Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in History

The PhD program in History is designed to prepare individuals for academic research and writing and for college- and university-level teaching. While alternative career paths are available—in public history, for instance, or academic administration—training for the degree requires an extensive apprenticeship in, and a singular focus on, the process of conducting original historical research and crafting unique historical arguments for other scholars in the discipline. Students are expected to complete the Ph.D. program in five to seven years. The PhD program is intimate and rigorous, and one of its hallmarks is a series of professionalization courses designed to prepare students for the profession. This series is composed of the following: (1) a methodology colloquium that introduces the students to a wide range of theory and historical practice; (2) an advanced writing seminar in which students write an article-quality paper; (3) a professionalization seminar in which students are trained in the habits of mind and skills of the profession; and (4) a dissertation prospectus seminar. The program is divided into two stages: (1) During the first and second years students take seminars that introduce the major historiographical questions and methodologies of various fields and that develop their research skills; they write an article-length paper based on original archival research; they take a professionalization course that introduces them to the principal tasks and cultures of the profession (grant writing, for instance, and conference presentations); and they form an exam committee and begin preparation for the preliminary examinations. (2) After passing the examinations by the end of their fifth semester, students develop a prospectus for and research and write their dissertation. The dissertation is typically completed in the fifth or sixth year (though some students take longer).