boston college history phd application

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Ph.D. in History

Boston, USA

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* all doctoral students receive a full tuition scholarship

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Explore scholarship opportunities to help fund your studies, welcome to graduate history at boston college.

Boston College’s graduate programs in history attract talented students from around the world. We offer M.A. and Ph.D. programs with training in a number of regional and thematic specialties; British, medieval, U.S., and modern European history have long been strengths of the department. Emerging areas of faculty expertise and graduate student interest include South Asian, East Asian, and Latin American history. In addition, the department trains in a range of comparative and transnational areas, with a particular interest in the history of religion, empires and legacies, the Atlantic world, urban history, and transnational history.

The Department of History welcomes a small class of new graduate students each September; our program’s size ensures individualized attention and considerable flexibility in designing one’s plan of study. All Ph.D. students are guaranteed funding through their fifth year in the program, assuming successful completion of requirements. Graduate students gain experience teaching in the two-semester core history sequence, first as teaching assistants and later as teaching fellows in charge of their own classes. Faculty and graduate students come together regularly for conversations about the craft of teaching history.

Historians at Boston College benefit from our location in one of the world’s great centers of academic life. A range of neighboring universities, libraries, and cultural institutions enrich our work. In particular, ongoing collaborations with graduate programs at Boston University, Brandeis University, and Tufts University allow our graduate students to tap into a remarkable network of world-class scholars. Several students and faculty also take part in the Center for European Studies, the Fairbank Center for East Asian Research, the Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies, and the South Asia Initiative at Harvard, as well as the Graduate Consortium in Women’s Studies at MIT. Ongoing seminars and lecture series at the Massachusetts Historical Society, the Boston Public Library, and the Museum of Fine Arts bring together lively communities of scholars interested in a range of subfields and other disciplines. In all, Boston College offers an unparalleled site for pursuing advanced study in history. We hope that you will consider joining our thriving intellectual community.

The Boston College History Department’s M.A. and Ph.D. programs attract talented students from the United States and around the world. The M.A. program prepares students for a broad range of careers in public history, education, publishing, and elsewhere. The goal of the Ph.D. program is to produce historians who are both leading scholars and distinguished teachers. While most graduates of the doctoral program become academic historians, the department is committed to assisting students who are interested in positions in university administration, museums, archives, and research institutes.

The department has long had strengths in European and U.S. history, but emerging areas of faculty expertise and graduate student interest include South and East Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America. The department offers training in a range of comparative and global fields, with a particular interest in the history of religion, global and international history, the Mediterranean Sea, the Indian Ocean, and the Atlantic world.

The History Department matriculates a small group of masters’ and doctoral students each September, and the small size of the program ensures individualized attention and flexibility in the plan of study. All Ph.D. students are guaranteed funding through the fifth year of the program, assuming satisfactory progress towards the degree. Doctoral students first gain teaching experience as teaching assistants in the university’s core history sequence and later teach their own core courses as well as classes in their area of expertise.

Historians at Boston College benefit from our location in one of the world’s great centers of academic life. A range of neighboring universities, libraries, and cultural institutions enrich all of our work. Ongoing collaborations with Brandeis, Tufts, and Boston Universities allow our students to tap into a remarkable network of world-class scholars. Several students and faculty also participate in seminars and conferences at the Center for European Studies, the Fairbank Center for East Asian Research, the Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies, and the South Asia Center at Harvard, as well as the Graduate Consortium in Women’s Studies at M.I.T.

Seminars and lectures at the Massachusetts Historical Society, the Boston Public Library, and the Museum of Fine Arts bring together lively communities of scholars interested in history as well as neighboring disciplines. Historians at Boston College have access to the collections of the Boston Library Consortium, a network of 19 academic and research libraries in New England. In sum, Boston is unparalleled for pursuing advanced study in history.

Ph.D. Program

The Ph.D. degree in history is offered with concentrations in Medieval History, Early Modern European History, Modern European History, American History, and Latin American History. The department also offers coursework in Middle Eastern History and Asian History.

During the first semester of full-time study, doctoral students choose a faculty advisor, who oversees the student's progress in preparing for comprehensive exams and in developing a dissertation topic.

The Ph.D. is a research degree and requires special commitment and skills. While the degree is not granted for routine adherence to certain regulations or the successful completion of a specified number of courses, there are certain basic requirements.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the Ph.D. graduates should be able to:

• Develop their own historical questions and hypotheses and carry out a historical research project.
• Write academic articles and reviews at the scholarly level in informed, intelligible prose.
• Publish their research in peer-reviewed journals and present papers at conferences.
• Possess research competency in two languages (three in the case of medievalists).
• Teach effectively courses in History, both at the introductory and advanced level, in the community college, 4-year college, or university setting.
• Uphold the professional and ethical standards of the discipline.

Upon completion of the M.A. graduates should be able to:

• Have a broad knowledge of theory and research across two concentrations or subfields.
• Demonstrate deeper knowledge of one major historical concentration or subfield.
• Communicate research findings effectively in written and spoken presentations.
• Possess research competency in one language.
• Uphold professional and ethical standards in the discipline.

