phd history definition

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Ph.D. Program

Pursue a doctoral degree.

The mission of our doctoral program in History is to train the next generation of historians to the highest professional standards in our discipline, from which they can pursue careers in academia, information management, public history, and the non-profit sector, among others. Earning a KU Ph.D. in History requires a mastery of research skills, including the ability to contextualize and interpret primary sources, knowledge of the languages relevant to one’s research, and the ability to develop an original historical argument that contributes to the historiography of one’s field. Moreover, a KU Ph.D. in History certifies that students can communicate complex ideas persuasively in writing and orally. It also attests to the readiness of a graduate of our program to teach history and advise undergraduates at the level of the university classroom and to train graduate students. 

Research in Your Field

Our program privileges advanced training in History that prepares and encourages students to research and write “across and between” conventionally-defined historiographical fields. To develop such a research program, students read in geographic, chronological, and thematic fields. Fields may be geographic, chronological, and/or thematic to provide maximum flexibility. Ph.D. students designate one major and two minor fields in consultation with their primary advisor and advisory committee.

Achieve Success

The success of this structure is borne out by the achievements of our students. In their time at KU, current graduate students have won prestigious fellowships from the National Science Foundation, American Council of Learned Societies and Fulbright (among numerous others) and published in international journals including  Diplomatic History, Agricultural History, Environment and History, Western Historical Quarterly, Soviet and Post-Soviet Review,  and  The Americas.  They conduct research in Japan, Brazil, Lithuania, China, the Czech Republic, Mexico, Spain, Korea, Russia, the United Kingdom, and every region of the United States.

Fund Your Research

All students who are admitted into the Ph.D. program for full-time study, except those who have secured guaranteed external institutional funding, are provided with 5 years of funding in the form of a fellowship, teaching, or research position. International students whose native language is not English are eligible to hold a GTA appointment, provided they meet the University's and the Department's standards for written and spoken English. Applicants who indicate that they are seeking Department funding will be considered automatically for nomination for University-wide fellowships and grants for entering graduate students. The Office of Graduate Studies offers a limited number of fellowships and supplemental scholarships for first-year students. Graduate students in African, East Asian, Latin American, and Russian/Eastern European history are strongly urged to apply simultaneously  for Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowships  from the appropriate KU Area Studies centers. FLAS fellowships provide recipients with tuition remission and a stipend while they pursue their degree program and enroll in formal language study.

Professional historians pursue a variety of careers. Recent Ph.D. graduates of the KU History Department hold tenured or tenure-track positions at research universities, liberal arts colleges, and community colleges; they work in university administration; they take positions for federal, state, and local governments; they work in archives, museums, and think tanks. The changing nature of the academic job market demands that even those graduate students who wish to pursue academic employment are advised to consider non-academic career tracks. Through discussions with faculty, visitors to the campus, and discussions with fellow graduate students and colleagues from other institutions (both academic and non-academic), students become familiar with the variety of career opportunities provided by a Ph.D. in History.

 In this age of declining academic opportunity, KU is especially keen to offer every professional advantage to our graduate students and alumni. Consequently, we work consistently to ensure that our students present the best possible intellectual content and professional performance. Faculty and other graduate students critique and workshop papers, article submissions, research methods, job letters, CVs, public presentations, and job talks at every step of the process, ensuring that when our graduates leave Mount Oread they are prepared to master any professional challenge.

Recent Graduates

Prerequisites

Many students enter the graduate program at the University of Kansas after completing an undergraduate degree in History and, if they are pursuing doctoral work, perhaps, even a Master’s degree. Others have training in related fields. Regardless, applicants are expected to demonstrate competence in the foundational skills of historical thinking, research, and writing. Moreover, students who are applying in fields where the primary research language is not English must also show sufficient capacity in the primary research language in their proposed field in order to demonstrate proficiency in their first year in Department's graduate program.

Under  Department of History rules, applicants must have a minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.0 on a 4-point scale in order to qualify for regular admission. Most successful applicants have undergraduate GPAs significantly above the minimum. Preference in admissions decisions will be given to applicants who do not yet possess the terminal degree in a humanities discipline.

Admissions Process

In History at KU, we privilege high-quality graduate advising and mentorship at every stage of a student’s interaction with our department. As such, our application processes for the M.A. and Ph.D. are geared towards ensuring the best possible fit between faculty and graduate students. Graduate applicants who seek to study at the University of Kansas are  required  to correspond with  at least one  prospective faculty advisor well in advance of the application deadline. On the most basic level, these preliminary contacts with faculty give applicants a sense of whether or not the prospective advisor is currently taking new students. More than this, these conversations offer candidates for admission a better sense of how they might fit into the program at KU. Our admissions process is designed to educate prospective students about what studying at KU would really be like and about the resources the Department and University possess in their areas of interest, as well as offering an opportunity to get to know some of the people they’d be working with during their time here. Moreover, the early establishment of a relationship between prospective faculty and applicant permits students to refine their applications to better articulate the candidate’s fit with our program. The prospective faculty advisor will be able to more effectively advocate for the applicant’s candidacy based upon this correspondence.

Once candidates for admission have established correspondence with at least one prospective advisor, they must complete the online application through the KU Office of Graduate Admission . International or domestic applicants who are non-native speakers of English should carefully review  Graduate Studies’ English Proficiency Requirements . 

The application deadline is December 15 for all applicants.  International applicants please schedule the TOEFL exam with this deadline in mind—scores must be received by the application deadline.

The application comprises the following:

• Suggest a potential direction for your research at KU as concretely as possible;
• Outline how you see a Ph.D. or M.A./Ph.D. in History fitting into your broad career goals ; and
• Identify   specific chronological, geographical, and thematic areas of interest
• Curriculum Vitae
• Writing Sample (maximum twenty-five pages, double-spaced).  The Department is interested in reviewing the best-crafted, most persuasively argued writing sample that applicants are able to provide. Such papers are often derived from an upper-level undergraduate history class in which the student conducted independent research and employed both primary and secondary sources. 
• GRE Scores are not required
• Official Transcript  from  each  institution that has granted you a degree, or at which you are currently enrolled
• Three letters of recommendation  – The letters will be directly uploaded online directly by those who write the recommendations

Please note that documents, including a writing sample and transcripts, should be  uploaded  to the application. Applicants should  not  send hard copies of application materials to the Department of History.

When you submit your online application, it is made available to the Department of History for review, yet it is the applicant's responsibility to ensure the Office of Graduate Studies has received  all materials  by the deadline. The Department of History Graduate Office  cannot  process your application and move it forward for consideration by the Graduate Committee until  all  materials have been received. The Department of History reviews applications for completeness, and the Graduate Academic Advisor will contact you if your application is not complete.

Timeline for Applicant

• If your first language is not English, arrange to take the TOEFL.
• Contact your undergraduate or Master's advisor to discuss your interests. Ask them about general application practices and specific universities that specialize in your areas of interest.
• Research the schools your advisor recommended. Take a look at the faculty pages and note professors whose interests align with your own, aiming for two or three professors whose interests overlap with yours. Acquaint yourself with their current research by checking out and reading their most recent published works.
• Familiarize yourself with the admissions process and deadlines for the schools to which you have chosen to apply. Begin gathering the required application materials (GRE/TOEFL scores, academic transcripts, writing sample, etc.)
• Begin writing your statement of purpose. Have GRE/TOEFL scores and academic transcripts sent to your preferred institutions. They will be put on file until your application is complete.
• Email two to three faculty at your preferred institutions working in the areas of your interest. The discussions you begin with faculty are important in admissions decisions, as the department will only admit students whom faculty members believe they can advise well.
• Contact individuals acquainted with your academic work and ask if they would be willing to write letters of recommendation on your behalf.  During the online application you will be asked to submit the names and contact information for your recommenders. You should give your recommenders a minimum of one-month notice before the application deadline.
• Check that your preferred institutions have received the required TOEFL scores and academic transcripts.

November/December

• Complete revisions of all required documents such as your statement of purpose and writing sample
• Contact recommenders to ensure they have submitted recommendations.
• Submit your application in advance of the December 15  deadline.

Check out recent dissertations, apply to the program or contact a Graduate advisor.

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• Graduate Advisor
• Director of Graduate Studies

Perspectives Daily

The Purpose of a History PhD

Lessons Learned from Career Diversity

AHA Career Diversity Fellows | Aug 14, 2020

The AHA’s Career Diversity for Historians initiative is leading a national conversation to better align the purpose of doctoral education with the varying skills, values, and interests of graduate students and the changing professional opportunities for historians within and beyond the academy. In the spring of 2018, 20 PhD-granting history departments were awarded Career Diversity implementation grants to support a team of faculty and a graduate student fellow to collaboratively build sustainable cultural and structural change in their doctoral programs. After two years of work at our partner institutions, we asked the fellows to discuss what they’ve learned and share some of the innovative ways they are creating student-centered doctoral programs that prepare history PhDs for a range of careers.

AHA Career Diversity fellows at the 2018 orientation. Elizabeth Poorman.

In this post, the sixth of a six-part series, the Career Diversity fellows reflect on how two years of department-focused work has changed their views on the purpose of doctoral education in history, on higher education in general, and their own careers.

What do you think is the purpose of a history PhD?

Vanessa Madrigal-Lauchland (Univ. of California, Davis): Most folks interpret “What is the purpose of a history PhD?” as “What can one do with a history PhD?” The Career Diversity initiative has worked hard to answer that question with a resounding, “Anything you want.” However, the heart of the question, “What is the purpose of a history PhD?” is really asking about our goals as humanists in this world. This forces us to reflect on our values, relationship with our communities, and our impact on society. 

