar*
- STST753: Research Seminar*
*These courses are to be arranged between student and supervisor.
Doctoral Candidacy Assessment Guidelines
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.
- Identify, display knowledge of, and make appropriate use of, key literature as specified by the strategic studies and second field reading lists. To be considered a pass on the candidacy exam, a student’s answer should be able to adequately describe the main argument(s) of the particular key text in question and adequately explain how the author supports his or her argument. These answers must go beyond a superficial level of analysis.
- Show a sound understanding of major debates and controversies. That is, the student must go beyond isolated explanations of individual texts to explain how the ideas of the various authors under consideration relate to each other. To be considered a pass, such an explanation must identify the main themes and debates within the literature.
- Demonstrate an overall grasp of all sections of both reading lists. It is understood that the entirety of both reading lists constitutes the foundation of the examination. That is, a lack of adequate knowledge of any section of the two reading lists has the same consequences for determining a pass or fail as any other section of the lists. Students must read every title on the strategic studies and second field reading lists.
- Demonstrate an ability to assess and critique the relevant literature in respect to specific issues or themes, to exercise a critical judgment with respect to it, and to analyze and present plausible positions on an issue. Critical judgment includes a discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of specific ideas, texts, and themes that address the examiner(s)’ line of questioning. The student will support his or her critique by logically and coherently evaluating the idea under consideration.
- Answers must be as coherent as possible and supported by reference to the appropriate literature.
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.
Doctoral Dissertation Proposal
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:
- It should concisely state the research problem and explain its context and significance in the relevant literature. This should include a brief review of the relevant literature.
- It should clearly identify the intent of the research project, including (if applicable) any hypothesis to be tested. In essence, it should note the general argument or thesis to be studied or presented, at least at this preliminary stage of the research. The expected contribution to knowledge should be identified and explained.
- It should identify subsidiary or component issues which should be addressed to further the research and the argument.
- It should address any relevant methodological concerns, including (as appropriate) information and data sources, data analysis methods, case selection and the like.
- It should suggest an initial general structure for the dissertation.
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.
Doctoral Dissertation Requirements
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.
Oral Dissertation Examination
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.