History (PhD)

Required Coursework:

• HIST 600 - Approaches to History Credit(s): 3
• Five courses (15 credits) from the Approved History Reading Seminars:  list, excluding HIST 600.

Required Research and Writing Coursework:

PhD students must complete two courses (6 credits) of research and writing coursework from the following list.

• HIST 803 - Research and Writing Seminar: America to 1860 Credit(s): 3
• HIST 805 - Research and Writing Seminar: America 1860-Present Credit(s): 3
• HIST 807 - History beyond Borders Credit(s): 3

Electives:

After required courses are completed, sufficient elective credits must be taken to meet the minimum credit requirement for the degree.

Doctoral Dissertation

After passing the qualifying exams, PhD students are registered for 9 credits of HIST 969. During this time they will write their dissertation which must make a significant contribution to historical knowledge, uphold professional standards of research and interpretation, and be presented in clear, well- organized English prose.

The dissertation is written under the guidance of a dissertation director and three other faculty members who together constitute the student’s dissertation committee. Composition of this committee must be approved by the Graduate Studies Committee. It is expected that the director of the dissertation will be a faculty member in the history department, but a student can petition the Graduate Studies Committee for approval of an outside director. At least one faculty member on the dissertation committee must come from outside the department.

The doctoral student must defend the dissertation before their dissertation committee in a forum that is open to the university as a whole. This 90-120 minute oral defense, which is chaired by the dissertation director, is concerned with the content, methodology, and significance of the dissertation.

• HIST 969 - Doctoral Dissertation Credit(s): 1-12