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Institution details.

At BC, our distinguished faculty members are active participants in the scholarly community, and they share their passion for innovative research through teaching and mentorship. The wealth of historical resources in the Boston area means that our students not only benefit from working closely with the faculty, but also from having access to world-class libraries, cultural institutions, and some of the oldest historical sites in the United States.

Areas of Specialization: African American diaspora studies, medieval/early modern/modern Europe, US, Latin America, Latinx, South Asia, Britain/Ireland/Boston

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Doctoral Program Information

A. Program Description. The Boston College History Department attracts talented graduate students from around the nation and around the world. We offer MA and PhD degrees with training in a number of regional and thematic specialties. The success of our Preparing Future Faculty program has positioned us among the leaders in restructuring graduate education in history.

The department has long had particular strength in British & Irish history, medieval history, US history, and modern European history. Emerging areas of faculty expertise and graduate student interest include South Asian history, East Asian history, Latin American history, and African history. In addition, the department trains in a range of comparative and transnational areas, with particular interest in the history of religion, empires and legacies, and the Atlantic world.

The History Department matriculates a small class of new graduate students each September; our program's size ensures individualized attention and considerable flexibility in designing one's plan of study. All PhD students are guaranteed funding through their fifth year in the program assuming successful completion of requirements. Graduate students gain experience teaching in the university's two-semester core history sequence, first as teaching assistants and later as teaching fellows in charge of their own classes. Faculty and graduate students come together regularly for conversations about the craft of teaching history.

Historians at Boston College benefit from our location in one of the world's great centers of academic life. A range of neighboring universities, libraries, and cultural institutions enrich all of our work. In particular, ongoing collaboration with graduate programs at Boston University, Brandeis University, and Tufts University allows our graduate students to tap into a remarkable network of world-class scholars. Several students and faculty also take part in the Center for European Studies, the Fairbank Center for East Asian Research, the Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies, and the South Asia Initiative at Harvard, as well as the Graduate Consortium in Women's Studies at MIT. Ongoing seminars and lecture series at the Massachusetts Historical Society, the Boston Public Library, and the Museum of Fine Arts bring together lively communities of scholars interested in a range of subfields and other disciplines. Historians at Boston College have access to the collections of the Boston Library Consortium, a network of 19 academic and research libraries around New England. In all, Boston offers an unparalleled site for pursuing advanced study in history.

B. Special Programs. Boston College doctoral students have access to many resources that will be useful for research. O'Neill Library, the main library on campus, has extensive hours for studying purposes. The John J. Burns Library of Rare Books and Special Collections, also at Boston College, houses the University's rare books, special collections and archives. It is home to more than 150,000 volumes, some 15,000,000 manuscripts and important collections of architectural records, maps, art works, newspapers, photographs, films, prints, artifacts and ephemera.

Furthermore, the Boston College Libraries are a cooperating member of the Boston Library Consortium. Because of this membership, Boston College faculty and students qualify for borrowing privileges at the member libraries.

Due to its proximity to Boston, doctoral students may also take advantage of seminars offered through the Massachusetts Historical Society.

C. Financial Aid. The PhD program guarantees five full years of funding to incoming PhD students, meaning that doctoral students receive tuition remission as well as a stipend. This funding is contingent upon satisfactory academic performance and progress towards the degree. Beginning in their second year of study, doctoral students serve as Teaching Assistants in the History department.

D. Degree Requirements. Students entering directly into the PhD program are required to complete 39 credits, 36 of which are to be taken prior to an oral comprehensive exam. All students in the PhD program are required to pursue two semesters of full-time study during the first year and must, in the course of their studies, complete at least two research seminars (one of which may be the Dissertation Seminar) and two intensive readings colloquia (one in the major and one in a minor area). PhD candidates, with the exception of medievalists, must also pass two foreign language reading exams (but some Americanists can petition to substitute competency in a field of particular methodological or theoretical relevance to their program of study). Medievalists must pass three language exams, one of which must be Latin or Greek.

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Boston College PhD in History

History is a program of study at Boston College. The school offers a doctor’s degree in the area. Here, you’ll find out more about the major doctor’s degree program in history, including such details as the number of graduates, diversity of students, and more.

If there’s something special you’re looking for, you can use one of the links below to find it:

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Featured Programs

Learn about start dates, transferring credits, availability of financial aid, and more by contacting the universities below.

BA in History

Gain a rich foundation of knowledge ranging from early history to modern times with this online bachelor's degree in history from Southern New Hampshire University.

MA in History

The online Master of Arts in History degree program can deepen your understanding of how history is made.

How Much Does a Doctorate in History from Boston College Cost?

Boston college graduate tuition and fees.

During the 2019-2020 academic year, part-time graduate students at Boston College paid an average of $0 per credit hour. No discount was available for in-state students. The following table shows the average full-time tuition and fees for graduate student.