Derek Kane O’Leary (Univ. of California, Berkeley): I don’t know. But I would love to see my department bring together faculty, grad students, undergrads, and alumni to collaboratively craft an answer to that and publish it on our website.

Lillian Wilson (Wayne State Univ.): I worked in museums and as a community college and art college lecturer before beginning the PhD and understood that I needed the doctorate to advance in the museum world or in academia. My work for Career Diversity has revealed to me that I can have a meaningful career that merges my strengths as a teacher and mentor, museum administrator, and scholar.

Matt Reeves (Univ. of Missouri–Kansas City),: The PhD is a signifier of professional approval. What, precisely, that sign of approval means is up to faculty in PhD-granting departments. But those expectations can (and should) change as the nature of the work performed by PhDs changes. As graduate students have the freedom to make their degree work for their careers, faculty have the freedom to redefine doctoral degree requirements. If we believe that people with PhDs are a positive good for society both within and beyond academe, then it’s time that faculty accept diverse new comps fields and capstone projects beyond the traditional dissertation. 

Stephanie Narrow (Univ. of California, Irvine): The history PhD naturally attracts the intellectually curious, those who seek to find new perspectives on past and present issues. The PhD should foster this curiosity so that graduate students feel empowered to explore professionalization and career pathways with the same spirit of inquiry that they do their research agendas.

Trishula Patel (Georgetown Univ.): A PhD in history provides training not only in the traditional aspects of research, historiography, and pedagogy, but in the intellectual grounding that we’re given to articulate our work’s value beyond the academy. Many PhD students and faculty write for popular media outlets, teach outside the university, or engage with the public in ways that go beyond the occasional interview or op-ed. The ultimate goal, I believe, should be to give students the intellectual and practical tools to teach, research, and apply what we learn to policy, activism, and the greater good of society. 

Allison Faber (Texas A&M Univ.): The most challenging part of this question is to determine one purpose of a history PhD. Broadly, a PhD signals that one has completed the highest level of training in historical research methods and historiography. However, that training is fruitless without sharing the knowledge and tools gained during a doctoral program. So, I would say that the purpose of a history PhD is to give students the ability to effectively use historical thinking to shed light on historical problems and to communicate that knowledge to others.

Brian Campbell (Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign): We need historical expertise now more than ever. Historians excel at explaining difficult concepts in the classroom, and such evidence-based historical learning should be a foundational part of any high school and middle school experience. We could better support graduate students who aspire to teach K–12, as well as in other educational spaces like prisons. Also more historians could be working as analysts and consultants, helping to inform decision-making that affects policy, governance, and culture.

Do you think about higher education differently now?

Vanessa Madrigal-Lauchland (Univ. of California, Davis): The term “higher education” always brought to mind the image of a bar just out of reach. It’s in the name, right? “Higher.” It wasn’t created for me, the Xicana, the first-generation American, the girl who lived squished in a one-bedroom apartment with her giant family. Even as I earned my way into more advanced programs and became part of the system, the mass and momentum of higher education seemed alien and separate from my passive existence as a student. But this experience empowered me (and other students) to collaborate with faculty, cross-campus institutions, and administrators to make concrete and identifiable change. After this fellowship, I think of higher education as a system supported and driven by a passionate community of individuals committed to education and equality, who are willing to work toward changing a structure that was built to resist it. 

Stephanie Narrow (Univ. of California, Irvine): My work has opened my eyes to the complexity of universities and their administrative hierarchies, especially in a large system like the University of California. We’ve found success in navigating institutional channels by partnering with other campus organizations, and working through, rather than against, the university. 

Tim Herbert (Univ. of Illinois at Chicago): I’ll admit that I had a naive and privileged view of higher education before I started graduate school. (The Ivory Tower! Life of the Mind!) Participating in Career Diversity accelerated the shift in my views already under way and gave me a better framework for thinking about higher education. I also have a greater appreciation for the work faculty do, especially the committee and service work that is often invisible to graduate students. For instance, I’ve watched our department chair handle budgeting at a time when Illinois’s finances—and thus the University of Illinois at Chicago’s financial state—were emerging from total chaos (Illinois effectively did not have a complete budget for two years prior to 2018). 

Andrew Brown (Texas A&M Univ.): This fellowship has provided me with the opportunity to wade into the world of faculty politics and helped me learn more about department and college service than ever before. Service is not a small part of each faculty member’s job but it is probably the area most graduate students are unprepared for in the academy. I learned how decisions are made in our department and college, which helped me gain an appreciation for the people who do that work.

Matthew Villeneuve (Univ. of Michigan): We have a lot of “intergenerational” historical knowledge to draw on, and heeding that accumulated wisdom is one of the things that can broaden our sense of what historical thinking is, and where it happens.

Tyler Krahe (West Virginia Univ.): I’ve become even more convinced that higher education has a lot of room to grow. A department doesn’t have to be all things to all students and it is more than just the faculty within it. The expertise and skills of alumni are a way for a department to cater to the wants and needs of individual students. I hope that is the direction we are headed. 

With what you know now, what would your ideal of graduate education in history be like?

Vanessa Madrigal-Lauchland (Univ. of California, Davis): Graduate education ought to be flexible, equitable, and diverse. Although social justice might not seem like a key aim of Career Diversity, the topic has been present in every conversation about sustainability, resources, and accessibility. If graduate programs are truly committed to diversity and equal access to education, we must create equitable solutions to facilitate student success. 

Tim Herbert (Univ. of Illinois at Chicago): I want graduate education to respond to students’ needs while offering them the proper material, emotional, and intellectual support. Ideally, doctoral programs would be fully funded at a living wage for four to five years in programs designed to be completed in that period of time (though Stacey makes an important point below about the potential problems with this limit). A more flexible education would encourage students to explore the discipline and learn about the different ways of being a historian. This might include teaching, working as interns, and new formats for dissertations. Finally, I’d like to see the “doktorvater” view of graduate advising replaced by a model promoting multiple mentors.

Andrew Brown (Texas A&M Univ.): Teacher training and teaching experience have to be a priority in every graduate program. I would also like to see departments find ways to promote a healthy collegial atmosphere and cohesion in program cohorts through social events and programming. This promotes the mental health of students and reduces the sense of isolation, which is too common in the academy. It takes a long time to finish a PhD and this period cannot be seen as a break from real life. Students need a healthy and friendly atmosphere to get through the rigorous process.

Stacey Murrell (Brown Univ.): Maybe it’s because I work in a premodern field (requiring three languages and travel abroad for research) but four to five years is next to impossible. So not treating the PhD as one size fits all would be ideal. I think that all courses should involve useful assignments that can help students further develop specific skills that are useful in multiple career paths and I second the need for diverse intern opportunities and more opportunities to teach. Finally, I think it’s incredibly important that students have the opportunity to provide feedback on their courses and the program. 

Joseph Stuart (Univ. of Utah): I agree with everything said above about the importance of a living wage, more professional development, and a structure that rewards and incentivizes high-quality advisers. I’d also be interested in creating classes designed to orient students to graduate school, not just to the content and historiography of their field. We ask students to figure out too much on their own, like how to apply for conferences, figure out where to do research, and balance school, work, and life. We can do more to help students, particularly underrepresented groups succeed in graduate school. 

Hope Shannon (Loyola Univ. Chicago): Historians can and should be trained to bring historical thinking to wherever it might be most useful and valued. To center graduate programs around the idea that students should be trained to pursue meaningful work also requires providing students with the funding and resources necessary to explore those interests. Unfunded career diversity opportunities don’t help anyone, and they exacerbate the financial difficulties already faced by so many graduate students.

Ramya Swayamprakash (Michigan State Univ.): As an international student, I have raised the importance of thinking beyond the academy for those of us whose existence in this country is dependent on visas. Diverse, demonstrable skills would make any candidate more desirable for a variety of careers outside the professoriate. Graduate programs with large numbers of international students also need to make sure their career development programming takes their unique needs into account.

Have your own career aspirations been shaped by participating in this initiative?

Alejandra Garza (Univ. of Texas at Austin): I entered the graduate program at the University of Texas at Austin knowing what I didn’t want to do afterward, but I had no idea what I wanted to do. Now, I aspire to work in higher education administration, ideally an office like Texas Career Engagement, where I could help future graduate students see how their grad degree can help them be whatever they want to be. A graduate degree doesn’t limit you in any way, it does the exact opposite. 

Shuko Tamao (Univ. at Buffalo, State Univ. of New York): I graduated during the pandemic and am reassessing my career plans right now. As a fellow, I feel I should have some solid ideas for my career plans, but I have to be flexible right now. I have set a broad, long-term career goal, but I may not get to where I aspired a few years ago. But by participating in this initiative, I learned that I could allow myself to envision my career beyond the confinement of “I should,” encouraging myself to be creative and resourceful.

Matt Reeves (Univ. of Missouri–Kansas City): I credit my time as a career fellow with coming to fully accept the positive value of a career outside the academy. It’s easy to pay lip service to the “No More Plan B” talk; it’s harder to accept and believe it. I now know that I can use the skills I learned in graduate school to positive ends outside the academy. Two years ago, I was hired as a part-time librarian in special collections at the Kansas City Public Library. Within a year, I was promoted into a full-time education and outreach position. I credit the promotion to the entrepreneurial mindset I honed in graduate school: constantly improving programs and always making the case for the value of the humanities. 

Joseph Stuart (Univ. of Utah): I always knew that I needed to be open to a wide array of career opportunities. The Career Diversity initiative has given me a language and framework for how to use my historical skills to find meaningful employment that pays a living wage. If given the choice of any option, I still want to be a professor. But I know that I could succeed and be happy doing many things.

