Graduate Program Overview

 
The Department of Political Science at UC Irvine has a very innovative Ph.D. program with strong interdisciplinary emphases.  Graduate students can pursue studies in democracy studies, international relations, political economy/games and decisions/public choice, political psychology, and race and ethnic politics. The Ph.D. program offers big payoffs to our graduate students because of the extended range of inquiry an interdisciplinary program affords.  

One aspect of the department’s strong interdisciplinary emphases are the two M.A. Programs to which students in the Political Science Ph.D. program are eligible to apply for admission. While each of these programs is completely independent of the Political Science Department, each is structured in such a way that graduate students in political science can largely simultaneously satisfy the M.A. requirements for this program while completing their Ph.D. requirements. These are the M.A. in Demographic and Social Analysis, which involves many faculty from the Sociology Department as well as from the School of Social Ecology who are interested in demographic trends and tools of demographic analysis, including geographic information systems; and the M.A. in Mathematical Behavioral Sciences, which, in addition to political science faculty, involves  faculty from Economics, Logic and Philosophy of Sciences, and other departments, who have an interest in games, decisions, and dynamical systems, as well as faculty from Sociology who study the formal and empirical properties of social networks.

In addition to the traditional sub-fields of political science (American Politics, Comparative Politics, International Relations, and Political Theory), the department offers interdisciplinary emphases in democracy studies, political economy and public choice, political psychology, and race and ethnic politics.  Department faculty actively mentor doctoral students and encourage them to become productive, publishing scholars before completing their graduate studies.  Our Ph.D. graduates have established themselves in academic careers at both research universities and liberal arts colleges in the U.S. and abroad, in government service, and in the private sector.

 

 

---

 

Graduate Program Admissions Information

 
How to Apply

All applicants for the PhD programs must apply online using the UCI Online Application for Graduate Admissions. If you have issues uploading to the system, please contact our Graduate Admissions Office at socsci.gradinfo@uci.edu or (949) 824-4074.

 

---

 

Application Deadlines for a Start of Fall 2026

Applications will be accepted beginning October 2, 2025. The application deadline is December 1, 2025
 
Most students who are admitted will be informed by late February although some decisions, including definite non-admits, are delayed into March or later.

 

---

 

Admission Requirements

The following items are required as part of the graduate application and must be submitted electronically, direct through the online UCI Graduate Application portal:

• Application Fee: US $135 (for US Citizens and Permanent Residents); US $150 (for international applicants)
   
  Application fee waivers are available to qualifying US citizens and permanent residents. Fee waivers are not available to international applicants. Click here for current application fee information
   
• English Proficiency Requirement for Social Sciences
  UCI recognizes two levels of English proficiency: A lower level that is required for admission to any doctoral program and a higher level that is required for working as a Teaching Assistant (TA). Because all doctoral students in Social Sciences work as TAs, we require all students to meet the higher standard. Students can show their proficiency by meeting any one of the following criteria:
  • TOEFL iBT: Overall score of 80 or higher; score of 26 or better on the speaking section. (Scores are good for two years.)
  • IELTS: Overall score of 7 or better; no section below 6; score of 8 or better on the speaking section. (Scores are good for two years.)
  • TOEP: Score of 5 or better. (Scores are good for as long as student is enrolled at UCI.)
  • Having earned an undergraduate degree from an institution at which English was the sole language of instruction according to the World Higher Education Database within the past five years.
  
   
• Three (3) Letters of Recommendation
• Transcripts (Include undergraduate and graduate if applicable.)
  Official documents are required before your application can be considered. We require only a single transcript from each school attended, uploaded by the applicant. We are not able to accept paper documents through the mail, or to upload electronic supplemental materials on the applicant's behalf. Unofficial transcripts are acceptable for admission consideration. All admission offers will be provisional. Those who are offered and accept admission and financial support will then be required to submit official documents before the start of the Fall 2021 term, to clear the provisional admission status.
• Academic Statement of Purpose
• Writing Sample
  May be single-spaced; an excerpt from a longer piece is fine; 20 pages is the maximum length. Please upload this electronically through the UCI Graduate Application).
• Personal History Statement
  Required if applying for a fee waiver and otherwise recommended; may be included in the academic statement of purpose if not applying for a fee waiver)
• Current CV or Resume
  Optional, not required.
• GRE Required

If you have further questions, please visit our FAQ page or contact the Graduate Admissions Office at socsci.gradinfo@uci.edu or (949) 824-4074.

