Doctor of Philosophy Requirements
Program of Study
During the first year in the program, students will complete a M.A. thesis over two semesters and take four graduate seminars or colloquia. During the second year in the program students will take six new courses, consisting of graduate seminars, individual readings tutorials, and one course of study in a field outside the program.
Teaching Requirement
As part of the graduate training program, Ph.D. students are required to participate in undergraduate teaching, normally during their second, third, and fourth years.
Residence Requirement
The minimum residence requirement for doctoral students is three years.
Language Requirement
The use of foreign languages is an essential tool for the comparative historian. Each student will be expected to pass in the first year one language examination testing the ability to read historical prose with a dictionary. The second language examination must be passed before taking the qualifying examination. All students in European history must normally show competence in French and German. Medieval students must also offer Latin. Students may in some instances petition to substitute a language appropriate to their research interests for either French or German.
Qualifying Examination
Each student will take the qualifying examination at the end of the fourth term. Any student who has failed to complete the qualifying examination by the fifth term will be dropped from the program.
Dissertation Prospectus
The student will normally define a dissertation topic in the term preceding the qualifying examination but in no case later than the end of the fifth term in the program.
For the dissertation prospectus, students will make an oral presentation setting their proposed topic in comparative prospective.
Dissertation Defense
When the student's dissertation committee accepts the completed dissertation the candidate must defend it at the Final Oral Examination.