Matthew Villeneuve (Univ. of Michigan): After working on Career Diversity, I am recommitted to the broader effort of knocking down the walls of the academy—not just those artificial boundaries between historians and the public, but between historians themselves. That conviction makes me all the more committed to pursue a career in the academy. I’m confident that academic historians can continue to find common cause with everyone who uses rigorous historical thinking skills as a part of making their way in the world, and I look forward to being a part of that effort.

Leah Burnham (Georgia State Univ.): This initiative has opened my eyes to other career possibilities and I plan on applying to a variety of jobs. But it’s important to understand that a PhD does not automatically make one qualified for a job outside of academia. Those interested in other careers should participate in informational interviews through AHA Career Contacts and thoroughly research those careers to make sure they’re doing everything in their power to become qualified before applying.

Tags: Perspectives Daily Employment & Careers Career Diversity for Historians Graduate Education

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Related Content

Emily Swafford and Dylan Ruediger | Jul 9, 2018

Brian Campbell, Vanessa Madrigal-Lauchland, and Derek Kane O’Leary | Jul 10, 2020

Leah Burnham, Tyler Krahe, Ramya Swayamprakash, and Matthew Villeneuve | Aug 7, 2020

PhD in History

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Study History Where It Is Made

AU’s PhD in History will prepare you for a career as an educator, researcher, analyst, and writer working in academia, public and institutional history, and other fields requiring investigative and analytical skills. In this program, you will develop a deeper understanding of how historians investigate and interpret the past while you explore the past with your own original research .

You will receive a high level of mentorship and develop close working relationships with your professors. Under the guidance of our award-winning faculty , our students complete strong dissertations and present work at top conferences while making valuable connections and gaining experience in the Washington, DC, area.

This program is ideal for students interested in American and modern European history, including Russian history. Our department also has strengths in a variety of subfields , including public history, African American history, women’s/gender history, politics and foreign relations, and Jewish history. This diversity will open your options for research and allow for specialization without sacrificing breadth of study.

Rigorous Study with a Degree of Flexibility

Our program combines rigorous training in scholarship with the flexibility to pursue your intellectual interests. Our coursework will give you a solid foundation in historical theory and methodology, research methods, and United States or modern European history. Together with your academic advisor, you will design a program of study to match your academic goals . You will acquire and demonstrate mastery of tools of research , such as foreign languages, quantitative research methods, oral history, new media, and other methodologies. Your doctoral examinations will be tailored to fit your individual fields of study. You will then pursue your own research in writing your doctoral dissertation.

The Department will supervise PhD dissertations in the history of Modern Europe (normally for the period 1789 to the present), United States history (including the colonial period), US foreign relations, and modern Jewish history.

See all admissions and course requirements .

Cutting-Edge Faculty Dedicated to Your Success

Our history faculty makes national news, uncovers under-represented areas of history, and guides doctoral students , helping them generate innovative and influential research . From predicting presidential elections to publishing award-winning books and articles, our distinguished professors produce relevant historical scholarship and will train you do the same. With academic and professional mentorship from our faculty, you will you will enter the field as a thoroughly prepared and well-connected scholar.

Endless Opportunities in a Historic City

Pursuing your doctorate in the nation’s capital provides you with unparalleled access to renowned museums, archives, institutions, and resources . From the Library of Congress, Smithsonian Institution and National Archives to the DC Historical Society, our students are only a metro ride away from exceptional local and national repositories. As part of the Washington Consortium , students at American University are able to take courses at colleges and universities throughout the DC metropolitan area, providing the opportunity to work with a variety of faculty in diverse programs and fields of study.

A truly global city, DC, contains hundreds of embassies, cultural organizations, and enclave communities. Brimming with history , the DC area offers Civil War battlefields, the Capitol, Mount Vernon, the White House, and countless landmarks of the colonial period, Revolutionary War, Civil War, and more recent American history. The city is also home to smaller historical organizations like the DC Historical Society and the DC Preservation League. Whether your interest is global, national, or local, this historic city undoubtedly has something for you.

Explore the Possibilities

Our students go on to become university and college faculty and administrators or work in federal and state governments, for museums and archives, and in other exciting fields. Our alumni teach at universities around the world , from the University of Houston in Texas to University of Prince Edward Island in Canada and Ludwig Maximilians Universität in Munich. Our PhDs hold positions with the nation’s most important institutions , including the Library of Congress, Department of State, National Archives and Records Administration, American Historical Association, National Endowment for the Humanities, US Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Recent and Current PhD Dissertation topics

• Auketayeva, Laura : "Gender and Jewish Evacuees in the Soviet Union during the Holocaust" 
• Barry, Michael : "Islamophobic & Anti-Islamophobic Ideas in America"
• Brenner, Rebecca : "When Mail Arrived on Sundays, 1810-1912" 
• Boose, Donelle : "Black Power and the Organizing Tradition: Work-ing Women of Washington, DC. 1965-1990"
• Chatfield, Andrew : "American Support for India’s Self-Determination from 1915-1920: Progressives, Radicals, and Anti-Imperialists"
• Duval, Lauren : "Landscapes of Allegiance: Space, Gender, and Mili-tary Occupation in the American Revolution"
• Englekirk, Ryan : "The Third Team: Unmasking Fraternity and Mascu-linity Among Major League Baseball Umpires 1970-2010" 
• Estess, Jonah : "The People’s Money: The American Revolution, Cur-rency, and the Making of Political Economic Culture in American Life, 1775-1896" 
• Frome, Gavin : "American Protestant Service Workers in Viet Nam, 1954-1975"
• Gabor, Ruth : "'Moda' for the Masses: Moscow Fashion’s Appeal at Home and Abroad during the Cold War"
• Gibson, Laura : "It’s Love that Counts: The History of Non-Nuclear Families in American Domestic Sitcoms"
• Grant, Jordan : "Catchers and Kidnappers: Slave Hunting in Early America" 
• Grek, Ivan : "Illiberal Civil Society in Russia, 1992-2000"
• Harris, Curtis : "Hardwood Revolution: The NBA's Growth & Player Revolt, 1950-1976" 
• Hawks, Julie : "Capital Investments: Engineering American Cold War Culture" 
• Jobe, Mary "Allison" : "'We Remember Him for His Character': The Life of James W. Ford and the Communist Party USA" 
• Kaplan, Anna : "Left by the Wayside: Memories and Postmemories of the Integration of the University of Mississippi"
• Killian, Linda : "Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Paine: The Shared Political Ideology at the Heart of American Democracy" 
• Kitterman, Katherine : "'No Ordinary Feelings': Mormon Women’s Political Activism, 1870-1896" 
• Langford, Amy : "Creating a Body Politic: Boundary Crossings and the (Re) Making of Latter-Day Saints on the U.S. Border, 1885-1920"
• Levin, Jeffrey : "Felix Warburg and the Establishment of the Hebrew University" 
• MacNeill, Lindsay : "Policing Politics in Austria, 1918-1955"
• Milwicki, Alon : "Baptizing Nazism: An Analysis of the Religious Roots of American Neo-Nazism"
• Rafferty-Osaki, Terumi : "'Strictly Masculine': Reforming and Per-forming Manhood at Tule Lake, 1942-1946" 
• Recordati, Maurizio : "Russia Turns Inward: Russian Grand Strategy in the Post-Crimean War Period (1856-78)"
• Sowry, Nathan : "Museums, Native American Representation, & the Public: The Role of Museum Anthropology in Public History, 1873-1929"
• Styrna, Pawel : "Polish-Russian Relations, 1904-1921"
• Vehstedt, Scott : "'Lets Help Finland': The Return of American Relief Aid in the Winter War, 1939-1940"
• Weixelbaum, Jason : "At the Crossroads of Fascism: The Decision of Ford, General Motors, and IBM to do Business with Nazi Germany"

Alumni Job Placements

Graduates of the history PhD program are working as professors, researchers, and directors across the US and at international locations. Here is a list of where select graduates have or are currently working:

• Director, National Coalition for History
• Assistant Professor, University of Prince Edward Island
• Assistant Professor, Towson University
• Assistant Professor of History and Director of American Studies, West Chester University
• Independent historian
• Senior Archivist, National Archives
• Associate Professor, Ryerson University
• Assistant Professor, University of Arkansas at Little Rock
• Historian, US Army
• Senior policy adviser and special assistant to the president of the Humane Society
• Historian, Office of the Historian, Department of State
• Museum Director, Renton History Museum, Oregon
• Public History Coordinator, American Historical Association
• Assistant Professor, Bridgewater State University
• Lecturer in Sociology, California State University at Bakersfield
• Assistant Professor, Delaware State University
• Historian, Global Classroom, US Holocaust Museum
• Director, Digital Archive, Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library
• Assistant Professor, Illinois State University
• Adjunct Professor, University of Maryland at College Park
• Senior Fellow, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
• Assistant Professor, University of West Florida
• Independent historian and filmmaker
• Adjunct Assistant Professor of History, US Naval Academy
• Administrative Support Specialist at FEMA
• Senior editor and writer, National Endowment for the Humanities
• Instructor, Religion Dept., National Cathedral School (earned Master of Divinity after PhD)
• Curriculum and Publications Coordinator, AU Registrar's Office
• Assistant Professor, Seminole State College

News & Notes

PhD candidate Reza Akbari presented at the Middle East Studies Association's annual conference in Montreal, Canada. His presentation,  Etched in Mistrust: Continuity and Change in US-Iran Nuclear Negotiations (1969-1978),  argued that America's drive to keep Iran's nuclear program peaceful began decades before the establishment of the Islamic Republic.

PhD candidate  Andrew Sperling  published " A Halloween Party in Boston Turned Ugly when a Gang Hurled Antisemetic Slurs and Attacked Jewish Teenagers ," detailing the events of an antisemetic attack on Jewish teens at a Halloween party in 1950. 

