Note: Applicants to the PhD program are required to have a Master's degree for eligibility.

The Graduate Program in Social & Political Thought offers both MA and PhD degrees. Since its inception in 1973, the program has advanced the study of social and political ideas, theories, movements, and associated phenomena in an interdisciplinary context. The curriculum, developed in cooperation with participating disciplines across the university, is structured around three flexible and related streams of study:

1. The History of Social and Political Thought
2. Black Studies and Theories of Race and Racism
3. Economy, Consciousness, Aesthetics and Society

Students with diverse interests are encouraged to study and to intervene in more than one stream if their project so dictates. In selecting courses and crafting comprehensive examination lists, students acquire broad knowledge of relevant fields, in addition to pursuing specialized interests. Students take considerable personal initiative as they develop an intellectually coherent program of study that culminates in a Major Research Project or a doctoral dissertation.