Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
Concentration in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
Updated September 19, 2025
Political science PhD students can opt to add a concentration in artificial intelligence and machine learning to their degree program. Students who do so will have an official degree title on their transcript of PhD in Political Science with a Concentration in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. This concentration is separate from the fields of study. Students interested in pursuing this concentration should reach out to the director of graduate studies, ideally no later than their second year in the program.
The requirements for the PhD with this concentration are the same as for the standard Political Science PhD, with the following amendments.
- The student must complete 12 graduate courses in the Department of Political Science, rather than 14.
- The student must complete the following courses in computer science in addition to any required political science courses. These courses should be completed with a B or better.
- Any two courses from the Department of Computer Science .
- An additional 400-level or 500-level course classified as AI on the Department of Computer Science .
- The student must pass the computer science AI area exam, which involves (a) writing an area paper surveying a research area and/or discussing original research, and (b) taking an oral exam covering the topics in the paper as well as general background in AI.
- The student must have a faculty member from the Department of Computer Science serve on their dissertation committee.