Theresa Runstedtler 's new book on Black ballplayers of the 1970s and '80s setting the NBA up for success: Black Ball: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Spencer Haywoof, and the Generation that Saved the Soul of the NBA (2023) .

Doctoral student Maurizio Recordati Koen won first prize in the 2022 Trench Gascoigne Essay Competition for "The Stuff of Strategy: How Sublime Strategics Turned into a Real Thing" in RUSI Journal.

John Schmitz (CAS/PhD '07) published Enemies among Us: The Relocation, Internment, and Repatriation of German, Italian, and Japanese Americans during the Second World War .

Doctoral student Jonah Estess presented his paper, "Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems: The American Revolution and the National Origins of the Politicization of Money" as part of the panel at this year's Business History Conference.

Andrew Demshuk published Three Cities after Hitler: Redemptive Reconstruction across Cold War Borders .

PhD candidate Katherine Kitterman wrote on women's voting rights in Utah for the Washington Post.

Inaugural Postdoctoral Fellow

Nguyet Nguyen brings new perspective to the Vietnam War.

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Department of History

Ph.d. programs.

The Department of History’s doctoral degree program seeks to train talented historians for careers in scholarship, teaching, and beyond the academy. The department typically accepts 22 Ph.D. students per year. Additional students are enrolled through various combined programs and through HSHM.  All admitted Ph.D. students receive a  full  financial aid package  from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. 

History of Science and Medicine

The  Program in the History of Science and Medicine  (HSHM)  is a semi-autonomous graduate track within the Department of History. HSHM students receive degrees in History, with a concentration in the History of Science and Medicine.  There is a separate admissions process for students interested in the History of Science and Medicine. For more information, please see the  HSHM website . 

Combined Doctoral Programs

Joint ph.d. programs.

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History, PhD

The Graduate Program in History at the University of Pennsylvania has a long tradition of distinction. Beginning as one of the first programs in the United States to offer doctoral study in history, (the first Ph.D. in History was conferred in 1891); the Department continues to pioneer new areas of scholarship. In the last twenty years, faculty members of the departments in American, European, and World History have assumed a leading role in their fields. Today, few departments in the country match Penn's Department of History in coverage and depth across the entire range of history from medieval times to the present.

For more information: http://www.history.upenn.edu/graduate/program-guidelines

View the University’s Academic Rules for PhD Programs .

Sample Plan of Study

The total course units required for graduation is 14.

Program Milestones

• Language and Technical Competency Requirement
• Field Requirements
• Teaching Requirement

The degree and major requirements displayed are intended as a guide for students entering in the Fall of 2024 and later. Students should consult with their academic program regarding final certifications and requirements for graduation.

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History (Ph.D.)

Why pursue a Ph.D. in history at UNH?

Our history Ph.D. program will prepare you for a career in historical research with a focus on U.S. history and colonial America. Our courses cover a wide range of times, places and subjects, with particular strength in cultural history, women's history, the history of religion, Atlantic history and African American history. You’ll refine your experience in methods of historical research and writing, gain competence in reading a foreign language, and work on a dissertation in collaboration with award-winning faculty in one of the top history departments in the nation.

Program Highlights

Members of our department have won some of the most important prizes in the profession, including the Pulitzer and Bancroft prizes, a Guggenheim Fellowship and Fulbright fellowships, as well as many teaching excellence awards. Surveys of scholarly productivity among faculty at research universities have placed us among the top 20 history departments in the country. You may have heard or seen our faculty on PBS, C-SPAN, TLC, NPR or the History Channel. In addition to robust academics, our department offers lecture series that bring in visiting scholars, including the Rutman Distinguished Lecture Series on the American Presidency, which focuses on American political history.

Potential career areas

• Biographer/author
• Historical researcher
• Policy analyst
• Political consultant
• Public sector historian

Contact Information

Curriculum & Requirements

Program description.

The Ph.D. is intended to prepare students for professional careers in historical research.  In this department, all Ph.D. students specialize in U.S. history / colonial America.  Students with a particularly strong secondary field outside of U.S. history may write dissertations that involve comparative studies of U.S. history / colonial America.

Before writing any dissertation, Ph.D. students must demonstrate competence in reading a foreign language, then pass a set of written and oral comprehensive examinations.

Requirements for the Program

Degree requirements.

A doctoral student's program, which must be approved by the graduate committee of the department,  shall include each of the following requirements: two research seminars HIST 981 Doctoral Research Seminar in American History (taken twice), in which students will write a research paper in early U.S. History and a research paper in modern U.S. History; two reading seminars, HIST 939 Readings in Early American History and HIST 940 Readings in Modern American History ; a course in historical methods; correction of any deficiencies in the student's previous program; proficiency in one foreign language; HIST 970 Graduate Seminar in Teaching History (applies to all doctoral candidates awarded teaching assistantships); HIST 971 Professionalization for Historians ; preparation through reading and coursework in the entirety of U.S. history, with emphasis upon either early or modern U.S.; preparation through reading and coursework of two subfields outside of U.S. history, one of which may be a cognate field outside of history entirely; qualifying exams; dissertation proposal; and dissertation and successful defense.  

Candidacy is reached after successful completion of the following:

• required coursework listed above and courses to prepare fields or correct any deficiencies in the student's previous preparation;
• demonstrate proficiency in a foreign language;
• pass written and oral qualifying exams.

Note: In the definition of fields above, United States and U.S. are understood to mean the United States and its colonial antecedents.

Please consult the History Department's Graduate Student Handbook for additional details.

Apprenticeship and Degree Regulations

The department considers that graduate work in history, and particularly doctoral work, is professional training. The department recognizes the dual concerns of the historian's life: teaching and research. When feasible, all doctoral students are expected to undertake teaching in the department during a part of their residence. Participation in proseminar and in teaching constitutes an apprenticeship in conjunction with formal study. Doctoral students may choose to pursue the Cognate in College Teaching offered through the Graduate School. All graduate students are reviewed annually by the faculty of the department. A student accumulating two course failures is automatically barred from continuing in any degree program in history, but the department reserves the right to exclude others whose overall performance does not give reasonable assurance of a successful program completion. Students are allowed no more than three attempts to meet any language requirement.

Student Learning Outcomes

• Students will be able to demonstrate broad knowledge of historical events and periods and their significance
• Students will be able to explain and critique the historical schools of thought that have shaped scholarly understanding of their fields of study
• Students will be able to deploy skills of critical analysis: 1) Formulating persuasive arguments; 2) Evaluating evidence and critiquing claims in the literature; 3) Interpreting a variety of primary sources.
• Students will be able to design and conduct major research projects, deploying these essential skills: )1 Reviewing the state of the field to identify a new topic and locate their work within larger scholarly conversations; 2) Identifying and accessing a sufficient base of primary sources; 3) Producing a high-quality research paper, well-written and meeting professional standards, suitable as the basis for conference presentation or academic publication; 4) Designing and writing a dissertation based on extensive research that makes an original contribution to knowledge
• The skills listed above can lead to positions outside academia, such as in museums, archives, and government service. They also apply to students who seek faculty positions. For the latter group, students will additionally develop teaching skills, such as course design, classroom management, lecturing, leading discussions, and crafting assignments and evaluation methods
• Students will be able to engage in professional dissemination of their work by presenting their research at conferences or submitting manuscripts to academic journals.

Application Requirements & Deadlines

Applications must be completed by the following deadlines in order to be reviewed for admission:

• Fall : Jan. 15
• Spring : N/A
• Summer : N/A
• Special : N/A

Application fee : $65

Campus : Durham

New England Regional : RI VT

Accelerated Masters Eligible : No

New Hampshire Residents

Students claiming in-state residency must also submit a Proof of Residence Form . This form is not required to complete your application, but you will need to submit it after you are offered admission or you will not be able to register for classes.

Transcripts

If you attended UNH or Granite State College (GSC) after September 1, 1991, and have indicated so on your online application, we will retrieve your transcript internally; this includes UNH-Durham, UNH-Manchester, UNH Non-Degree work and GSC. 

If you did not attend UNH, or attended prior to September 1, 1991, then you must upload a copy (PDF) of your transcript in the application form. International transcripts must be translated into English.

If admitted , you must then request an official transcript be sent directly to our office from the Registrar's Office of each college/university attended. We accept transcripts both electronically and in hard copy:

• Electronic Transcripts : Please have your institution send the transcript directly to [email protected] . Please note that we can only accept copies sent directly from the institution.
• Paper Transcripts : Please send hard copies of transcripts to: UNH Graduate School, Thompson Hall- 105 Main Street, Durham, NH 03824. You may request transcripts be sent to us directly from the institution or you may send them yourself as long as they remain sealed in the original university envelope.

Transcripts from all previous post-secondary institutions must be submitted and applicants must disclose any previous academic or disciplinary sanctions that resulted in their temporary or permanent separation from a previous post-secondary institution. If it is found that previous academic or disciplinary separations were not disclosed, applicants may face denial and admitted students may face dismissal from their academic program.

Letters of recommendation: 3 required

Recommendation letters submitted by relatives or friends, as well as letters older than one year, will not be accepted.

Personal Statement/Essay Questions

Prepare a brief but careful statement regarding:

• Reasons you wish to do graduate work in this field, including your immediate and long-range objectives.
• Your specific research or professional interest and experiences in this field.

Additional Department Requirements

All applicants must submit a writing sample with their application.

Important Notes

All applicants are encouraged to contact programs directly to discuss program-specific application questions.

International Applicants

Prospective international students are required to submit TOEFL, IELTS, or equivalent examination scores. English Language Exams may be waived if English is your first language. If you wish to request a waiver, then please visit our Test Scores webpage for more information.