 

---

 

Costs and Financial Support

Tuition and Fees
View the University of California's current published fee and tuition rates. United States citizens and permanent residents who relocate to California from other states may apply for legal residency here, following one year of continuous residence. The required "procedures of intent" are outlined here.
 
Financial Support
All applications for PhD admission are considered also for financial support, and all admission offers to Political Science currently include six years of funding. Applicants are not required to apply separately for admission and financial support. Our competitive, merit-based funding packages include:

• annual registration fees;
• comprehensive student health insurance;
• a combination of TA or Graduate Student Researcher (GSR) appointment with individual members of faculty, and fellowship quarters in lieu of employment.
   

All offers to non-residents of California include non-resident tuition for the first year of study for US citizens and permanent residents, and for the first three years for international students (conditional on satisfactory progress). Financial assistance based on need (loans, primarily) is available to qualifying student applicants, through UCI Financial Aid & Scholarships.
 
All students applying for need-based financial aid are required to file a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). International students who are not US citizens or permanent residents are not eligible to apply for federal need-based financial aid aid. Further information on assistantships and funding resources can be found here.

 

---

 

Academic Questions

For academic questions, we encourage prospective students to contact the Graduate Admissions Director, Professor Robert Uriu at rmuriu@uci.edu or visit the Social Sciences Graduate Studies website.

 

---

 

General Questions

 
How important are GPA and GRE scores?

Lower than average scores do not necessarily decrease your chances of being admitted. The admissions committee tries to look at all aspects of a students record -- not just grades and scores but also your research goals, experience, and a whole host of considerations. Your statement of purpose and letters of recommendation are thus very important.

 

---

 

Do I need an undergraduate degree in political science or international relations in order to be admitted to the Ph.D. program?

No, a good proportion of the students we admit each year did their undergraduate work in other fields, such as Anthropology, History, Mathematics, Psychology, and Women’s Studies.

 

---

 

Do you require an M.A. degree for admission to the Ph.D. program? Do most of your students have further education beyond the B.A.?

We do not require that students have an M.A. degree before entering the Ph.D. program. Many of our new students come right out of undergraduate programs, but perhaps a third to one-half will have already earned master's degrees at other universities.

 

---

 

I have an M.A. degree already. Can I transfer some of these credits to your program?

The department allows students who have an M.A. degree to transfer up to six courses for credit. Final decisions on transfer credit will be made only after you have been admitted to the program.

 

---

 

Do you offer an M.A. in political science?

Students may earn an M.A. degree on the way to earning the Ph.D., but we do not admit students who intend to complete their studies with an M.A.

 

---

 

Can I enroll part time in the Ph.D. program? Can I take classes during the evening to fulfill your degree requirements?

No, the Ph.D. program requires a full-time commitment to classes prior to advancement to Ph.D. candidacy (generally at the end of the student's third year in the Ph.D. program). Most of our graduate classes are offered during the work day.

 

---

 

Is an interview required for admission?

No. However, if you are given an offer of admission, you will be invited to a "Visiting Day" before you will need to make your decision on whether to enroll. This visit gives you a chance to familiarize yourself with the campus and program.

 

---

 

Why do you request two transcripts and allow electronic transcripts when the UCI Graduate Division website says only one transcript is required and it must be in a sealed envelope?

You need to provide two official paper copies of a transcript because the Graduate Division needs one copy and the School of Social Sciences needs a copy. If you submit an electronic copy, one is enough and the School will generate the copy for the Graduate Division. Note that an unofficial electronic copy, such as a printout you generate yourself, will not be sufficient. Also note that the transcripts must be received before your application can be considered.

 

---

 

If I apply to more than one UCI graduate program, can I use the same documents?

Unfortunately, for each application you must submit a complete set of documents, even if the two programs are both in Social Sciences.

 

---

 

If I am interested in Public Choice, should I apply to "Political Science" or "Political Science- Public Choice"?

It makes no difference to which of these programs you apply, but please apply only to one. The Political Science and Political Science – Public Choice applications are considered together. Moreover, any admitted student under either program can complete a Public Choice concentration. The two listings are in the process of merging.

 

---

 

What should go into the academic statement of purpose? The personal history statement?

