Doctoral students attend courses appropriate to their programs and participate in the doctoral workshop in International Relations and the African Studies Doctoral Seminar when in residence. Students are expected to write an article for publication during the period of preparation for comprehensives and dissertation. Before undertaking doctoral research, each candidate will submit a dissertation prospectus that is presented to the African Studies Doctoral Seminar and approved by the African Studies faculty. The African Studies comprehensive examination is scheduled in consultation with the director of African Studies. Recent PhD candidates have conducted the following research: - “Sources of Leverage in Third-Party Mediation: A Study of Leverage Formation and Deployment in the Mediation of the Northern Ghana War, The Peru-Ecuador Border War and the Ethiopia-Eritrea Border War.” (Kwaku Nuamah)
- “Why Peace Accords Fail: A Study of Civil War Agreements in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Liberia and Sierra Leone.” (Julius Mutwol )
- "National Reform and Local Response in Morocc Balancing Political Participation and Representation.” (James Ketterer)
- Thesis Defended with Distinction (2001): “Negotiating National Identity: The Case of the Arab States of North Africa,” by Karim Mezran
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