Inquire with the Department about Research Interests

As part of your application process, we recommend touching base with the academic department or specific faculty about your research interests, fit with the department, and available space. You can  Submit an Extended Inquiry   and we will inform your desired academic program about your interest. By submitting an inquiry form, you are not guaranteed to hear back from specific faculty. This can be a helpful step before going through the full application process.

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PhD in History

The Department of History offers only a PhD. We do not admit students to a terminal master's degree in history; however, students in the PhD program may earn a master’s degree in history the way to their doctorate. We do offer an interdisciplinary MA in heritage studies and public history.

PhD Degree Requirements

For your PhD, you will be expected to meet the following requirements:

• 27 credits in 9 history classes, including Scope and Methods of Historical Studies (8015) in the first semester and a History Research Seminar (8021), which would focus on prospectus writing to be taken in the second or third year, as well as two courses in a chosen comparative area
• 12 credits from outside the history department related to your course of study
• 24 thesis credits
• Reading knowledge in at least one language outside of English before preliminary exams (this requirement may vary depending on your field of study and may include competence in quantitative methods)
• Completion of preliminary written and oral exams
• Completion of the dissertation
• Final oral dissertation defense

Note: If you enter the PhD program with a master’s, you will be expected to complete your coursework and preliminary exams by the end of your second year or the first term of the third year.

Master’s Options

Students interested in completing a Master’s degree while pursuing their PhD may do so. All students who choose to pursue a master’s must complete 30-31 credits of coursework, have a reading knowledge in one foreign language, and can choose to write a thesis or expand upon three seminar papers.

We are now offering an MA in heritage studies and public history in conjunction with several departments, programs, the Minnesota Historical Society, and the College of Design. This MA provides history professionals with broad disciplinary perspectives in several areas including archival research, archaeology, material culture studies, architecture, preservation, or landscape studies.  View more information on the MA in Heritage Studies and Public History .

Graduate Minor in History

Students pursuing graduate degrees in other departments may minor in history. To earn a master’s minor, students will be asked to take two history courses and craft a thesis with a historical dimension. Students wishing to earn a PhD minor will be asked to take four history courses, including Scope and Methods of Historical Studies. Minor students must also take a written and oral examination, which can be incorporated into their home department, as long as a historian sits on the examining committee.

Non-Degree Graduate Credits

Non-degree seeking students can join graduate seminars as well, more information can be found  here .

College Resources for Graduate Students

Visit CLA’s website for graduate students to learn about collegiate funding opportunities, student support, career services, and more.

Student Services      Career Services     Funding & Support

Department of History

Ph.d. program.

Hallmarks of the Brown History doctoral program include an intimate setting, close collaboration with faculty, Brown's unique undergraduate population and open curriculum, world-class scholars working in every region of the globe, and the department's commitment to professionalization and teaching.

The program centers on both cutting-edge training and preparation for jobs in a variety of institutions, including research universities, teaching colleges, and sites of research, teaching, writing, and public engagement outside academia.

Fields of Study

The History department trains Ph.D. students in a wide range of fields, methodologies, and areas of the globe. The program fosters an intellectual community in which collaboration, intellectual breadth, and conversations across fields are prized. Additionally, Ph.D. students take a sequence of professionalization courses that prepare them for the rigors of teaching, research, conference presentations, and professional writing.

Explore Fields of Study

Program Outline

Each year, Brown enrolls 10-12 Ph.D. students, who function as a cohort during the first three years of the program. In the fourth year, students work in archival collections and in the field, wherever their research takes them. In the fifth year and beyond, based on that research, each student produces an original dissertation. Completion of the program typically takes 5-7 years, depending on the field, language requirements, and location of materials.

Learn More About the Ph.D Program

Department of History Graduate Handbook

For a detailed outline of the Ph.D. program, including a year-by-year description, courses offered, and funding, please consult the graduate handbook.

Teaching Requirement

Candidates for the Ph.D. must normally demonstrate satisfactory performance as a Teaching Assistant in undergraduate courses at Brown, or in teaching at another institution approved by the Department. Currently, doctoral students most commonly teach in years 2, 3, and 5. Students who receive standard funding for year 6 typically TA for one semester and are on fellowship in the second.

Students preparing for the examinations will normally be given preference in the assignments for teaching assistants and proctors. Work loads for such positions will conform to standards set by the Graduate School: "limited enough in scope [requiring no more than 20 hours per week] so that normal progress can be made in the student's educational program."

Graduate Student Spotlight: Laura Perille '15

Laura Perille is an advanced doctoral candidate in Early Modern British history and one of four Brown Doctoral Candidates selected as Brown/Wheaton Faculty fellows.

Opportunities

Brown executive scholars training program, deans’ faculty fellows program, teaching fellowships for advanced students, doctoral certificates, open graduate education.

• Public History Practicum
• Prospective Students

Theoretically sophisticated, comparative, and interdisciplinary approaches are a hallmark of the doctoral program at the University of Chicago. The Department of History offers a comprehensive range of fields of study. We strongly encourage students to take courses outside of History and to compose one of three oral fields in a comparative discipline. A rich series of  interdisciplinary workshops  and conferences bring together students and faculty from throughout the university for intellectual exchange.

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Modern and Contemporary History PhD

The University of Brighton has a thriving research culture for History PhD students, built around its highly-reputed research Centre for Memory, Narrative and Histories . 

Our primary strength as an academic community is in modern history, including global perspectives on the twentieth-century. Our historians use a wide range of interdisciplinary methodologies that draw on social, political and cultural history and investigate the complex interconnections between present and past, evoked by concepts of memory.  

Research expertise for Modern and contemporary history PhD study at the university covers documentary and oral histories, literary and cultural analysis,  political, moral and applied philosophy and contemporary critical theory, as well as exciting interdisciplinary combinations, and we welcome approaches for supervision in any of these areas. 

We have an excellent record in achieving funding for PhD students in modern and contemporary history and related studies.

Together with colleagues from closely related Centres of Research and Enterprise Excellence (COREs), we offer supervision for history focused projects that cross disciplines in the arts, humanities and social sciences and our department thrives on its interdisciplinary interests and the close research culture that stems from it.

Your supervisory team and academic network can draw on expertise in, for example, cultural studies, social anthropology, cultural geography, art and design history, art practices, media and visual studies, performance studies, critical theory, sociology, psycho-social studies, critical heritage studies, narrative theory, archive and museum studies and digital humanities. 

Our graduates have gone on to work in, among other fields, academia and the heritage and museum sectors. We welcome approaches to discuss suitable projects and can provide advice on application, proposals and any suitable funding.

Apply to 'Humanities' in the applicant portal

Apply with us for funding through the AHRC Techne Doctoral Training Partnership

Key information

Your Modern and contemporary history PhD will be supervised by expert academics who will also guide you towards career decisions and allow your work to draw on and contribute to the wider academic society at Brighton and at partner universities.

As a Modern and contemporary history PhD student, you will

• have a supervisory team comprising two members of academic staff. Depending on your particular area of study you may also have additional supervisors from other research institutions or external partners.
• become part of an active and engaged community of research learning, leading talks, and social events with opportunities to present your work as it progresses and network with other researchers.
• be part of an active and highly supportive research centre, the Centre for Memory, Narrative and Histories , and introductions to other suitable centres and groups. You will also be part of the interdisciplinary School of Humanities and Social Science at the University of Brighton.
• have desk space and access to a computer in a space specifically designed for research students.
• have access to a range of electronic resources via the university’s online library, as well as to physical books and journals at St Peter’s House Library in central Brighton and other campus libraries.

Academic environment

 Our History PhD students enjoy a close-knit and highly supportive academic community that makes optimum use of a range of expertise and can work with your interests whether single-disciplinary, interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary.  

There is a thriving postgraduate and research culture in humanities across the university helping support an understanding of broader contexts as well as the specifics of your PhD project. Our community of experts particularly welcomes projects addressing: 

• concerns around the nature, structure and scope of violent conflict including the social and cultural history of modern warfare, with reference to the total wars of the twentieth century, legacies and memories of warfare, truth, justice and reconciliation in ‘post-conflict’ societies; 
• colonial and postcolonial cultural and social history with reference to the histories and legacies of transatlantic slavery, forms of migration, diasporic identity, the anglophone Caribbean, the Black Atlantic, and twentieth-century US cultural history, especially histories of 'race' and civil rights;
• histories of identity formations such as gender, ‘race’, nation and class and the role of cultural memory in these formations. 

As well as these we will be excited to hear your proposals that align to any of the themes of the Centre for Memory, Narrative and Histories , for example,  

• Social and cultural histories of warfare including post-conflict legacies 
• Gender, race and class 
• Race, Empire and colonialism 
• Cultural memory: theory, politics, history 

You will have an academic home in the School of Humanities and Social Science and in our principal centre dedicated to history, memory and narrative, but we recommend students attend seminars and meet staff working across related centres. Please explore our  Centres of Research Excellence (COREs)  to discover the range of our doctoral student work and staff specialisms. The four COREs below work especially closely together.

Centre for Applied Philosophy, Politics and Ethics  

Centre for Design History

Centre for Memory, Narrative and Histories

Centre for Spatial, Environmental and Cultural Politics

Some of our supervisors

Sue breakell.

Sue is based at the University of Brighton Design Archives and supervises research on archives in theory and practice, particularly in art and design; and on twentieth century British art and design and their contexts, with a particular focus on the mid-century. She supervises Masters and Doctorate projects both at Brighton and elsewhere, and is happy to hear from potential students with interdisciplinary interests that intersect with archives practice or the Design Archives collections.

