UConn History: Doctoral Program

The objective of the Doctor of Philosophy degree in History is primarily, though not exclusively, the training of academic scholars for college, university, and government service. Through a mixture of seminars, independent study, field examinations, language requirements, and a doctoral dissertation closely supervised by an advisor and faculty advisory committee, students develop the highest level of skills and command of information required for research scholarship and advanced teaching.

In order to develop teaching skills beyond the level of seminar presentations and oral examinations, Ph.D. students normally work as supervised teaching assistants and/or lecturers for at least one semester. Each fall, a TA training workshop is held prior to the beginning of the term, which is mandatory for all new teaching assistants and strongly encouraged for continuing TAs. In addition, workshops are held throughout each semester; these are led by talented instructors and provide a forum for exchanging ideas about classroom techniques and issues.

By the time a student completes a Ph.D., he or she will normally have submitted articles for publication, presented papers at scholarly meetings, written grant applications, and engaged actively in teaching.

The Ph.D. in history is awarded in four areas: Medieval Europe, Early Modern and Modern Europe, the United States, and Latin America. A dissertation topic must be chosen within one of these areas. Supporting work is offered in African, African Diaspora, Ancient, East Asian, Eastern European, and Middle Eastern history and in the History of Science. The student's program should ordinarily include work in other departments.

Upon admission to the program, the student is assigned a major advisor to chair an advisory committee. At least two associate advisors, chosen by the student, also serve on the committee. The student's advisory committee should be formed in consultation with the major advisor in the second semester after entering the graduate program.

In consultation with this committee, the student plans a program that meets individual needs and satisfies the requirements of the Graduate School and the Department of History. The major advisor who counsels the student through the general examination process ordinarily, but not necessarily, becomes the dissertation advisor.

Before the end of the second semester of full-time study beyond the master’s degree, the student must submit a formal Plan of Study to the Graduate School. This plan should list the courses that will be taken to prepare for the general examination, including those taken outside the Department of History. A copy of the plan should also be submitted to the departmental graduate office. The plan can be updated just before the student takes the final general examination.

The doctoral student must complete a minimum of one year of full-time study in residence beyond the master's degree, which consists of two consecutive semesters of a full-time graduate program at the Storrs campus. A graduate assistant, whose academic program normally proceeds at half the rate of the full-time student, ordinarily fulfills this residence requirement with two years of such service. (Note: This requirement does not mean the student must live on or near campus for their year of full-time study.)

Doctoral students are ordinarily required to complete a minimum of 24 credits of course work beyond the master’s degree. For students who have received the MA from the history department at the University of Connecticut the requirement is a minimum of 12 credits, unless a determination is made by the Graduate Director at the time of admission that additional course work will be required. All doctoral students must include at least 15 credits of GRAD 495 (Dissertation Research) in the Plan of Study.

The 24 credits of course work ordinarily taken beyond the master's degree represent only the formal minimum. Although course work is necessary preparation for the general examinations, students are examined on the mastery of fields of knowledge rather than on courses. The number and choice of courses taken depend on such factors as the student's background, choice of fields, the nature of related work, and language skills, and must be developed in consultation with the advisory committee. A student must ordinarily expect to devote at least three years of full-time study and research (i.e., uninterrupted by part- or full-time employment) beyond the master's degree to complete all requirements for the doctorate.

Graduate courses offered by other UConn departments may be counted among the credits that students accumulate toward the Ph.D. degree (for a maximum of 6 credits). (Such course work is especially encouraged at the Ph.D. level.) Good reasons for this strategy include: to develop specialized research skills, to prepare for an interdisciplinary teaching or research job, or to obtain greater breadth of knowledge. The History department encourages each student, in consultation with the advisor, to include one or more courses in related disciplines in their Plan of Study. Within or beyond the 24 required credits, students may want to include a “skills field,” a pair of linked courses in fields such as: anthropological or archaeological studies, literary theory, archival management, public-opinion polling techniques, political or international-relations theory, women’s studies, ethnic studies, or statistics.

