Course Details
Capstone in Political Economy
IPEC/PECO—4980, Spring 2025
Tuesday/Thursday: 11:00–12:15
Walsh 495
Professors
Prof. Nita Rudra
- Office: Mortara Center 206
- Office Hours: Tuesdays, 12:30–1:30 pm
- Email: nr404@georgetown.edu
Prof. Joel Simmons
- Office: Mortara Center #212
- Office Hours: TBA
- Email: js4618@georgetown.edu
TA: Parushya
- Office Hours: Thursdays, 1:00–3:00 PM
- Location: TBA/Zoom - Email: pp714@georgetown.edu
Office Hour Links
- Sign up for Professor Rudra’s office hours (Zoom or in-person)
- Sign up for Professor Simmons’ office hours
Goals
Students will write a senior research thesis in political economy. You will find and evaluate scholarly literature and make an original contribution to that literature. The focus will be on developing a research question and a methodology to address it. The course serves as the culmination of the knowledge you obtained as majors in International Political Economy (SFS students) or Political Economy (College students).
Requirements
The only course requirement is that students attend and participate in all lecture, discussion, presentation, and writing sessions.
Students may find the following book helpful as they proceed, and so it is recommended but not required:
- Powner, L. (2015). Empirical research and writing. A Political Science Student’s Practical Guide. SAGE Publications, Inc.
https://doi.org/10.4135/9781483395906
Assignments
Research Paper (90%)
Each student will write an article-length paper based on the student’s own original research. The length should be of a standard article in the political economy field—about 20 pages, double-spaced, 12-point font, including tables, figures, references, and notes. In the paper, students are expected to evaluate, critique, test, and build upon a current debate in political economy. Students should develop hypotheses and test them using quantitative methods. All final thesis papers must be posted on the Canvas discussion site and submitted in hard copy (if possible) by the due date listed in the outline. Late papers will be downgraded ½ a letter grade per day late.
Research Presentations (10%)
Toward the end of the term, each student will present their paper to the class. Student presentations should be no more than 8–10 minutes in length and will be followed by 8–10 minutes of questions and answers. Use of PowerPoint slides or other presentation materials is required. An electronic version of your presentation must be posted on the Canvas discussion site by 10:00 am on the day it is to be presented.
Class Structure
The course has three forms of instruction:
- Lecture/Discussions: Sessions indicated as ‘Discussions’ will be a cross between a lecture and group Q&A. These sessions will focus on the major components of the final thesis: Topic/Puzzle, literature review, methodology, and analysis.
- Data Sessions: The TA will provide sessions aimed at providing you a brief refresher on working with statistical software such as R or Stata.
- Writing Days: Much of the semester will be dedicated toward group meetings and writing days. Students will come to class and work on their papers. The professors and TA will be available for questions.
Students will be divided into two cohorts: one led by Professor Nita Rudra and the other by Professor Joel Simmons. Each cohort will further be subdivided into Group A and Group B. Please ensure you are aware of your assigned cohort and group, as this will determine your participation and schedule throughout the course.
On days scheduled as “Writing Day with Professors”, the particular groups (A or B) from Prof Rudra & Simmons sections will meet them separately. The other groups from both sections will meet the TA (Writing Day with TA).
As the course progresses, writing days could also be used as days for one-on-one meetings with Professors and TA for focused discussion on your research projects.
The due dates for deliverables (column 3 above) are for both groups in both the sections. All the deliverables are due on Canvas before the beginning of class on that particular date.
Details of these deliverables is as follows:
Short research proposal: Your research proposal should include (i) the research question and why it is interesting, (ii) your working hypothesis and its basis, (iii) potential methodological approach, data and challenges. It is due on Canvas by the beginning of class.
Literature Review: Your literature review should summarize key scholarly works relevant to your research question, identify gaps or unresolved questions in the existing literature, and explain how your research will address these gaps.
Analysis: Submit a write-up of the analysis section (including the description of the research methods, presentation of results, and discussion of their robustness).
Presentation: Standard conference poster presentation. More details about this deliverable to be explained in class.
Annotated replication material: Your annotated replication material should include all data, program files, and a detailed readme file necessary to replicate your results. The readme file should clearly explain the steps to reproduce your analysis and any specific instructions for using the data or code.
Final Paper: Your final paper should be an article-length manuscript (approximately 20 double-spaced pages) that evaluates, critiques, tests, and builds upon a current debate in political economy. It should include a clear research question, hypotheses, methodology, analysis, results, and a discussion of findings.