Dr Christian Hogsbjerg

Christian would be interested in supporting doctoral research in the following areas: Anti-colonialism; Atlantic Studies and maritime history; Black British History; Black Intellectual History; British imperial history; Caribbean history and politics (including Haitian Revolutionary Studies); Labour History; Pan-Africanism; Race, Resistance and Reparative Histories; Slavery, Resistance and Abolition.      

Dr Eugene Michail

I supervise PhDs on a range of modern European history themes, especially on histories and memories of conflict, resistance and refugeedom. I am also interested in innovative projects on the method and challenges of writing the history of today. In our School we have an excellent record in securing funding for applicants that are keen to discuss and shape their ideas in dialogue with us.  

Some of my recent doctoral students are: 

Amadeusz Lange 'In the shadows, unveiling Polish women’s contributions in clandestine activity, 1939-1945' (started 2022)

Rosemary Rich, ‘The memory of Second World War conscientious objection since 1945’ (started 2019)

Vanessa Tautter, ‘Narratives of Victimisation among the Contemporary Right in Austria and Northern Ireland’ (started 2018)

Oscar Louis Norris-Broughton, 'Guilds at Home and Abroad: A History of Knowledge of Guild Socialism' (awarded 2022)

Pete Morgan, ‘British representations of the Armenian Genocide, 1915-23’ (awarded 2022)

Kate Newby, ‘Children’s and Transgenerational Memories of violence in Norther Ireland in the 1970s’ (awarded  2020)

Ian Cantoni, ‘Spanish Republican refugee camps in southern France following the Spanish civil war of 1936-1939’ (awarded 2019)

Dr Aris Mousoutzanis

My supervisory interests include the study of popular media genres (science fiction, horror); the relations between media, memory and trauma; and media and politics (specifically imperialism, (post)colonialism and globalisation. Interdisciplinary projects on media, literature and culture are most welcome.

A more detailed indicative list of supervisory interests includes the following areas:

• the study of popular media genres (science fiction, horror/Gothic, utopia/dystopia, (post-)apocalyptic fiction).
• the relations between screen media, trauma theory and memory studies - with a more recent interest in nostalgia studies.
• the historical and discursive relations between screen media and imperialism, globalisation and (post)colonialism.

Students with an interest in an interdisciplinary approach that extends across English studies and Film and Television studies are most welcome. I have also researched, taught and published on the late Victorian period ('fin de siecle') and postmodern theory, literature and culture.

Dr Ceren Ozpinar

Dr Ceren Özpınar has supervised one PhD to completion, and currently supervises two PhD students at Brighton and one at IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca, who work on subjects in transnational storytelling, lesser-known women artists and designers in the 20th century, feminism in the museum, and textile-based artistic practices. 

Ceren would be interested in supervising PhD projects on feminist and queer approaches to art; transnational art histories; narratives of difference; memory and materiality. She would also welcome proposals interested in researching any aspect of the project of decolonising the history of art and exhibitions, particularly but not exclusively, in the Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and North African geographies.

Ceren also hosts visiting doctoral researchers on a regular basis. If you are working on a PhD project at another institution related to her research expertise and would like to be supervised by her at Brighton for a short period (up to a year), feel free to contact her.

Prof Annebella Pollen

Annebella supervises PhD projects in visual and material culture, histories of photography and popular image cultures, Mass Observation, modern British art and design, non-elite design and dress history, everyday / vernacular cultural practices and countercultures. She is currently supervising ten doctoral students, including three in funded partnership with museums. She has supervised six PhD students to completion, including a PhD by Publication, and has examined over 20 PhD theses, including practice-led doctorates, internationally.

Dr Anita Rupprecht

She has supervised doctoral students since 2008 and would be delighted to support research projects related to the histories and cultures of British transatlantic enslavment and resistance, histories, cultures and representations of 18C and 19C abolitionism, transatlantic enslavement and the archive, Caribbean, diasporic and Black Atlantic literatures, Postcolonial theory, identity and culture, cultural memory and the legacies of transatlantic enslavement, empire and colonialism

Dr Rebecca Searle

Rebecca supervises students researching contemporary British History. She has particular expertise in the history of housing, the politics of twentieth and twenty first century Britain, the history of sexuality and gender, and the impact of war on society. She works with students across social, political, cultural and economic history and with students specialising in politics, sociology or philosophy who want to incorporate historical analysis into their research. 

Dr Aakanksha Virkar

Aakanksha is happy to supervise postgraduate work on late Victorian and modern literature. She has specific interests in literary modernism and would particularly welcome projects exploring literature and the arts (music and visual culture).

Specific areas within literary studies (1850-1950) might include

• Victorian/modern transitions
• philosophy, aesthetics and politics in modern literature
• poetry and poetics
• literature, music and visual culture
• aestheticism, decadence and desire

Dr Julia Winckler

Julia Winckler's interdisciplinary research focuses on working with visual archives and collections. Memory and migration narratives, contested topographies, exile studies, co-production of knowledge and photography & activism are particular areas of interest. 

For PhD applicants:

Winckler currently co-supervises six Phd students at the University of Brighton and one Phd student at the University of Salzburg. Two of these Phd projects are practice-based; one is Techne funded, a second is an AHRC CPD studentship. 

Winckler welcomes Phd inquiries that interact with any of the following: 

Working with Archives and Collections: Photographic archives, Community archives, Museums, Private Collections

Memory Studies: Postmemory, transnational memory, cultural memory, communicative memory, personal memory

Art practice as research: visual, creative and ethnographic research methods/photo voice/photo elicitation/digital media technologies, site-specific interventions

Co-production of knowledge: popular education methodology, participatory methods, oral history, histoire croisée/regards croisés methodologies

Photography and activism: community art practice (global, historical & contemporary) and critical pedagogy

Photographers in Exile in Britain: contributions made by emigrés to the field of Applied Arts

Dr Claire Wintle

Dr Wintle welcomes enquiries about projects on museums, exhibition design, collecting, cultural forms of imperialism, nationalism and decolonisation, especially in Britain, and the material and visual culture of South Asia.

Claire has supervised three PhDs to completion and currently supervises eight AHRC-funded PhD students. She has examined postgraduate theses at SOAS, Leicester University, Royal Holloway, Sheffield Hallam University, the University of Southampton and a further five PhDs at the University of Brighton. Her students focus on themes ranging from British South Asian community engagement with museums to the professional experiences of museum staff working to decolonise practice. She works with colleagues at the British Museum, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, the Horniman Museum and the V&A to supervise Collaborative Doctoral Projects on subjects including the British Museum's relationships with museums in West Africa, South Asian donors to the British Museum, exhibition design at the British Museum and Korean collections at the V&A. She also works with colleagues at Shiv Nagar University in India to supervise a PhD project on Bihar Museum.

 For further supervisory staff including cross-disciplinary options, please visit  research staff on our research website.  

Making an application

You will apply to the University of Brighton through our online application portal. When you do, you will require a research proposal, references, a personal statement and a record of your education.

You will be asked whether you have discussed your research proposal and your suitability for doctoral study with a member of the University of Brighton staff. We recommend that all applications are made with the collaboration of at least one potential supervisor. Approaches to potential supervisors can be made directly through the details available online. If you are unsure, please do contact the Doctoral College for advice.

Please visit our How to apply for a PhD page for detailed information.

Sign in to our online application portal to begin.

Fees and funding

 Funding

Undertaking research study will require university fees as well as support for your research activities and plans for subsistence during full or part-time study.

Funding sources include self-funding, funding by an employer or industrial partners; there are competitive funding opportunities available in most disciplines through, for example, our own university studentships or national (UK) research councils. International students may have options from either their home-based research funding organisations or may be eligible for some UK funds.

Learn more about the funding opportunities available to you.

Tuition fees academic year 2024–25

Standard fees are listed below, but may vary depending on subject area. Some subject areas may charge bench fees/consumables; this will be decided as part of any offer made. Fees for UK and international/EU students on full-time and part-time courses are likely to incur a small inflation rise each year of a research programme.

Contact Brighton Doctoral College

To contact the Doctoral College at the University of Brighton we request an email in the first instance. Please visit our contact the Brighton Doctoral College page .

For supervisory contact, please see individual profile pages.

How to write a PhD thesis: a step-by-step guide

A draft isn’t a perfect, finished product; it is your opportunity to start getting words down on paper, writes Kelly Louise Preece

Kelly Louise Preece

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Congratulations; you’ve finished your research! Time to write your PhD thesis. This resource will take you through an eight-step plan for drafting your chapters and your thesis as a whole. 

Organise your material

Before you start, it’s important to get organised. Take a step back and look at the data you have, then reorganise your research. Which parts of it are central to your thesis and which bits need putting to one side? Label and organise everything using logical folders – make it easy for yourself! Academic and blogger Pat Thomson calls this  “Clean up to get clearer” . Thomson suggests these questions to ask yourself before you start writing:

• What data do you have? You might find it useful to write out a list of types of data (your supervisor will find this list useful too.) This list is also an audit document that can go in your thesis. Do you have any for the “cutting room floor”? Take a deep breath and put it in a separate non-thesis file. You can easily retrieve it if it turns out you need it.
• What do you have already written? What chunks of material have you written so far that could form the basis of pieces of the thesis text? They will most likely need to be revised but they are useful starting points. Do you have any holding text? That is material you already know has to be rewritten but contains information that will be the basis of a new piece of text.
• What have you read and what do you still need to read? Are there new texts that you need to consult now after your analysis? What readings can you now put to one side, knowing that they aren’t useful for this thesis – although they might be useful at another time?
• What goes with what? Can you create chunks or themes of materials that are going to form the basis of some chunks of your text, perhaps even chapters?

Once you have assessed and sorted what you have collected and generated you will be in much better shape to approach the big task of composing the dissertation. 