Does Boston College Offer an Online PhD in History?

Online degrees for the Boston College history doctor’s degree program are not available at this time. To see if the school offers distance learning options in other areas, visit the Boston College Online Learning page.

Boston College Doctorate Student Diversity for History

Male-to-female ratio.

Of the students who received their doctor’s degree in history in 2019-2020, 25.0% of them were women. This is less than the nationwide number of 40.9%.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

Of those students who received a doctor’s degree at Boston College in history at 2019-2020, none were racial-ethnic minorities*.

PhD in History Focus Areas at Boston College

History students may decide to major in one of the following focus areas.

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

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• PhD in History of Art & Architecture

The department’s PhD program prepares students to produce and defend an original contribution to knowledge and to teach the disciplines of history of art and architecture at both the undergraduate and graduate level. To enter, students must have a background of coursework equivalent to an undergraduate minor in history of art and architecture at Boston University—that is, a two-semester survey course and three additional courses in history of art and architecture. In addition, two years of college work or the equivalent in a foreign language should be completed.

Learning Outcomes

• Produce and defend an original contribution to knowledge.
• Demonstrate mastery of subject material.
• Be capable of conducting scholarly activities in an ethical manner.
• Be able to teach the discipline at both the undergraduate and graduate level or to pursue another visual arts career.
• Conduct independent research and analysis.
• Interpret the results of the research.

Course Requirements

Sixteen courses (64 credits) are required to complete the doctoral program. It is recommended that two of these courses be in fields other than art history; approval of the Director of Graduate Studies or the student’s official faculty advisor is necessary before registering for non–art history courses. Two of the art history courses must be graduate seminars.

A specialized track option is available for students who wish to focus on the history of architecture.

Graduate students in the Department of History of Art & Architecture are eligible to enter the department’s Graduate Certificate Program in Museum Studies. The certificate’s required courses may be taken either as a part of, or in addition to, the courses required for the PhD.

Students with prior graduate work may be able to transfer course credits. For details, see the GRS Transfer of Credits policy .

Language Requirements

A second language is required for all students in the doctoral program in history of art & architecture. The language will be determined by the faculty advisor and approved by the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS). It may be necessary in some areas of specialization for the student to pass an examination in a third language, determined by the advisor and approved by the DGS. Students specializing in African art and architecture history must successfully complete four semesters of an African language as their second language. For students specializing in Asian art, in addition to proficiency in modern Chinese or modern Japanese (depending on the chosen field of specialization), students must acquire reading knowledge in a second language. The second language can be either an Asian or a European language, as decided in consultation with the student’s advisor. To meet the requirement for reading knowledge of a second language, students can take the language examination offered by this department, successfully complete the reading course offered by the Graduate School, or enroll in language courses in the Departments of World Languages & Literatures or Romance Studies. In the case of an Asian language, successful completion of second-year modern Chinese, Japanese, or Korean satisfies the department language requirement. The requirement for a second language for all students must be met by the end of the second semester of post–MA residence. A student may not take the qualifying examination until the PhD language requirement has been satisfied.

Qualifying Examination

The PhD Qualifying Examination is the prerequisite for writing a dissertation. It is designed to reveal a mastery of a field of specialization and a comprehensive knowledge of a minor area.

It is expected that the fields will include at least three different media or areas of endeavor (listed below), and will also span at least two centuries (or more, depending on the standards of the art historical area involved).

• Architecture
• Decorative arts
• Photography
• History of criticism

The examination is divided into two parts: an oral examination and a written examination. The oral examination lasts two hours. At least three examiners are present, including at least one Department of History of Art & Architecture faculty member who is a specialist in the major field. The written examination is designed to demonstrate the student’s facility in carrying out research in the chosen field of expertise. After conferring with the primary advisor about the areas of concentration, the date of the exam, and the names of the examiners, the student will submit the signed form to the Director of Graduate Studies for approval. The student must coordinate the date and place of the examination with the department administrator and each of the examiners. After the oral examination, the examiners will present the student with a topic for a scholarly paper. Within two weeks, the student must produce a research paper of approximately 15–20 pages, plus footnotes and bibliography, on one of these topics. No Qualifying Exam may be taken before all incomplete grades have been filed.

Dissertation and Final Oral Examination

Candidates shall demonstrate their abilities for independent study in a dissertation representing original research or creative scholarship. A prospectus for the dissertation must be completed and approved by the readers, the Director of Graduate Studies, and the Department Chair within three months (or at the end of the summer) of successful completion of the Qualifying Examination. Candidates must undergo a final oral examination in which they defend their dissertation as a valuable contribution to knowledge in their field and demonstrate a mastery of their field of specialization in relation to their dissertation. All portions of the dissertation and final oral examination must be completed as outlined in the GRS General Requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree .

If a post–BA PhD student chooses to leave the program after completing only the MA degree, then all regular requirements for the MA degree must first be satisfied. Boston University does not offer an MPhil degree.

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