Overview:
QOU is working diligently to develop academic programs in order to fulfill its mission and to address the needs of the Palestinian and Arab communities in numerous fields, all of which are in line with the Palestinian people's current political reality. In this regard, , it has offered a master's program in (2022/2023) in political science, with a study plan aimed at raising political awareness among graduates and developing their cultural and intellectual skills so that they can present the Palestinian cause, adopt, and defend the Palestinian people's legitimate rights.
This program enhances the student's capacity to think scientifically , as well as his ability to organize, implement, and deal with challenging conditions, as well as his understanding of the country's internal and external political systems. It equips the student with the knowledge of international relations provisions as well as the capacity to assess current international and political affairs.
Empowering Palestinian society with leaders distinguished by their knowledge and their ability to analyze to support official political institutions and bodies to work on facing local, regional and global political challenges.
This program aims to develop professional and specialized graduates in the Political Science field to contribute to the process of planning, designing, and developing effective learning environments supported by technology in the Palestinian education institutions through adopting the latest education strategies in the Political Science field.
These objectives can be achieved through:
- Providing graduates with advanced scientific skills that enable them to work in the field of political science.
- Preparing graduates to work in government and private organizations.
- Preparing skilled professional cadres capable of working as researchers and lecturers at colleges and universities.
- Meet the needs of the labor market for trained and qualified graduates to work in political science fields.
- Providing the government sector with trained cadres to work in ministries in diplomacy and the diplomatic corps.
The program aims to graduate specialized and professional academic individuals in the Political Science field to work in education and technical institutions. The following are the most important job opportunities for the program’s graduates:
- A diplomat at the embassies and national institutions of the state.
- An Analyst and specialist in foreign affairs.
- An expert in managing local and international crises and conflicts in many fields.
- A Consultant at local, regional and international institutions.
- An employee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other ministries' foreign divisions, such as Immigration, Trade, and the Environment; as well as intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations like the Red Crescent and Red Cross.6. Researcher and administrator in the field of political science.
- Political researcher.
- Bachelor’s degree in social education, history, geography, political science, legal studies, philosophy, journalism and media, or social service from Al-Quds Open University or from any other recognized university, with a cumulative GPA of “good” as a minimum. Admission is on a competitive basis according to the college's criteria.
- The student must successfully pass the personal interview according to criteria determined by the program committee.
- The student abides by the instructions for granting a master’s degree in the Faculty.
Courses for Master's Degree in Political Science Specialization
To obtain a MA degree in Political Science Specialization ، the student must successfully complete ( 36 ) credit hours distributed as follows:
Description of Courses for the Master in Political Science Program:
Credit Hours: 3 (Theoretical: 3, Practical: 0)
Prerequisite:
This course deals with international and regional organizations. It is concerned with the justifications for their establishment, functions, location, and role in resolving regional and international conflicts. The course focuses on studying the United Nations organizations and their affiliated agencies, UNESCO, the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation, the Arab League, and other active regional and international organizations in the Palestinian and regional arena
Credit Hours: 3 (Theoretical: 3, Practical: 0)
Prerequisite:
This course focuses on addressing and detecting the similarities and differences of the political phenomenon ? the current governments? patterns, the main concepts of the state and political sector, and topics related to the three governmental authorities; legislative, executive and judiciary, governmental political institutions, political parties, pressure groups, and public opinion. This course also reviews the different political system theories using dynamic analysis. It also aims to deepen the latest cognitive concepts of studying the comparative political systems through criticism, research, analysis, discussion, knowledge, and comparing some systems in modern and contemporary times. Moreover, this course reviews the applied part, which is based on comparing the political systems in some Arab countries, Europe, the USA, Russia, and China.
Credit Hours: 3 (Theoretical: 3, Practical: 0)
Prerequisite:
This course is based on the study of the Palestinian political system in terms of its origin and development of constitutional life and the study of its institutions. This course compares the Palestinian system with other types of political systems, such as the parliamentary system, the presidential system, and the mixed system.
