Doctorate

PhD Program Requirements

For the doctorate program, a student must complete a minimum of 52 credits, distributed as follows: 27 credits from the Master's program (credits from other Graduate Programs can be transferred if the syllabi and course load are equivalent); 13 credits in required courses; and 12 credits in elective courses. Of the elective credits, 6 credits (for two courses) can be taken at other PUC-Rio Graduate Programs or other institutions with prior approval from the Program's Coordination.

The curriculum dynamic was designed to offer the following academic path for both the master's and doctoral programs: a) completion of required courses; b) completion of elective courses and formalizing the link with the faculty advisor; c) participation in academic activities such as a teaching internship, seminars, and conferences, organizing academic events, contributing to the editorial processes of the PPGD Journal, participating in research and extension groups, and publishing partial research results; d) qualifying the project and a chapter of the in-progress dissertation or thesis; and e) the defense of the dissertation or thesis.

The required courses represent the identity of the PPGD, addressing the central issues highlighted in the area of concentration and the crucial aspects of each research area. For the doctoral program, they are: Contemporary Constitutional Theory (JUR2545), Ethics, Human Rights, Constitutional Principles (JUR2546), Theory of Democracy (JUR2547), Research Seminar (JUR2548), Qualifying Examination (JUR3004), and Doctoral Thesis (JUR3001).

Proficiency in one foreign language is required for the master’s program, and two for the doctorate (English, French, Italian, Spanish, or German). Language proficiency is assessed during the admissions process, but the result obtained is also included in the student's academic transcript.

Elective Courses

Elective courses allow for a deeper exploration of debates and reflect the issues being developed in current or recently completed research projects. They are taken with the advice of the advisor or based on their direct relevance to the essential issues for the development of the dissertation or thesis, as they are common to both master's and doctoral programs. All elective courses are designed to provide an organic relationship with the required courses, the area of concentration, and the research areas, as well as to foster a reflective and critical environment. The courses are offered on a semester basis and follow a scheduled catalog.

Although certain elective courses have become consolidated over time and are offered permanently, they provide a more dynamic curriculum structure that reflects the work of the Program's faculty and student body. It is also in these courses that visiting researchers or those on work missions at our PPGD participate most actively, giving our students the opportunity to benefit from the program's internationalization efforts, in addition to stays abroad.

The elective schedule is designed to be directly articulated with each of the research areas. The distribution of courses by research area, among those offered in the 2021-2024 quadrennium, was as follows:

1. Constitutional Transformations and Contemporary Constitutional Thought: The following elective courses were offered: Special Topics in Constitutional Law (Constitutional Formation of Brazil - JUR2562), Special Topic in Constitutional Law (Law and New Technologies - JUR2517), Special Topic in Constitutional Law (Empirical Studies in Fundamental Rights - JUR 2526), Special Topic in Constitutional Law (The Role of Constitutional Courts - JUR 2582), Special Topics in Political Theory – Author Studies (Deleuze and Guattari: Law and Politics - JUR2541), Special Topics in Constitutional Law (Controversial Issues of Philosophy of Law and Constitutional Theory - JUR2565), Comparative Constitutional Law (JUR2504), Special Topic in Political Theory (The Democratic Phenomenon: Issues of Political Philosophy and History - JUR2887), Special Topic in Constitutional Law (Empirical Studies in Fundamental Rights - JUR2526), Special Topics in Constitutional Law (Latin American Constitutionalism - JUR2561).

2. Human Rights, Democracy, and International Order: The following elective courses were offered: Special Topics in Human Rights (Gender and Private Relations - JUR2590), Special Topics in Human Rights (Human Rights, Democracy, and the Right to Memory and Truth - JUR2533), Special Topic in Human Rights (Dialogues between Environmentalism, Urban Planning, and Gender - JUR2519), Special Topics in Human Rights (Refuge and Refugee Populations - JUR2589), Special Topic in Political Philosophy (Law, Amerindian Perspectivism, Territory, and Ecology - JUR2888), Legal Sociology (JUR2255), Special Topics in Human Rights (Law in the intersectionality of race and gender - JUR2566), Special Topics in Human Rights (Examination of the nature-culture distinction and the idea of the human in contemporary anthropology - JUR2911), Special Topic in Human Rights (Urban and Environmental Law in the Brazilian Constitutional Order - JUR2568), Special Topics in Human Rights (Exclusionary Democracy, State of Exception, and Contemporary Fascism - JUR2516), Legal Sociology: Critical Criminology and Decolonial Thought (JUR2532), Special Topic in Human Rights (Climate Justice and the Right to Development in the Anthropocene - JUR2569), Special Topic in Human Rights (Critical Thought, Memory, Truth, and Justice - JUR2534), Special Topics in Philosophy of Law (Social Movements and Academic Research: Epistemic and Methodological Challenges), Special Topics in Human Rights (Socio-environmental Rights and Climate Justice - JUR2570).

3. Legal Theory, Ethics, and the Construction of Subjectivity: The following elective courses were offered: Special Topics in Legal Theory (Legal Interpretation - JUR 2592), Special Topics in Political Theory (Hegel's Philosophy of Law: Toward a Philosophy of Freedom - JUR2595), Special Topic in Human Rights – Author Studies (Jean Pierre Bourdieu and Luis Alberto Warat - JUR2567), Special Topic in Political Philosophy (Political Philosophy and Modernity: Around Hans Blumenberg and Norbert Elias - JUR2588), Special Topics in Legal Theory (The Worlds of Primo Levi - JUR2593), Special Topic in Political Theory (Spinoza's Political Thought - JUR2576), Special Topic in Political Philosophy (Skepticism in Motion: Modern Political Philosophy and the Ethical Tradition - JUR2598), Special Topic in Political Theory (Studies on Spinoza and Modern Political and Legal Thought JUR2540), Special Topic in Political Philosophy (The Modernity of Thomas Hobbes: Issues of Anthropology, Metaphysics, and Metapolitics - JUR2578), Special Topic in Philosophy of Law (Bridges Between Social Psychology and Philosophy of Law - JUR2577), Special Topic in Political Theory (Readings of Primo Levi - JUR2570).

Specific Coursework and Requirements

The Author Studies course—an elective that is part of all research areas—is comprised of lists of authors that each professor presents for guided study with master's and doctoral students. This allows specific authors of particular relevance to master's dissertations and doctoral theses to be studied with supportive guidance, enabling a continuous dialogue between the student and more than one professor during the development of their work.

The Research Seminar is organized and shared by the doctoral professors to monitor the maturation of the thesis project relative to the pre-project submitted during the selective process. Thus, professors organize the content of the Seminar each year, sharing sessions among themselves or even with visiting faculty from other institutions. A coordinating professor is responsible for the Seminar’s operation, setting days and times, managing the granting of academic grades, receiving guest professors, and offering support for the completion of activities.

The Qualifying Examination consists of a public defense of the Research Project and at least one in-progress chapter of the Doctoral Thesis or Master's Dissertation. In the Doctoral Qualifying Examination, the candidate must defend the originality and feasibility of their project before the examining board, as well as its effective contribution to the selected field of knowledge. In the Master's Qualifying Examination, the candidate must defend their mastery of the chosen topic, their ability to systematize acquired knowledge, and the feasibility of their project before the examining board. The examining boards must be composed of 3 researchers, including the advisor, with at least one member not belonging to the Program's faculty.

As previously indicated, the curriculum structure reflects the academic vocation of the program, developing theoretical and methodological contributions directly related to the area of concentration and the research areas, in order to support the training of future professors and researchers in the field of Law through a critical and interdisciplinary approach, articulated with internationalization efforts.