The Cultural, Social, and Political Thought major in the Ph.D. program is interdisciplinary in nature. It is based on a cohort learning model that fosters an environment of interdisciplinary engagement and exchange, research, peer mentoring, and collaboration. The overall academic aims of the major are to emphasize the breadth and depth of social, cultural, and political thought and to inculcate the intellectual and practical tools needed to work successfully with community partners and agencies to facilitate social change.

Students graduating from the Cultural, Social, and Political Thought major are trained experts, who demonstrate a range of professional skills (e.g., teaching, peer reviews, presentations, critical thinking, etc.) and research competencies. Graduates are capable of producing novel, relevant, and rigorous research that makes significant and substantive contributions to interdisciplinary knowledge.

This major is thesis-based. Students are required to complete 9.0 to 18.0 credit hours of graduate semester courses and a thesis. A list of the required courses for this major is outlined in the Graduate Studies Calendar and Course Catalogue.

This program is highly theoretical and interdisciplinary in nature and intended to ground students in a body of cognate critical theories and methodologies. Across disciplinary boundaries, the Cultural, Social, and Political Thought major emphasizes the critical engagement of ideas and their manifestation in shifting cultural, social, and political contexts.