Credit Hours: 3 (Theoretical: 3, Practical: 0)
Prerequisite:
This course aims to introduce Western political thought in terms of concept and origin. It also aims to show the development of Western political thought since the emergence of the nation-state and the stages of capitalism and socialism, with the West?s economic, social, and cultural development. The course helps students become familiar with contemporary Western political currents and their relevance to contemporary Western political thought, especially the ideas of Machiavelli, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Hegel, and Karl Marx. It also discusses contemporary Western political currents and the most important intellectual attempts to understand the nature of changes in the new world order
Credit Hours: 3 (Theoretical: 3, Practical: 0)
Prerequisite:
This course seeks to study geopolitics, a term that applies primarily to the influence of geography on politics, and the link between political geography and geographical research methods. It is the science of studying the impact of the land (land, sea, heights, underground, wealth, and location) on politics and the benefit of politics from this relationship for the future. This course aims to increase the student?s knowledge of how to evaluate geopolitical issues and increase their analytical ability to understand foreign policy
Credit Hours: 3 (Theoretical: 3, Practical: 0)
Prerequisite:
This course focuses on creating and developing political theories and thought starting from the Greek, Roman, and Islamic era until now. Moreover, this course addresses the political philosophy topics, including freedom, justice, ownership, rights, law, authorities? application of the law, and separation of powers
Credit Hours: 3 (Theoretical: 3, Practical: 0)
Prerequisite: 0/6202
This course discusses the most important policies that define the economic and social features of the Palestinian environment. It identifies the mechanism of public policy-making in the economic and social field, the actors influencing the process of making these policies, and the most important problems of public policymakers. The course also deals with the role of NGOs, the private sector, and citizens in making and drawing those policies and the mechanisms for implementation and evaluation. The course also introduces practical economic and social policies cases from the reality of the Palestinian environment
Credit Hours: 3 (Theoretical: 0, Practical: 3)
Prerequisite: 0/6744
This course aims to prepare the student for a master?s thesis in one of the topics related to the specialization under the supervision of a specialized professor. Finally, the students present and discuss their defense in front of an audience
Credit Hours: 3 (Theoretical: 3, Practical: 0)
Prerequisite:
This course focuses on the history of the contemporary and modern Palestinian cause starting from the Ottoman era through the British Mandate and the establishment of the Palestinian Authority. It also addresses the Zionist movement and the reasons behind its difference from other colonial movements. It reviews the Zionist movement from its creation until the establishment of the Israel State and the connotations and developments of Israel?s presence in the Arab and Islamic world and wars. It also addresses the Palestinian refugee issue, the Palestinian cause?s future under the existence of a Palestinian body on some of the Palestinian lands, and the Palestinian liberation uprisings against the occupation.
Credit Hours: 3 (Theoretical: 3, Practical: 0)
Prerequisite:
The course studies the work of diplomacy and its role in the field of supporting international relations, addressing the affairs of interest to countries, and discussing the most important solutions to reconcile divergent viewpoints and conflicting interests, settling differences, and solving problems in international relations. The course highlights the definition and application of public diplomacy in the twenty-first century and the relationship of diplomacy to the concepts of public relations and campaigns. It also addresses the principles of negotiations, the foundations of negotiation management, the various theories related to the negotiation process, negotiation strategy and tactics, and special case studies.
Credit Hours: 3 (Theoretical: 3, Practical: 0)
Prerequisite:
The course defines the division of clusters in the world in terms of their forms: military, economic, political, religious, linguistic, and comprehensive clusters. It also provides a definition of the goals and objectives of major clusters and large groups. The course also provides a view of the most important ways for regional, continental, or international cluster continuity and success
Credit Hours: 3 (Theoretical: 3, Practical: 0)
Prerequisite:
The course addresses the basic theories of international relations. It reviews developments in the international political system, discusses the main schools of thought, and helps understand international political behavior within the acclaimed power theories, the balance of power, organization, decision-making, strategic theories, economic and psychological theories, communication, and taking the initiative. The course aims to enable, understand and analyze current trends in the international arena by identifying the nature of the international community and the relations between states.
