History, PhD

Location(s): Main Campus

The Department of History offers a full range of courses and programs in the fields of American, British and European, East Asian, Latin American, and Ottoman and Middle Eastern history. It offers exceptionally strong training in the fields of environmental history, science, technology and medicine, as well as women’s and gender history. While concentrating on the history of one nation or geographic area, students are encouraged to develop a comparative or global perspective in their work. To facilitate this, the department cooperates closely with a wide variety of interdisciplinary programs and departments to offer students additional instruction in comparative and world history perspectives.

Admission Requirements

Applicants for admission to graduate work in history are required to submit their college transcripts, scores on the Graduate Record Examination, an example of their written work (e.g., a paper submitted in an advanced undergraduate or graduate course), two letters of reference (preferably from professors), and a statement of their research interests and career goals.

Students who are not citizens or permanent residents of the United States must also submit proof of English proficiency (such as TOEFL, IELTS or PTE Academic scores). International students who have received a college or university degree from an institution in the United States, United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales), Ireland, Australia, New Zealand or some Canadian provinces are not required to submit TOEFL, IELTS or PTE Academic scores. Additionally, all international students must provide immigration forms guaranteeing financial support.

Admission to the PhD program is determined by the department when the student has completed work for the MA degree or its equivalent. All students who enter the program with an MA degree in history from another institution have their work reviewed by the department at the end of their first semester to confirm their admission to the doctoral program. Students entering with MA degrees in history from outside institutions are required to take an additional eight credits beyond the additional 24 credits needed for the PhD degree.

Program Requirements

Course Requirements

Students pursuing the PhD in History must complete a minimum of 56 graduate credits (excluding credit for the dissertation but including credits earned toward the MA) with an average of B+, which includes:

HIST 592 Historiography*
HIST 591 Teaching of College History (mandatory only for funded students)
Two 600-level research seminars (one of which must have been taken at the master’s level)
Elective courses in the major field (X credits)
Elective courses in the minor field (X credits)

*Students are encouraged to fulfill this requirement in their first year.

A student’s coursework should be closely correlated with the proposed major and minor fields, and should include a balance between general colloquia and specialized research seminars. Students are encouraged to work with a number of different professors to broaden their exposure to different historical styles, methods and theories. In addition to the work completed for their courses, students are expected to pursue a coherent program of readings in preparation for their comprehensive examinations. Independent reading courses may be arranged with individual instructors to cover special topics, but must not be used to satisfy more than one-third of a student’s degree requirements. At the doctoral level, only four (additional) credits of independent study taken under the S/U grading option will count toward the minimum number of course credits required for the degree. All graduate seminars counted toward the history degree must be taken for a letter grade.

Choosing Advisors

Students are advised by a faculty member in their fields of concentration during their first semester in the graduate program. Before the beginning of the second semester, the student selects an appropriate member of the faculty as principal advisor (sponsor) and chair of a guidance committee. The student, in consultation with the principal advisor, solicits two additional faculty members to serve on the guidance committee. The chairperson of the guidance committee, with the assistance of colleagues and the director of graduate studies, aids students in their choices of courses, advises them on the fulfillment of other academic requirements and, in general, guides them through the graduate program. Normally, the guidance committee forms the core of the student’s comprehensive examination committee. In most cases, too, a student’s guidance committee serves as a three-person dissertation committee.

No faculty member is required to accept a particular student as an advisee. A student may, for reasonable cause, petition the director of graduate studies for a change of principal advisor or guidance committee.

Foreign Language Requirements

All PhD students must demonstrate proficiency in a foreign language chosen by the student in consultation with his or her guidance committee. Students for whom English is not their native language must demonstrate proficiency in English. The guidance committee may also require additional languages necessary for scholarship in the student’s field.

Exam Requirements

The comprehensive examination consists of two examinations, one written and one oral, in the major and minor fields and a dissertation prospectus. Doctoral candidates must take a comprehensive examination in either a) one major and two minor fields; OR b) in two major and one minor fields. Every major field has a written component, either a one-day exam of six to eight hours or a take-home exam completed over a period of two weeks. The student will be examined on the written answers in the subsequent oral portion of the examination, which also tests the student’s knowledge in the minor field(s), includes a defense of the prospectus, and lasts three hours. Detailed lists of both major and minor fields are available from the department and in the departmental Graduate Student Handbook.

Students are officially admitted to candidacy for the PhD degree upon satisfactory completion of the comprehensive examination. Candidates for the PhD degree must maintain registration (dissertation or continuous registration credits) until all the degree requirements are completed. (See also the Graduate School policy statement.)

Dissertation Prospectus Requirement

Presentation of an acceptable prospectus is assumed to be part of the PhD comprehensive examination. Students may, in consultation with their guidance committees, separate their prospectus presentation from the comprehensive examination; in such cases, they must have a colloquium on the prospectus within three months of the PhD oral comprehensive examination. If necessary, revisions to the prospectus may be made following the comprehensive examination or prospectus colloquium. The final prospectus must, in any case, be on file in the department within six months of passing the comprehensive examination.

Dissertation Requirement

At least two semesters must elapse between admission to candidacy and the granting of the degree. The PhD in history is granted, after admission to candidacy, on successful completion of the following requirements:

Submission of a dissertation approved by the candidate’s dissertation committee. The dissertation must present a new interpretation of a familiar subject, or an investigation of a subject hitherto neglected and must be written under the supervision of a member of the graduate faculty.
Successful defense of the dissertation in an oral examination.

Additional Information About the Program

The department reserves the right to alter these regulations and requirements without notice, pending the publication of the next scheduled issue of this publication.

For more information on the History PhD program, please refer to the History Department website. To apply to the History PhD program, please visit the University Admissions website.