* Students must choose the Research Methods field as one of their fields of concentration, plus one of the three core doctoral fields (policy, management, or finance). For their third field, students have three options: they may choose to do another core field, to do a field in health or urban policy, or to develop a special field (subject to approval by the Wagner School Doctoral Board) based on coursework taken in other parts of NYU. All students must pass the doctoral comprehensive examinations in their three fields. Please note that the three field exams must be passed within three semesters of each other (four, if one receives a failing grade).
Fields of concentration are defined by a coherent body of knowledge: concepts and theories, research and professional literature. A field is more than just a cluster of courses. However, coursework does contribute to identifying theoretical and substantive bases of a field. Fields are not mutually exclusive. In fact, they tend to overlap even though each field represents a distinctive set of intellectual concerns expressed in theories, topics, approaches and research emphases.
The Doctoral Program Office has a set of Field Description documents for the research methods, finance, policy, management, health and urban fields available for students to assist them in preparation for the comprehensive exams. The customized field option is available under special circumstances and upon consultation with the student's advisor or Doctoral Program Director. Customized fields are developed under the supervision of a Wagner faculty member who serves as the primary reader of the field exam. Faculty from other schools at NYU can serve as secondary readers and advisors of the customized field exam.
Once it has been established that there are sufficient grounds for a customized field, students must write a proposal identifying the main topics, issues, and literature in that field as well as document any preparatory work such as coursework and/or independent readings done on the topic. Furthermore, students must have a Wagner faculty sponsor prior to submission for final approval by the Doctoral Board. Requests for a customized field must be made at least one semester before the student plans to take this alternate field examination. Note that a customized field must be comparable in breadth and scope to the established fields and not overlap significantly with any of them (see the Assistant Director for guidelines). Over the years students have developed the following customized fields: Education Policy, International Development, and Poverty & Inequality. Students are encouraged to choose one of these areas as a building block for designing their customized field.