The academic statement of purpose should explain why you are applying to the political science graduate program at UCI and what you hope to accomplish as part of your graduate program. Often about 1000 words is sufficient for a thorough but concise statement. Some topics you may address include your academic background and interests (including prior research you have done), the research topic(s) (or broader areas) which interest you, how these interests fit with the faculty and research at UCI, other particular reason(s) for applying to this program, your long and short-term academic or professional career goals, and why earning a doctoral degree advances these goals. You might also address your academic and personal strengths and successes, as well as any barriers you may have had to overcome. And you may include anything else from your personal, family, or academic history that assists the admissions committee in understanding your plans and interests or that explains something in your record. The personal history statement is optional (required for those applying for a fee waiver) and provides an opportunity to expand upon the applicant's personal and family history as it relates to doctoral study. If you prefer, you may submit a statement which combines both the academic statement of purpose and the personal history statement, an especially useful option if you have already written such a statement.

 

---

 

II. Financial Aid

 
What additional financial support is available to students after they enroll in UCI?

During the course of the academic year the Department of Political Science and/or the School of Social Sciences occasionally hold competitions for fellowship quarters, which allow students to receive a stipend without needing to serve as a T.A.. In the past, separate competitions have been held for students who have not yet advanced to candidacy and for those working on their dissertations.
 
The Department also makes funds available for summer stipends, on a competitive basis. The School of Social Sciences and the department provide funding support for travel to conferences.
 
In addition, many of our students have received grants and awards from other units in the school or on campus. Recently, our students have received grants from the Center for the Study of Democracy, The Center for Global Peace and Security, The Center for Asian Studies, the Center for the Scientific Study of Ethics and Morality, the Center for Citizen Peacebuilding, and others.

 

---

 

Do you offer Research Assistant (RA) positions?

RA appointments are made directly by faculty with research grants. Generally, faculty make these to students who they advise or who they have worked with in the past. As a result, relatively few RA appointments are made to first year students.

 

---

 

How do students typically support themselves over the summer?

The Department holds a competition each spring to support summer research projects. In addition, for students remaining on campus, summer classes provide some opportunities to serve as teaching assistants or graders. Once students advance to Ph.D. candidacy, graduate students are eligible to teach summer session courses as instructors, on a competitive basis.

 

---

 

What duties will I perform as a Teaching Assistant? What is a “half-time” T.A.?

Your T.A. duties entail working with the professor in charge of the class to which are assigned, including holding discussion sections and/or office hours, grading papers, and other duties assigned by the professor. T.A.s are expected to work approximately 20 hours per week.

 

---

 

The six year funding packages mention teaching assistant, research assistant, and fellowship support, but what is guaranteed?

The particular mix will vary for different students and by year, but in most cases the basic funding package guarantees teaching assistant support for each quarter for six years. This support includes stipend, health insurance, and tuition and most fees.

 

---

 

Are there other UCI funding sources for incoming students?

The Graduate Division offers recruitment fellowships for incoming students. See HERE for a description. The Department nominates students for these awards, based upon the information students include in their applications. These are highly competitive across the entire campus.

 

---

 

III. Other

 
What is the code for UCI’s Department of Political Science?

UC Irvine’s Institution Code is 4859. The department code for Political Science is 1902 for the GRE and 89 for the TOEFL.

 

---

 

Where do I go for more information?

Other links on this page contain more information on the Political Science program. If you have specific questions about the program, contact the department’s Graduate Admissions Director, Professor Marek Kaminski at marek.kaminski@uci.edu or (949) 824-2744.
 
If you have further questions about admissions or financial aid, contact the Director of Graduate Affairs in the School of Social Sciences, Jennifer Gerson at jennifer.gerson@uci.edu or (949) 824-4074.
 
More information about the University, the admissions process, financial aid, and more, can be found on the “Prospective Student” page on the Office of Graduate Studies website, at UCI Graduate Division

 

---

 

How will I get information from UCI, including the outcome of my application?

UCI will communicate with you electronically via email or via the online UCI Graduate Application. Please be sure to keep UCI updated if you change your email or other contact information. And please check the UCI Graduate Application portal.

 

---

 

How can I apply on-line?

The application is available at Online Application

 

---

 

Primary Fields

 

American Politics

UC Irvine’s American Politics group has grown to include leading scholars studying governing institutions like the presidency and courts, electoral behavior like voting and participation, as well as vital questions related to race, ethnicity, and gender, public opinion, media effects, and on and on. The thread that ties everyone together is a commitment to studying the theory and practice of American politics in ways that are theoretically insightful, empirically rigorous, and substantively important.

Befitting these objectives, UCI’s graduate curriculum in American Politics is noteworthy for its theoretical and methodological diversity. Graduate training at UC Irvine introduces students to various substantive foci and methodological tools before helping lead them to delve deeply into specific phenomena, with the overriding aim of preparing students to execute insightful, innovative research about important questions in American Politics.