Decide on a key message

A key message is a summary of new information communicated in your thesis. You should have started to map this out already in the section on argument and contribution – an overarching argument with building blocks that you will flesh out in individual chapters.

You have already mapped your argument visually, now you need to begin writing it in prose. Following another of Pat Thomson’s exercises, write a “tiny text” thesis abstract. This doesn’t have to be elegant, or indeed the finished product, but it will help you articulate the argument you want your thesis to make. You create a tiny text using a five-paragraph structure:

• The first sentence addresses the broad context. This locates the study in a policy, practice or research field.
• The second sentence establishes a problem related to the broad context you have set out. It often starts with “But”, “Yet” or “However”.
• The third sentence says what specific research has been done. This often starts with “This research” or “I report…”
• The fourth sentence reports the results. Don’t try to be too tricky here, just start with something like: “This study shows,” or “Analysis of the data suggests that…”
• The fifth and final sentence addresses the “So What?” question and makes clear the claim to contribution.

Here’s an example that Thomson provides:

Secondary school arts are in trouble, as the fall in enrolments in arts subjects dramatically attests. However, there is patchy evidence about the benefits of studying arts subjects at school and this makes it hard to argue why the drop in arts enrolments matters. This thesis reports on research which attempts to provide some answers to this problem – a longitudinal study which followed two groups of senior secondary students, one group enrolled in arts subjects and the other not, for three years. The results of the study demonstrate the benefits of young people’s engagement in arts activities, both in and out of school, as well as the connections between the two. The study not only adds to what is known about the benefits of both formal and informal arts education but also provides robust evidence for policymakers and practitioners arguing for the benefits of the arts. You can  find out more about tiny texts and thesis abstracts on Thomson’s blog.

• Writing tips for higher education professionals
• Resource collection on academic writing
• What is your academic writing temperament?

Write a plan

You might not be a planner when it comes to writing. You might prefer to sit, type and think through ideas as you go. That’s OK. Everybody works differently. But one of the benefits of planning your writing is that your plan can help you when you get stuck. It can help with writer’s block (more on this shortly!) but also maintain clarity of intention and purpose in your writing.

You can do this by creating a  thesis skeleton or storyboard , planning the order of your chapters, thinking of potential titles (which may change at a later stage), noting down what each chapter/section will cover and considering how many words you will dedicate to each chapter (make sure the total doesn’t exceed the maximum word limit allowed).

Use your plan to help prompt your writing when you get stuck and to develop clarity in your writing.

Some starting points include:

• This chapter will argue that…
• This section illustrates that…
• This paragraph provides evidence that…

Of course, we wish it werethat easy. But you need to approach your first draft as exactly that: a draft. It isn’t a perfect, finished product; it is your opportunity to start getting words down on paper. Start with whichever chapter you feel you want to write first; you don’t necessarily have to write the introduction first. Depending on your research, you may find it easier to begin with your empirical/data chapters.

Vitae advocates for the “three draft approach” to help with this and to stop you from focusing on finding exactly the right word or transition as part of your first draft.

This resource originally appeared on Researcher Development .

Kelly Louse Preece is head of educator development at the University of Exeter.

If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus newsletter .

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What is a PhD?

• Types of Doctorates
• A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) is the highest globally recognized postgraduate degree that higher education institutions can award.
• PhDs are awarded to candidates who undertake original and extensive research in a particular field of study.
• Full time PhD programmes typically last three to four years, whilst part time PhD programmes typically last six to seven years.
• A PhD can lead to an academia teaching role or a career in research. A PhD can also equip you with skills suitable for a wide range of jobs unrelated to your research topic or academia.

Definition of a PhD – A Doctor of Philosophy (commonly abbreviated to PhD , Ph.D or a DPhil ) is a university research degree awarded from across a broad range of academic disciplines; in most countries, it is a terminal degree, i.e. the highest academic degree possible.

PhDs differ from undergraduate and master’s degrees in that PhDs are entirely research-based rather than involving taught modules (although doctoral training centres (DTCs) offer programmes that start with a year of lecture-based teaching to help develop your research skills prior to starting your project).

In most English-speaking countries, those that complete a PhD use the title “Doctor” (typically abbreviated to Dr) in front of their names and are referred to as such within academic and/or research settings. Those that work in fields outside of academia may decide not to use the formal doctor title but use post-nominal letters (e.g. John Smith PhD); it’s unusual though for someone to use both the Doctor title and post-nominal letters in their name.

PhD vs Doctorate

A PhD and a professional doctorate are both research-based terminal degrees.

However, where a PhD focuses on original research mostly around theoretical concepts, a professional doctorate focuses on examining existing knowledge to solve real-life, practical problems.

While there is much crossover between the two, a PhD is generally better suited for an individual to wants to advance the knowledge and understanding in their field, and a professional doctorate degree is better suited to a working professional who wants to better be able to apply knowledge and understanding to their field.

What Are the Entry Requirements for a PhD?

To be accepted on to a PhD programme, students usually need to hold at least a high ( 2:1 and above ) undergraduate degree that is related to the field of research that they want to pursue. A PhD candidate may also be expected to hold a Master’s degree , however, this does not mean you must have one, as it is still possible to enrol into a PhD without a Master’s .

Self-funded courses may sometimes be more relaxed in relation to entry requirements. It may be possible to be accepted onto a self-funded PhD programme with lower grades, though these students typically demonstrate their suitability for the role through professional work experience.

Whilst a distance learning project is possible , most PhD candidates will carry out their research over at least three years based at their university, with regular contact with two academic supervisors (primary and secondary). This is particularly the case for lab-based projects, however, some PhD projects require spending time on-site away from university (e.g. at a specialist research lab or at a collaborating institution abroad).

How Long Does a PhD Take?

Typically, full-time PhDs last 3-4 years and part-time PhDs last 6-7 years. However, at the discretion of the university, the thesis writing-up period can be extended by up to four years.

Although most doctoral programmes start in September or October, they are generally much more flexible than taught-courses and can start at any time of the year.

How Much Does a PhD Cost?

Tuition fees for UK and EU students vary between £3,000 and £6,000 per year, with the average tuition fee of £4,712 per year for 2023/24 programmes.

Tuition fees increase considerably for international students, varying between £16,000 to £25,000 per year, with an average tuition fee of £19,600 per year .

Nonetheless, most students will secure PhD funding in the form of studentships, scholarships and bursaries to help pay for these fees. These funding opportunities can either be partial, which cover tuition fees only, or full, which cover both tuition fees and living expenses.

UK national students can also apply for Doctoral Loans from Student Finance England if they are unable to secure funding.

Finding a PhD has never been this easy – search for a PhD by keyword, location or academic area of interest.

What Does a PhD Involve?

To be awarded a PhD, a doctoral student is required to produce a substantial body of work that adds new knowledge to their chosen field.

A PhD programme will typically involve four key stages:

Stage 1: Literature Review

The first year of a PhD involves attending regular meetings with your supervisors and carrying out a search on previously published work in your subject area. This search will be used to produce a literature review which should set the context of the project by explaining the foundation of what is currently known within the field of research, what recent developments have occurred, and where the gaps in knowledge are. In most cases, this will be an extension of your research proposal should you have produced one as part of your application. The literature review should conclude by outlining the overarching aims and objectives of the research project. This stage of setting achievable goals which are original and contribute to the field of research is an essential first step in a successful PhD.

The supervisor is the main point of contact through the duration of a PhD – but remember: they are there to mentor, not to teach, or do it for you . It will be your responsibility to plan, execute and monitor your own work as well as to identify gaps in your own knowledge and address them.

Stage 2: Research

The second year (and prehapse some of your third year) is when you work on your research. Having identified novel research questions from your review of the literature, this is where you collect your data to help answer these questions. How you do this will depend on the nature of your doctoral research: for example, you may design and run experiments in a lab alongside other PhD students or visit excavation sites in remote regions of the world. You should check in regularly with your supervisors to update them and run any ideas or issues past them.

Have the structure and chapters of your thesis in mind as you develop and tackle your research questions. Working with a view of publishing your work will be very valuable later on.

Stage 3: Write up of Thesis

The next key stage of a PhD is writing a doctoral thesis , which typically takes from anywhere between three months to one year. A thesis is a substantial body of work that describes the work and outcomes of the research over the previous two to three years. It should tell a detailed story of the PhD project – focusing on:

• The motivations for the research questions identified from the literature review.
• The methodologies used, results obtained, and a comprehensive analysis and discussion of the findings.
• A detailed discussion of the key findings with an emphasis on the original contributions made to your field of research and how this has been impactful.

There is no universal rule for the length of a PhD thesis, but general guidelines set the word count between 80,000 to 100,000 words.

For your thesis to be successful, it needs to adequately defend your argument and provide a unique or increased insight into your field that was not previously available.

Stage 4: Attending the Viva

A viva voce , most commonly referred to as just a ‘ viva ‘, is an interview-style examination where the PhD student is required to engage in a critical appraisal of their work and defend their thesis against at least two examiners. The examiners will ask questions to check the PhD student has an in-depth understanding of the ideas and theories proposed in their thesis, and whether they have developed the research skills that would be expected of them.

The viva is one of the final steps in achieving a PhD, and typically lasts at least two hours, but this duration can vary depending on the examiners, the university and the PhD project itself.

Once you have done the viva – you’re on the home stretch. You will typically be asked to make some amendments to your thesis based on the examiner’s feedback. You are then ready to submit your final thesis for either:

• PhD – If you pass the requirements you will be awarded a PhD degree (most common outcome),
• MPhil – If you failed to meet requirements for a PhD, you may be downgraded to an MPhil degree (uncommon outcome),
• Fail – No award is given, typically for cases of plagiarism (extremely uncommon outcome).