Credit Hours: 3 (Theoretical: 3, Practical: 0)
Prerequisite:
The course deals with diplomacy?s development, diversity, and change during different historical eras. It also deals with the concept of conflict and its relationship to a number of concepts, types of conflict, and peaceful and diplomatic methods of conflict resolution. It focuses on studying and understanding the mechanisms of peaceful diplomacy to resolve disputes between states, which are represented in negotiations, good intentions, mediation, investigation, documentation, and arbitration, and its role in restoring relations between states to their nature. The course introduces the most important strategic dimensions and influencing factors to human behavior and negotiating personality patterns.
Credit Hours: 3 (Theoretical: 3, Practical: 0)
Prerequisite:
This course deals with the existing systems in the Arab world and compares them in terms of the practice of democracy, both its form and content. It also deals with democratic transformations in the Arab world. It also aims to emphasize the necessity of providing the elements of democratic life such as development, social justice, and widening the margin of public freedoms, human rights, and equality.
Credit Hours: 3 (Theoretical: 3, Practical: 0)
Prerequisite:
This course aims to provide a holistic view of contemporary political parties and movements as a major and essential part of the system of governance that the Palestinian political bill introduced to achieve the principle of accountability and the peaceful transfer of power. The course focuses on studying the most important political parties and movements operating in the Palestinian arena in terms of their origin, program, and political vision. The course also clarifies the Palestinian Basic Law and its texts, emphasizing that Palestine?s government system is a representative democratic system based on political and partisan pluralism.
Credit Hours: 3 (Theoretical: 3, Practical: 0)
Prerequisite:
This course focuses on the methodological issues and basic and applied theory in political sciences and combines qualitative and quantitative analysis. This course also focuses on the scientific methodology to study the political sciences, facts of incidents (chronicles), methods of gathering the information, ethics of research, selecting and designing research, and methods of writing and analyzing reports on an accurate methodological scientific basis. This course aims to train students on event political analysis.
Credit Hours: 3 (Theoretical: 3, Practical: 0)
Prerequisite:
This course deals with the basic concepts of public relations, their development, and their importance as a practice and application and not just theorizing. It also tackles communication in public relations, the role of public relations in crisis management, and the institution?s advancement. The course also deals with international relations in terms of communication and networking with international institutions. It also deals with the role of public relations staff with the help of an external consultant and a set of topics of a nature related to public relations work, including: external media programs, offensive media programs, defensive media programs, programs to address rumors and false propaganda, programs for receiving and responding to complaints, crisis programs, and emergency problems
Credit Hours: 3 (Theoretical: 0, Practical: 3)
Prerequisite:
This is the first part out of two parts, where students prepare a research proposal and submit it to the program committee for review and feedback. During this course, there are individual meetings appointed between students and their supervisors
Credit Hours: 3 (Theoretical: 3, Practical: 0)
Prerequisite:
The course talks about the concept of electoral campaigns and their characteristics, such as campaigns, polarization, spreading propaganda, protest propaganda, and integration propaganda. It also interprets and discusses some models and forms of electoral campaigns, such as the constitutional model associated with presidential, legislative, and municipal elections, and the closed model associated with professional, union, and party elections. The course tackles the factors and importance of shaping public opinion, its characteristics and methods of changing it, and the international situation and its impact on the formation of public opinion.
Credit Hours: 3 (Theoretical: 3, Practical: 0)
Prerequisite: 0/6729
The course aims to identify the concept of public policy. It helps students know and analyze the decisions taken by the state, which are often in the form of plans, laws, or programs. The course also deals with how public policies in the state are linked to influential forces, interests, and networks at the local, regional and international levels.