Faculty members include:

 
Emiriti include:

 
 

 

---

 

Comparative Politics

Comparative Politics specialists at UCI come from a tradition in which the Department divided its faculty and courses into "macro" and "micro" politics. Consequently, our specializations (and course offerings) tend to group into macro issues, such as institutions and regimes (e.g., "Regime Change in East Asia," "Migration in Western Europe," and "The State in Comparative Perspective") and micro-oriented courses (such as "Political Culture," "Political Participation" and "Elections"). Faculty substantive specializations include voting behavior, new social movements, environmental politics, migration, health policy, law & society, welfare and poverty, minority politics, comparative public policy, comparative electoral systems and comparative legislative configurations. 

Faculty tend to have regional in addition to country specializations, and work closely with graduate students to train them to turn out publishable papers.  Students routinely attend conferences, publish with faculty, and spend time abroad doing research.

Faculty  employ a diverse range of methodologies, including advanced quantitative methods (game theory, econometrics, rational choice) as well as a range of qualitative approaches (survey research, historical institutionalism, comparative political economy, etc.).

 

Faculty include:

 

Emiriti include:

 

---

 

International Relations

 

The interests and expertise of the International Relations faculty in the department cover a broad range of methodological approaches and substantive interests.  Those interests range from global governance, to international norms and institutions, to security, migration, the environment, and religion and international relations.  A pair of centers housed in the School of Social Sciences offer programs and events for faculty and graduate students in International Relations.  The Center for Global Peace and Conflict Studies (CGPACS) is a multi-disciplinary program that promotes scholarly, student, and public understanding of international conflict and cooperation.  The Center for Research on International and Global Studies (RIGS) promotes research on the interactions of politics, economics, societies, cultures and history in global and international affairs and sponsors regular research seminars.

Faculty include:

 
Emiriti include:

 
 

 

---

 

Political Theory

 

The political theory faculty are a diverse group who share an interest in the most fundamental questions of political thought. Strongly committed to intellectual and theoretical diversity, the program aims to bridge divisions between the various paradigms and traditions of political theory, between the history of political thought and contemporary political theory, and between theoretical and empirical forms of inquiry.

The program has particular strengths in contemporary European political theory, democratic theory, critical theory and poststructuralism, multiculturalism, diversity, and identity, colonialism and imperialism, and the philosophical and methodological foundations of political inquiry.

It maintains close connections with the internationally known Critical Theory Institute, its graduate curricular partner - the Critical Theory Emphasis, the system-wide UC Humanities Research Institute, Interdisciplinary Center for the Scientific Study of Ethics and Morality, and the Center in Law, Society, and Culture.
 

Faculty include:

 

---

 

Secondary Research Fields

 

Critical Theory

UC Irvine is one of the world’s leading centers of scholarship in critical theory. Anchored by the activities of the internationally known Critical Theory Institute, the campus routinely ranks first or second in this field. The Critical Theory Emphasis (CTE) taps these resources to enhance the work of graduate students across the campus. It is an officially recognized, interdisciplinary concentration open to students in any PhD program on the UC Irvine campus. Political Science students who are admitted to the Critical Theory Emphasis and complete all of its requirements may count it as one of their fields for the Political Science PhD. Students seeking to do so should apply for admission to the Emphasis as soon as possible. They may also seek the advice of Political Science faculty who participate in the program.

Participating Political Science faculty include:

Kevin Olson | Keith Topper

Please see the UC Irvine General Catalogue for current requirements

Application instructions and annual course offerings can be found on the CTE website.

 

---

 

Democracy Studies

Democracy Studies at UCI integrates comparative politics and American politics in the study of both established and emerging democracies. UCI is one of the leading places in the world to study empirical democratic theory. Nineteen department faculty are joined by nearly two dozen sociologists and economists in organizing a set of core courses in democracy studies administered under the umbrella of the Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD). These courses are organized in five areas: democratic transitions and consolidation, institutional mechanisms for democratic governance, race and ethnicity, political economy and the economics of governance, and social movements and collective action. The specialization in Democracy Studies also involves the research and participation conference participation of political science faculty in other University of California Political Science Departments, such as UC San Diego, UC Riverside, and UCLA. Political scientists from universities from around the world interested in topics such as electoral systems and constitutional design, public opinion, interest groups and social movements regularly come as visitors to UCI.
 