Most doctoral course work is taken at the 300 level, although a maximum of six credits may be taken for credit at the 200 level in courses that are not listed as being open to sophomores. Students may wish to audit lecture courses at the 200 level. Graduate students may not take more than a total of three 200-level and 200+ (that is, 200-level courses taken for 300-level credit) courses. Independent reading courses (History 300) are designed to fill gaps in field preparation and are not substitutes for formal courses; they should not be taken until twelve credits of course work have been taken. Arrangements for taking independent reading courses are made with the major advisor.

History 401 is a requirement for all graduate students and should be taken as early as possible in the student's career. Only the Director of Graduate Studies in consultation with the student and the student’s advisor can grant exemptions from this requirement for students who have taken a similar course elsewhere. Also required is History 402 (Historical Research and Writing), a three-credit course that is normally taken in the spring after completing History 401. The same policy on exemption applies as with History 401.

Doctoral students are expected to complete all degree requirements within the seven-year limit prescribed by the Graduate School. The student's advisory committee only rarely recommends extensions of the terminal date, and then only after the student has submitted a written report on progress made on the dissertation, plans for completion of the dissertation, and the reasons why an extension should be granted.

The foreign language requirement for the doctorate varies according to the student's major area of interest, but normally one or two languages are required. The goal is to attain reading proficiency so that languages can be used as research tools.

At the very start of the doctoral student's first semester, the student and his or her advisor should determine a schedule and plan for satisfying this requirement; the student is expected to demonstrate reading proficiency in at least one foreign language early in the Ph.D. work. The full requirement must be met before the last of the four field examinations has been taken.

(1) Departmental examination: These examinations are typically given in the third week of each semester. Students intending to take a department examination must notify the Graduate Secretary by the end of the first week of classes. The examination consists of a written translation from the foreign language into English. A dictionary may be used. To pass the examination, the student must demonstrate that he or she can comprehend the language sufficiently to use it as a research tool. The examination in each language will be administered and evaluated by two faculty members. If the student fails an examination, the examination may be retaken, but only after the student has met with appropriate faculty to define a study program to achieve reading proficiency.

(2) Formal course work: With the approval of his or her advisory committee, the student may satisfy competence in a foreign language by satisfactorily completing certain language courses as specified in the graduate catalog.

(3) Examination by a University language department: a foreign language department at the University administers this examination. Students should consult with the Graduate Director about the availability of this option.

(4) Graduate School Foreign Language Tests: This examination is administered by the Bureau of Educational Research in the School of Education. There is a fee charged for each test. Students should consult with the Graduate Office about the availability of the option.

The specific language(s) in which each student is to establish competency are to be determined in consultation with the student’s advisor. The language requirements for each area of doctoral work are:

United States and Modern Britain: 1 language, with additional competency if required by the student’s research area and faculty advisor

Latin America: 1 language, with additional competency if required by the student’s research area and faculty advisor.

The General Examinations

The Ph.D. general examinations are intended to prepare students as professional teachers and scholars who have become familiar with the knowledge, literature, interpretations, and theories of their fields, who have demonstrated their competence as instructors, and who have acquired the skills necessary for original research and scholarly analysis.

Second-year students are to fill out the Exam Schedule Declaration form by April 1, which must be signed by the advisor and all field coordinators. Note that in most cases, the major advisor will serve on each field. The Graduate Advisory Committee will review each form. Department policy is that students should complete the first three Ph.D. fields no later than the end of the sixth semester of full-time work and the fourth field by the end of the seventh semester.

Except in rare circumstances, full-time graduate students in the Ph.D. program should not expect to receive pre-doctoral fellowship support after their seventh semester of full-time study if they have not passed all four field exams, including getting the Prospectus approved. Applications for summer research awards that come from students in this situation will be decided on a case-by-case basis.