What Is It Like to Undertake a PhD?

We’re often asked what it is like to undertake a PhD study. Unfortunately, this isn’t a simple answer to this question as every research project is different.

To help give insight into the life of a PhD student, we’ve interviewed PhD students at various stages of their programmes and put together a series of PhD Student Interviews . Check out the link to find out what a PhD is like and what advice they have to offer you.

What Are the Benefits of A PhD?

A PhD is the highest globally recognised postgraduate degree that higher education institutions can award. The degree, which is awarded to candidates who demonstrate original and independent research in a particular field of study, is not only invaluable in itself, but sets you up with invaluable skills and traits.

Career Opportunities

First, a PhD prepares you for a career in academia if you wish to continue in this area. This takes form as a career in the Higher Education sector, typically as a lecturer working their way to becoming a professor leading research on the subject you’ve studied and trained in.

Second, a PhD also enables the opportunity for landing a job in a research & development role outside of the academic environment. Examples of this include laboratory work for a private or third sector company, a governmental role and research for commercial and industrial applications.

Transferable Skills

Finally, in possessing a PhD degree, you can show to employers that you have vital skills that make you an asset to any company. Three examples of the transferable skills that you gain through a PhD are effective communication, time management, and report writing.

• Communication – presenting your work in written and oral forms using journal papers and podium presentations, shows your ability to share complex ideas effectively and to those with less background knowledge than you. Communication is key in the professional environment, regardless of the job.
• Time management – The ability to prioritise and organise tasks is a tremendous asset in the professional industry. A PhD holder can use their qualification to demonstrate that they are able to manage their time, arrange and follow a plan, and stick to deadlines.
• Report writing – Condensing three years of work into a thesis demonstrates your ability to filter through massive amounts of information, identify the key points, and get these points across to the reader. The ability to ‘cut out the waffle’ or ‘get to the point’ is a huge asset in the professional industry.

Aside from the above, you also get to refer to yourself as a Doctor and add fancy initials after your name!

What Can I Do After a PhD?

One of the most desirable postdoctoral fields is working within independent Research and Development (R&D) labs and new emerging companies. Both industries, especially R&D labs, have dedicated groups of PhD graduates who lead research activities, design new products and take part in crucial strategic meetings. Not only is this a stimulating line of work, but the average salaries in R&D labs and emerging start-ups are lucrative. In comparison, an undergraduate with five years of experience within their given field will, on average, likely earn less than a new PhD graduate taking on a R&D position.

It’s a common misunderstanding that PhDs only opens the door for an academic career such as university lecturers and training providers. Although obtaining a PhD opens these doors, the opportunities extend far beyond educational roles. In fact, recent data from the UK’s Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) indicates only 23% of PhD graduates take a position in educational roles . This low percentage is primarily because PhD graduates have a wide range of skills that make them suitable for a broad spectrum of roles. This is being seen first hand by the increasing number of PhD graduates who are entering alternative roles such as research, writing, law and investment banking.

How Do I Find a PhD?

We appreciate that finding a PhD programme to undertake can be a relatively daunting process. According to Higher Education Student Statistics , over 22,000 PhDs were awarded in 2016/17 within the United Kingdom alone. Clearly there are a huge number of PhD programmes available. This can sometimes be confusing for prospective doctorates, particularly when different programmes are advertised in different places. Often, it is difficult to know where to look or where to even start. We’ve put together a list of useful sources to find the latest PhD programmes:

• A great place to start is with our comprehensive and up-to-date database of available PhD positions .
• Assuming you are still at university, speak to an existing PhD supervisor within your department.
• Attend as many postgraduate open days as you can. Whilst there, speak to current PhD students and career advisors to get an awareness of what PhDs are on offer.
• Visit the postgraduate section of university websites and the PhD Research Council section of the UKRI website.

Browse PhDs Now

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abbreviation or noun

Definition of phd, examples of phd in a sentence.

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'PhD.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

New Latin philosophiae doctor

1839, in the meaning defined above

Dictionary Entries Near PhD

Cite this entry.

“PhD.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/PhD. Accessed 4 Jun. 2024.

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PhD Coursework

Coursework refers to the work undertaken by doctoral students before taking their oral exams. It includes the required courses, original research papers, and certification of language proficiency as described below.

Students admitted to the PhD program will obtain an MA as part of the process of completing coursework towards the PhD.

Course Requirements

Students entering the program with a bachelor’s degree take a total of 16 courses for 64 credits, or roughly 4 classes per semester at 4 credits each. Of these, 14 courses (or 56 credits), including the four required courses that all graduate students must take, consist of seminars, lecture courses, directed research, and directed study taken prior to the Qualifying Oral Examination. The remaining 8 credits are reserved for four semesters of a two-credit Dissertation Workshop course (GRS HI 900) taken after the oral exam.

Note that students entering with an approved Master’s degree from another institution are offered 16 credits of transfer courses, or the equivalent of 4 courses; instead of 56 credits, they are expected to take 40 credits prior to taking the Qualifying Oral Examination.

So that our graduates can participate fully in the historical profession, the Department of History familiarizes graduate students with historiographical and methodological paradigms in fields beyond their own area of expertise. All students in the PhD program (including students who have earned an MA at another institution) are thus required to take the following four courses in their first year of graduate study:

• GRS HI 800: European Historiography
• GRS HI 850: American Historiography
• GRS HI 870: African Historiography
• GRS HI 801: The Historian’s Craft

HI 800, 850, and 870 are reading and research courses on historiographical issues and approaches in the areas where the department has special strengths. In contrast, The Historian’s Craft (HI 801) is a research seminar designed to help students move from the original conception of a problem to a publishable article.

Note students must take the historiography courses (HI 800, 850, or 870) in their first year, alongside HI 801, which is offered every year in the spring semester.

• PhD students may take selected courses (numbered at the 500 level) that are open to undergraduates toward their degree requirements. Students are also permitted to take two graduate level courses in relevant disciplines other than history. These courses must be selected in consultation with the student’s advisor. Moreover, PhD students are encouraged to take Directed Reading and Directed Research Studies with their advisors and other faculty members of their choice.
• Students may also take approved courses within the Boston Consortium. Normally these courses are selected in consultation with the student’s advisor and respective Consortium faculty.
• Please note that the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GRS) expects students to pass their courses with a grade of B- or higher and maintain a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0. If students earn a grade below a B- in any of their classes, they will automatically be placed on academic probation, which is considered in violation of the definition of “satisfactory academic progress.” Academic probation will endanger their funding. Under GRS policies, students who receive three grades below B- are liable for termination from their graduate studies at Boston University.
• After completing all other course requirements and the qualifying examination, every doctoral student is required to complete four semesters of a two-credit Dissertation Workshop course (GRS HI 900). The eight credits count toward the 64-credit requirement for PhD students. This course, presided over by a departmental faculty member, meets every two weeks for a presentation of a significant work or research related to the dissertation by a current graduate student, a roundtable discussion on an important research issue, or a topic relating to a career in college teaching. Although students in Boston are expected to attend the course regularly, students need not be in residence to enroll in HI 900. However, every dissertation student must present their research once a year, either in person or by some other means when appropriate.

Original Research Papers

Every doctoral student must write two major research papers between 25 and 40 pages. Students with an approved master’s degree from another institution are required to complete only one major research paper. The papers must be based on primary sources and meet professional standards of documentation, citation, argument, and structure. The paper completed in HI 801: The Historian’s Craft qualifies as one of the research papers. The second paper may be developed in a research seminar or directed research study. A copy of each paper must be approved by the student’s advisor and then submitted to the Director of Graduate Studies to determine if it meets these requirements. Approved papers remain in the student’s file. Students may not schedule their oral examination without having completed this requirement.

Language Requirements

The Department aims at graduating world-class scholars capable of conducting research in languages other than English. Students working in African, Asian, and European history must conduct primary research in languages other than English. But given that significant secondary literature is produced outside the English-speaking world, the Department believes that it is important for all of our doctoral students, including Americanists, to demonstrate a genuine ability to read research in foreign languages.  To this end, we require that doctoral candidates in United States history and Asian history demonstrate a graduate-level reading knowledge in one relevant foreign language, and doctoral candidates in European and African history demonstrate a graduate-level reading knowledge in two relevant foreign languages. In exceptional circumstances, doctoral candidates in European history may petition for exemption from the two-language requirement.

Students can demonstrate reading proficiency in a foreign language in one of three ways:

• Language examinations. Students are given an excerpt from a scholarly text and asked to translate as much as they can as accurately as they can into good English (a dictionary is permitted). These exams are administered during the semester in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies. Exams must be scheduled with an administrator at least 2 weeks in advance.
• Language courses. The Department of Romance Studies offers reading courses for graduate students in French (GRS LF 621), Italian (GRS LI 621), and Spanish (GRS LS 621). The Department of World Languages & Literatures offers a reading course for graduate students in German (GRS LG 621). Passing one of these reading courses fulfills the department’s requirement for the language in question. Note that these courses may not be taken for credit toward the degree.
• Prior graduate school certification. If the candidate has passed a reading examination at another accredited graduate school and submits evidence to that effect to the Director of Graduate Studies, the departmental requirement will be waived in most instances.

PhD Students Who Have Already Earned an MA

Incoming PhD students who have already earned an MA receive the following credit upon approval:

• 16 credits toward the 64 credits required to advance to candidacy ( Note: please see the Department Administrator for details ).
• Credit for one of the research papers upon submission of the relevant document to the Director of Graduate Studies. It is worth noting that most students usually write two papers, one in the required course HI 801 and one through a directed study with their advisor.
• Credit for proficiency in one foreign language if certified by another accredited graduate school, contingent on the approval of the Director of Graduate Studies.