Faculty members include:
 

 

---

 

Ethics

Ethics permeates the field of politics in many ways. The subfield of ethics in the Department of Political Science conceptualizes ethics broadly to include: (1) the study of systems of moral principles; (2) rules of conduct recognized in respect to a particular class of human actions or a particular culture or group, etc., as in medical ethics or Christian ethics;(3) moral principles, as in those of an individual and how an individual relates to others; and (4) those parts of philosophy and social science dealing with values relating to human conduct, with respect to the rightness and wrongness of certain actions and to the goodness and badness of the motives and ends of such actions.

Students wishing to do a concentration in Ethics should take the Ethics workshop, offered each Spring term, three additional courses offered in ethics and write one of their qualifying papers in ethics. Other courses may be substituted upon approval of the course instructor and the Graduate Director. Undergraduate courses may be taken for graduate credit by using a special topics code and the approval of the instructor and Graduate Director. Unless otherwise indicated, courses and faculty are within Political Science.
 

Political Science Faculty:

 

Affiliated Faculty:

 

---

 

Methodology & Modeling

The Political Science Department, drawing on the broader resources available within the School of Social Sciences and in other units at UCI, is one of the premier places to study formal modeling, and methodology in all its forms. Four department faculty, including Bernard Grofman, Marek Kaminski, Charles A. Smith, and Carole Uhlaner, do work in game theory and decision theory. Graeme Boushey works on diffusion models, and one emeritus faculty who is still involved in teaching, Rein Taagepera, is a world recognized leader in developing models that are inspired by those in the physical sciences. A number of other political scientists, including Matthew Beckmann, Sara Goodman, Davin Phoenix and Michael Tesler teach courses that draw heavily on methods, including experimental methods.

While specific courses in game theory, research design, and methods are taught by political science faculty, and course requirements in methodology are imposed within Comparative Politics and American Politics, the structure of graduate requirements in the Political Science Department, which allows for six of the eighteen required graduate courses to be taken outside the department, and the uniquely interdisciplinary tradition within the School of Social Sciences, facilitate the learning of sophisticated tools of analysis in courses taken outside the department. Training in game theory and formal modeling is carried out in conjunction with the Department of Economics, and in conjunction with the UCI Institute for Mathematical Behavioral Sciences, which includes several members of the National Academy of Sciences, and which offers an M.A. in Mathematical Behavioral Sciences in which political science graduate students with the appropriate background are eligible to participate. Training in quantitative methodology also draws on resources in the Department of Economics, such as courses in econometrics, and on courses in the Department of Statistics, as well as courses taught in Sociology and in Social Ecology, including courses in social networks and geographic information systems (GIS).

To further develop their skills, students with interests in advanced methodology are also strongly encouraged to participate in summer workshops. Whole or partial funding is provided for such workshops.

 

---

 

Public Choice - Political Economy

The Economics and Political Science Departments jointly offer a Ph.D. concentration in Political Economics and Public Choice under the joint umbrella of the UCI Institute for Mathematical Behavioral Sciences and the Center for the Study of Democracy available to students in either discipline.

The set of faculty who supervise this concentration include two members of the National Academy of Science, a past President of the Public Choice Society and past Chairs of the Economics Department at UCI. Three Department faculty, Bernard Grofman, Marek Kaminski, and Carole Uhlaner, are very active scholars in the fields of political economy and public choice and do work in the area of games and decisions. The faculty involved in the study of political economy and public choice represent a variety of perspectives, but they share a commitment to empirically grounded analysis and theory building, and to the view that theirs is an interdisciplinary field at the intersection of political science and economics, which draws on quantitative and mathematical tools to model the functioning of political institutions and processes. They are joined by six economists including Linda Cohen, Amihai Glazer, Michelle Garfinkel, Michael McBride, Stergios Skaperdas, and Donald Saari and one philosopher, Brian Skyrms.

Faculty and student interests range from applied areas of political decision-making such as voter and party choice, collective action, electoral systems and constitutional design to more purely theoretical and mathematical topics in social choice and social welfare theory and the theory of public goods. Students normally choose to specialize in either more empirical or more formal areas of research. In addition to the faculty directly involved in the concentration, the School of Social Sciences has a number of other faculty in political science, economics, or sociology with strongly related interests, e.g., in topics such as trade, urban economics, social movements and collective action, social networks, and economic sociology with whom students in the concentration may also work.

 

---

 

Political Psychology

The field: Political psychology has emerged as a major subfield of political science and a focal research interest of psychology. The growth of the field is reflected in the establishment of an academic society, the International Society of Political Psychology, the formation of Political Psychology sections in both the American Political Science Association and the European Consortium of Political Research and the emergence of major journals devoted to political psychology in both the US and Europe.