The general examination consists of four fields. The candidate may not satisfy the requirements of all four fields by focusing on a single geographic area.

(1) Primary Geographic/Chronological Field: The student will take a one-hour oral examination on this field that should be selected from Areas A, B, C, or D under the Geographic/Chronological Fields listed below. This examination will be administered by a four-person committee that must include the field coordinator and one faculty member outside the student's primary geographic field. Well in advance of the examination, the student should develop a reading list in consultation with examining committee. As early as possible but no later than one week prior to the examination, the student should submit a proposal for an undergraduate survey course covering the field.

The proposal (two pages, maximum) should be a conceptual justification for the course, which identifies the substantive historical themes that will be treated and takes a position on major interpretive problems such as periodization. It should not be a detailed syllabus of the sort that would be distributed to students in a course. The proposal should be supported by a reading list, approved by all members of the examining committee, of monographic literature in the field. The proposal should not be longer than two double-spaced pages, and the reading list should include approximately 50 to 60 monographs (including important articles where appropriate). The student should be prepared to be questioned about both the proposal and historiographical issues raised by sources in the bibliography.

2) Second Geographic/Chronological Field: The student will take a one-hour oral examination administered by a three-person committee, one of whom shall be the field coordinator. The examination will be based on a reading list, approved by the committee, of approximately 30-35 monographs (including important articles where appropriate), and will focus on substantive historical themes and major interpretive problems.

(3) Geographic/Chronological Field or Topical Field: The student will take a one-hour oral examination administered by a committee of at least three faculty including the major advisor and field coordinator. This field will focus on subjects and methodologies that complement a student's primary field of interest. If a student chooses a geographical/chronological field, it must focus on a geographical area outside those covered in fields #1 and #2. If a student chooses a topical field, it must include a substantial component outside the primary geographical area. The student should work closely with the committee both in defining the field and in compiling the bibliography of approximately 30-35 monographs (including important articles where appropriate) on which the examination will be based.

(4) Dissertation Field: This field will be met by the satisfactory preparation of the dissertation prospectus. Students should follow the department's Guidelines for the Dissertation Prospectus.

The broad reading program necessary for preparation of the prospectus should be worked out in consultation with the major advisor and with the active participation of other members of the doctoral advisory committee. Preparation for this field should begin as soon as possible and should be completed no later than the seventh semester of full-time work. Before final approval, the entire dissertation committee (if circumstances permit) should formally meet with the student to discuss the substantive issues raised by the prospectus. The prospectus must be approved as well by the Graduate Advisory Committee before it can be submitted to the Graduate School.

Area B: Early Modern and Modern Europe: 1450 to 1650; 1600 to 1789; 1789 to 1890; Since 1890;and Russia since 1700

Area D: Latin America: To 1825; and Since 1808

Area E: Ancient Near East, Greece, and Rome: Near East to 323 B.C.; and Greece and Rome 1200 B.C. to 476 A.D.

Area F: Africa since 1500

Area G: East Asia since 1600

Topical Fields: African American; Cultural: Economic; Family; Foreign Relations; Immigration; Intellectual; Labor; Legal/Constitutional; Native American; Political; Science/ Technology; Social; Urban; Gender/Women; and other fields as desired by the student, with the approval of the advisory committee and the Graduate Director.

Dissertation

A dissertation that makes a significant contribution to the candidate's field of specialization is a primary requirement for the doctorate. When presented to the advisory committee, the dissertation must meet the highest standards of form as well as substance and demonstrate an ability to conduct and report independent scholarly investigation. Students are advised to consult the Graduate School’s website on requirements for dissertation format and submission.

This final oral examination (dissertation defense) of approximately one to one-and-a half hours deals mainly with the dissertation. Students must present final copies of the dissertation to members of the advisory committee and two additional examiners no later than one week before the defense. All faculty members and graduate students are invited to attend the dissertation defense.

The Doctoral Program in History

The General Examinations

Dissertation