The Ph.D. degree in history is offered with concentrations in Medieval history, Early Modern European history, Modern European history, American history and Latin American history. The department also offers coursework in African history, Middle Eastern history and Asian history.
During the first semester of full-time study, doctoral students choose a faculty advisor, who oversees the student's progress in preparing for comprehensive exams and in developing a dissertation topic.
The Ph.D. is a research degree and requires special commitment and skills. While the degree is not granted for routine adherence to certain regulations, or for the successful completion of a specified number of courses, there are certain basic requirements.
- Course and Residency Requirements
- Plan of Study
- Fields of Study
- Language Requirement
- The Comprehensive Exam
- The Dissertation
Course and Residency Requirements
Students entering directly into the Ph.D. program are required to complete 39 credits, 36 of which are taken prior to comprehensive exams. All students in the Ph.D. program are required to pursue two semesters of full-time study during the first year and must, in the course of their studies, complete at least two seminars (one of which may be the Dissertation Seminar) and at least three colloquia (the Introduction to Doctoral Studies, one in the major area, and one in a minor area).
Plan of Study
By the conclusion of the first semester, and after full consultation with their professors and the Director of Graduate Studies, students file a plan of study leading to the comprehensive examination. This plan of study consists of three areas of concentration, including one designated as the major area. From within this major area, students choose two fields of study. Because students are expected to develop a mature understanding of this major area as a whole, one of these two major fields should be general in nature. Students then select one field of study from each of two additional areas of concentration.
Usually faculty require that students take at least some formal coursework in each field and expect students to develop and master a reading list of important books and articles. With the approval of the advisor and the Director of Graduate Studies, students may offer, as one of the two minor areas, a discipline related to history or a topic within that cuts across traditional geographical or chronological boundaries. When considered necessary to a student's program, the department may require advanced-level work in a related discipline, either as a minor field or as supplemental work. This plan of study may be reviewed, evaluated and revised whenever necessary. However, changes must be approved by the faculty advisor and the Director of Graduate Studies.
Fields of Study
American History
- U.S. to 1877
- U.S. since 1860
- Intellectual and Cultural
- Social, Economic, and Labor
- Urban
- Race and Ethnicity
- Religion
- Diplomatic
- Gender and Women
Medieval
- Social and Economic
- Religious and Cultural
- Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman
- Early medieval France and Flanders
- Byzantine
Early Modern European
- Religion
- Intellectual and Cultural
- Social and Economic
- Gender and Women
- Early Modern France
Modern European
- Europe, 1789-1914
- Europe, 1870-1945
- Contemporary Europe
- Intellectual and Cultural
- Social, Economic, and Labor
- Diplomatic
- Religious
- Imperialism
- Modern Britain
- Modern France
- Modern Germany
- Modren Ireland
- Pre-Revolutionary Russia
- Soviet
Latin American
- Colonial Latin America
- Modern Latin America
- Central America/Caribbean
Other Areas
- China
- Japan
- Africa
- Middle East
- India and South Asia
- East Asia
Language Requirement
Ph.D. candidates, with the exception of medievalists, must pass two language exams. Students concentrating in American History may substitute competency in a field of particular methodological or theoretical relevance to their program of study for competency in a second foreign language. To do so, students must petition the Graduate Committee for the substitution and explain the nature of the field and its importance to the plan of study, particularly the dissertation. The student's faculty advisor certifies that the student has acquired the appropriate skills and knowledge. Medievalists must pass three language exams, one of which must be Latin or Greek.
The Comprehensive Exam
The student's oral comprehensive examination will be conducted by an examining board composed of four faculty members, two from the student's major area and one each from the two minor areas. A written examination may be substituted for an oral exam at the joint discretion of the student and the student's committee.
The Dissertation
Students must have a dissertation topic before taking and passing comprehensive exams. The last six credits earned for the degree, taken after the comprehensive exams, will be focused explicitly on the dissertation. These should include the Dissertation Seminar and an independent study with the faculty advisor. Dissertation proposals, written in the Dissertation Seminar, must be approved by the student's dissertation committee, consisting of three faculty, one of them designated as advisor. Proposals must be completed by the end of the semester following the passing of comprehensive exams and filed with the department. The completed dissertation must be approved by a committee of three readers - the faculty advisor and two other faculty members - and approved by the Director of Graduate Studies. It must also be defended at a public oral defense.