The Political Psychology field at UC Irvine is one of several programs that have emerged in the US over the last 15 years. The program draws on the School of Social Sciences’ tradition of interdisciplinary research and boasts the active participation of distinguished faculty in political science, psychology, critical theory and medicine. The UC Irvine program is unique in the US in several important respects:

• It emphasizes the need to combine rigorous empirical research with a serious consideration of the broader concerns of normative and analytical political theory.
• Students are required to do substantial coursework in both political science and psychology.
• It recognizes an array of research methods including: open-ended interviewing, semi-structured interviews, surveys and the observation of behavior. It also recognizes the value of a variety of research designs including: case studies, sample surveys and experiments.
• The program hosts the Southern California Political Psychology Workshop. Twice a year, this brings faculty and graduate students from the California area together for a one day conference on the UC Irvine campus.
• Through the UCI Interdisciplinary Center for the Scientific Study of Ethics and Morality, the program also maintains formal linkage with the Caucus of Concerned Scholars: Committee on Ethics and Morality of the International Society of Political Psychology
   

Core Faculty:

 
Associated Faculty at other Institutions:
 
While not on located campus, the following professors are actively associated with the program. They are occasional visitors at UCI. More importantly, they assist in the review of qualifying papers and the supervision of doctoral candidates. They also host UCI students at their home universities. The participation reflects the program’s commitment to conceiving political psychology as an international field of inquiry.

John Cash, Senior Lecturer, University of Melbourne

Janusz Reykowski, Professor of Psychology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw School of Social Psychology

Marco Steenbergen, Professor of Political Sociology and Political Psychology, University of Berne, Switzerland

 

---

 

Public Law

Public Law is the study of legal institutions and law from the perspective of political science. It is concerned with the analysis of legal institutions, the behavior of legal decision-makers and citizens, and the study of legal and constitutional doctrine and culture. Public law seeks to understand the role of law in society and in government. Courses and faculty research may consider how the actions of legal decision-makers (judges, police, regulatory officials, bureaucrats, etc.) are shaped both by legal doctrine and by political, institutional, and social constraints. Public Law at UC Irvine includes consideration of domestic legal topics at the state and national level, comparative and international law, as well as law and legal regimes as global institutions.
 

Faculty Members Include:

 

---

 

Race, Ethnicity & Politics

Although fundamental to the understanding of American (and increasingly international) politics, the study of race and ethnicity has often been relegated to a second tier in the discipline of political science. UCI's Department of Political Science recently emerged as a national leader in research, graduate training and undergraduate teaching in the field of race, ethnicity, and politics. Our first Ph.D. in this area, Matthew Barreto, now an Assistant Professor at the University of Washington; our second, Natalie Masuoka, is now an Assistant Professor at Tufts University. Faculty recruitments over the past several years have placed UCI in the enviable position of having leading scholars of African American, Asian American, and U.S. Latino politics as well as scholars of immigrant political incorporation. This group is noteworthy because of the rich variety of methodological approaches that they collectively employ, including survey analysis, historical interpretation, and elite interviews.

UCI's wealth of scholars working in the field of race, ethnicity, and politics makes it uniquely positioned not only to add significantly to the growing body of scholarship in this field, but also train the next generation of race/ethnicity scholars in the field of political science. But the resources available to graduate students interested in race and ethnicity is not limited to members of the Department of Political Science. Indeed, distinguished as is the department faculty within this area, there are numerous other faculty at UCI from whom students interested in race and ethnicity can learn, and students with an interest in race and ethnicity are encouraged to explore courses outside the Department.

To further assist graduate students in the area of race and ethnicity to receive truly multi-disciplinary graduate training the Political Science Department developed a collaborative relationship with leading scholars in race and ethnicity in the Department of Sociology to allow for participation in their courses by political science graduate students. That arrangement also includes faculty from other units such as Anthropology and Chicano-Latino Studies, and outreach to scholars in the Humanities as well. The Sociology Department is among one of several UCI units prominent in the race and ethnicity field, with nearly a dozen scholars in this area. In addition, UCI has an internationally respected interdisciplinary Center for Research on Immigration, Population and Public Policy, with ongoing funded research projects in which several political scientists participate, as well as an interdisciplinary Master’s Program in Demographic and Social Analysis whose course offerings can be taken by political science graduate students. Also, special funding opportunities for graduate students with interests in race and ethnicity are available through the Center for the Study of Democracy.