Why does it make sense for you to apply to the Political Science Department at CEU? First, because this is a center of learning and research of excellence. Since many years, we are among the top 50 Departments of Political Science in the world, and among the top 15 in Europe.
Since I belong to the Political Theory team of our Department, what I can tell you is particularly informative for you if you want to obtain an MA or a PhD diploma with a specialization in political theory. The PT track is jointly sponsored by the Departments of Political Science and Philosophy (two of the PT professors have affiliation with both Departments). So if you have a background in philosophy, and you apply to a PhD student position, you may find it a good strategy to apply to both departments, indicating your preference for PT.
Our team is strong in all the main chapters of normative political theory: basic equality, justice, political legitimacy, authority, and obligation, democracy. We teach at high level political institutions, constitutionalism, and the issue of constitutional authorship as well. These are PhD level courses, but they are open to MA-students, too, provided that they have already acquired solid foundations in PT. For other MA-students, we offer excellent foundational courses in contemporary political philosophy, and history of political thought, among others. We also teach a large number of topics in applied political philosophy (changing from year to year) from the ethics of war and killing in general, through issues of democratic equality and cosmopolitanism, to the problem of populism and the rise of autocracy. Furthermore, there is practically no subject, whether of general or applied PT, in which we would not be capable of providing supervision. Each of us is available to each student for consultation, whether you are his supervisee. We also encourage and help our PhD students to participate in conferences and to write and publish papers in highly rated reviews already before submitting their dissertation.
You may want to know whether CEU now under attack by the Hungarian government will be able to provide good conditions for your study and issue a diploma for you upon graduation. My answer is that you should ask students who are already enrolled in our university. They will tell you that the atmosphere at CEU is ideal, we operate normally, the political noise does not reach the classrooms. The Board of Trustees and the Central Administration guarantee that if you start your studies with us, you will have the opportunity to graduate and to receive a valid diploma with a high international academic prestige. By the way, this is guaranteed by the law in force, too. Should you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at kisjan@ceu.edu.
All best and see you in Budapest in September 2018,
János Kis
Professor of Philosophy & Political Science
Application info: https://politicalscience.ceu.edu/apply-now