All students must complete six courses, including the following three mandatory courses: the “core” course, the “economics” component, and the “history” component. To avoid overlap, selected courses must be approved by the Graduate Officer at the university where the student is registered. Core courses may be offered at Wilfrid Laurier University or the University of Waterloo.

Core Course component:
GV710 Globalization and Global Governance (must be completed in the first term of registration in the program).
Economics component:
IP621 International Trade
History component:
GV720 The History of Global Governance

Students must choose to specialize in one of the five fields of the program. To prepare for the comprehensive exam in that field, they must select at least two courses from their chosen field. Of these two, at least one course  must be a course identified as “core” for that field (marked with an asterisk in the lists below). The sixth course is an elective course.

Not all courses are offered each year and more courses may be available. Consult the respective departments at both institutions for information on available courses in any given year. Consult the respective graduate calendars for full course descriptions.

If selecting the field of Global Political Economy, students must choose at least two courses from among the following offerings at the partner universities:

If selecting the field of Global Environment, students must choose at least two courses from among the following offerings at the partner universities:

If selecting the field of Conflict and Security, students must choose at least two courses from among the following offerings at the partner universities:

If selecting the field of Global Justice and Human Rights, students must choose at least two courses from among the following offerings at the partner universities:

If selecting the field of Multilateral Institutions and Diplomacy, students must choose at least two courses from among the following offerings at the partner universities:

In addition to the six courses described above, students must also participate in both the Research and Doctoral Seminars during their first year.

PhD Research Seminar (GV701). Advanced study in global governance requires numerate and non-numerate research skills. This seminar will consist of a number of special seminars, colloquia and other presentations focussing on archival research, interview techniques, presentation and communication skills, statistical methods for the social sciences, ethnography, interviewing skills, and related issues in methods and methodology. The course, to be organized by the Program Director (or delegate), will be team taught involving faculty from the units involved in the program at both universities and will be marked on a credit/non-credit basis. Students must maintain continuous registration in this course during the first two terms of the program (fall and winter).

Doctoral Seminar (GV702). The Doctoral Seminar requires attendance year long at departmental colloquia, seminars and related presentations, including public lectures at The Centre for International Governance Innovation, the Academic Council on the United Nations System, and area universities. Credit for the Doctoral Seminar will be assigned by the Program Director on a credit/non-credit basis. The Seminar is designed to provide structured opportunities for meaningful interaction among students, with faculty and with outside researchers and policymakers, as well as to expose incoming PhD students to the range of opportunities for learning in the area of global governance within the Waterloo community. Students must maintain continuous registration in this course during the first year of the program (3 terms).

Students may complete a four-to-eight month internship working on global governance issues in the public or private sector, at a research institute, or for a non-governmental organization. The “work-term,” for which no formal credit will be offered, will normally take place during the student’s second year in the PhD program.

Prior to completion of the third year, students whose doctoral dissertation is concerned with a non-English speaking country or region will be required to demonstrate proficiency in the language of that country. To fulfill the requirement, students will need to demonstrate proficiency in the second language, and may do so by completing designated language courses at either the University of Waterloo or Wilfrid Laurier University. Where there are no courses available, the Program Director will determine the time and method of language assessment, in consultation with the student. The language requirement (GV770) must be met before the doctoral candidate proceeds to the thesis stage.

Candidates must write comprehensive examinations in two areas within 16 months of starting the program. Normally, students will write comprehensive exams at the end of their first year. The first examination (GV791) will be on Global Governance and will test the breadth and depth of a student’s comprehension of the leading literature. The Program Director will appoint three core faculty members to set the exam questions and mark this first comprehensive exam. The faculty teaching the program core course (GV710) during that particular year must be included among these three faculty members.

For their second area (GV792), students will choose to write a comprehensive examination in one of the five fields of the program. The Program Director, in consultation with the student and the faculty teaching the field core courses, will strike a committee of three faculty members to set the exam questions and to mark the second comprehensive exam. Students can only write an examination in a field if they have completed two courses in that field, one of which must be a “core” course for that field.

Successful completion of comprehensive examinations allows students to progress to the dissertation proposal stage, at which point they should enrol in GV799. The student will normally prepare and present a dissertation proposal to a supervisor before the end of the second year. Normally, students will defend their dissertation proposal before a formal dissertation supervisory committee at the start of the third year or earlier. This defence can take place no later than 30 months after a student’s entry into the programme. A dissertation supervisory committee, normally composed of a supervisor and two core faculty of the Global Governance program, will be formed by the student with the agreement of the Program Director. The candidate will be required to submit a dissertation proposal to the committee. The committee will meet with the student to discuss the proposal. The student will also be required to present the dissertation proposals to the Doctoral Seminar. Upon formal approval, the candidate proceeds to the research and writing of the dissertation. Candidates who fail to satisfy this requirement within the established time frame may be asked to leave the program.

Normally, students should complete and defend the dissertation within four years of starting the program. When a dissertation is completed to the satisfaction of the supervisor, the thesis will be referred to the other members of the supervisory committee. After all committee members are satisfied with the dissertation, including completion of revisions recommended by the committee, an oral defence will be scheduled.

The regulations and procedures at the university where the student is registered will govern both the dissertation and the examination formats and the composition of the dissertation examining committee.

Decisions in the PhD Dissertation Defence

Five decisions are open to the examining committee:

• Accepted-The dissertation may require typographical and/or minor editorial corrections to be made to the satisfaction of the supervisor.
  
• Accepted with modifications-The dissertation requires minor changes in substance or major editorial changes which are to be made to the satisfaction of members of the examining committee designated by the committee. The examining committee's report must include a brief outline of the nature of the changes required and must indicate the time by which the changes should be completed. Normally such changes should be completed within four weeks of the date of the examination.
  
• Accepted conditionally-The dissertation requires more substantive changes, but will be acceptable when these changes are made to the satisfaction of those members of the examining committee designated by the committee. The examining committee's report must include a brief outline of the nature of the changes required and the date by which the changes are to be completed.
  
• Decision deferred- The dissertation requires modifications of a substantial nature, the need for which makes the acceptability of the thesis questionable. The examining committee's report must contain a brief outline of the modifications expected and should indicate the time by which the changes are to be completed. The revised thesis must be resubmitted for re-examination. Normally, the re-examination will follow the same procedures as for the initial submission except that the display period may be reduced or eliminated at the discretion of the appropriate graduate dean. Normally the same examining committee will serve. A decision to defer is open only once for each candidate.
  
• Rejected- The dissertation is rejected. The examining committee shall report the reasons for rejection. A student whose doctoral dissertation has been rejected is required to withdraw from the PhD program.