Close menu Resources for... William & Mary
W&M menu close William & Mary

Graduate Regulations: December 7, 2001

The Master of Arts Program

(Students should also consult the general regulations governing the Master of Arts degree in the Graduate Arts and Sciences Program Catalog.)

1. INTRODUCTION

A. The M.A. program is offered in Early American and United States History and in a limited number of areas of European history.

B. Students can earn a terminal M.A. degree, or count work done in the Master's program as the first year of doctoral study. (Those who intend to continue in the Ph.D. program should see requirements for the Master's year under that program.)

C. The Ph.D. program is offered only in Early American and United States History.

D. The M.A. program is designed to encompass the spring and fall semester of an academic year, and the following summer. By the end of this period, the student should have completed all course requirements and at least a first draft of a thesis.

2. COURSE REQUIREMENTS

A. Any student receiving two grades of C or below in the first semester will be dropped from the program at the end of that semester.

B. Candidates for the M.A. must complete 24 semester hours of History courses, not including History 700 (Thesis), and must achieve an overall grade point average of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. (Students should note that the grade of B-minus falls below the required average.)

C. All M.A. candidates must take a research seminar (History 710, 711, 712, 713, or 714) in the fall semester and take History 703 (Quantitative Methods) if the methodology is required for the thesis.

D. All students must also take the appropriate section of History 701 and 702 (section 01 for students in American History and section 02 for students in European history) and register for directed research (History 758) in each semester.

E. In addition to the 24 semester hours, students who continue into the doctoral program must take History 705 (Teaching History) for at least one semester. M.A. students who are appointed as teaching assistants are encouraged to take the course during their first semester.

F. (regulation deleted 21 Aug 2001. srn)

G. Advanced reading courses (History 721-746, 759) are reserved for special situations and must be approved by both the Graduate Director and the individual instructor.

H. Upon approval by the Graduate Director, students may schedule up to six graduate credits in courses in other departments or programs not crosslisted under History. Such courses must fit logically into a student's overall preparation.

I. Normally, students are expected to complete the entire 24 semester hours (other than the thesis required for the degree) by the end of the second semester of residence.

J. All students must take at least three courses other than thesis and directed research during both fall and spring semesters.

K. In the event of a student's failure to complete all assignments in a course, instructors will assign a grade of "I" (the grade of "G" is assigned only in History 700). (See the Graduate Arts & Sciences Program for definitions of grades.)

3. TYPICAL MASTER'S PROGRAM

Fall

History 701, 3 credit hours

Research Seminar (History 710, 711, 712, 713, or 714), 3 credit hours

Directed Research (History 758) under seminar director, 3 credit hours

Thesis (History 700), 6 credit hours

Elective, 3 credit hours

Spring

History 702, 3 credit hours

Directed Research (History 758) under thesis advisor, 3 credit hours

Thesis (History 700), 6 credit hours

Elective, 3 credit hours

Elective, 3 credit hours


4. ADVISORS

A. Students will initially be assigned a graduate advisor on the basis of information in their applications. During the summer before they arrive on campus, students will receive information about the program and a pre-advising form which they should return by August 15.

B. Students in the M.A./Ph.D. track should plan a tentative program over five semesters.

C. All students should also schedule a meeting with their advisors during the week before graduate registration.

D. Upon approval of the student's thesis prospectus, the thesis director will become the student's advisor.

5. LANGUAGE REQUIREMENT

A. In addition to an adequate command of English, each Master of Arts student must demonstrate a reading knowledge of one other language in which there is significant historical literature before he or she will be advanced to candidacy for the degree.

B. This requirement will be fulfilled by departmental examination in a foreign or classical language: normally Chinese, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Portuguese, Russian, or Spanish.

C. Students should also discuss requirements with the faculty member administering the examination in a particular language beforehand.

D. The examination, which will be given at least once each semester, will consist of translating a passage, depending on the language, of approximately 500 to 1,000 words with the use of a dictionary in two hours.

E. It is strongly recommended that students satisfy the language requirements during the first semester.

6. COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATION

A. A one-hour oral prospectus defense is required for the M.A. The examination will be held before March 1 in the spring semester; anyone applying to the doctoral program should defend before Feb. 15. The examination will be on the student's thesis prospectus.

B. The examination committee will consist of the thesis director as chair, another faculty member in the broad area of the thesis, and a third outside the broad area (American, British, or European history) in which the thesis is written.

C. A student must have received credit for at least twelve hours of coursework with a grade point average of B or better to be eligible to take the comprehensive examination.

D. A student who is not eligible to take the comprehensive examination by the end of the second semester will be dropped from the program.

E. The student must submit three copies of his or her prospectus and a draft of at least one chapter of the thesis (normally completed in the student's fall research seminar) to the examination committee no later than two weeks before the scheduled examination date.

7. THESIS

A. Each candidate must choose a thesis director and submit a thesis prospectus, developed in consultation with the thesis director, to the Graduate Committee for approval by the first day of class of the second semester of graduate study. Normally the thesis director is a member of the history department. For a description of the Thesis Prospectus, see Appendix XIV.

B. The final text of the thesis should not be less than forty pages or more than ninety, excluding footnotes, bibliography, and appendices. Edited documents may exceed one hundred pages and may have an introduction as short as forty pages. Historical archaeology apprentices have the option of submitting a thesis composed of an archaeological report combined with a historical analysis.

C. Faculty members will not be available for the supervision of theses during the summer months except by prior arrangement.

D. A Caution: Drafts of theses take time to read and revise. Students should secure the approval of their thesis directors before circulating drafts to other members of the thesis committee. The remaining members will receive only the final, completely revised draft. Since normally directors and other committee members are concurrently teaching a full schedule, allow as much as four to six weeks for a director to complete a reading (more if revisions require further reading) and two to three additional weeks for other committee members to read the final draft. When students submit a draft, they should ask the reader for an approximate date the manuscript will be returned. Students also should ascertain well in advance when readers will be on leave.

E. See Appendix III: Rules for Submitting Theses and Dissertations

SEE ALSO:

APPENDIX II:  APPRENTICESHIPS & INTERNSHIPS
APPENDIX IV:  TEACHING ASSISTANTS
APPENDIX V:   FORMS TO BE COMPLETED (M.A.)

 



The Doctoral Program

The Ph.D. program is offered only in Early American and United States History Students should also consult the general regulations governing the Ph.D. degree in the Graduate Arts and Sciences Program Catalog.

1. INTRODUCTION (See Also, Appendix I: Progress Checklist)

A. Unless otherwise notified when initially admitted, all M.A. students who wish to undertake doctoral work at William and Mary must apply to admission to the doctoral program no later than the first day of classes in the spring semester of their M.A. year. Forms are available in the department office. Normally six funded positions are available each year.

B. Students who have completed the course requirements for the master's degree in another accredited institution of higher education may also apply for admission to the doctoral program.

C. Initially doctoral students will be assigned an advisor based upon field of interest.

D. By April 15 of the second semester of Ph.D. study each student must select a dissertation advisor and register the choice in writing with the Graduate Committee. Normally students will have taken (or will be taking) a course from the advisor by the time they register this choice.

E. The Master of Arts program serves as the first year of doctoral study. Students continuing in the doctoral program must fulfill all requirements under their master's program before taking the Ph.D. comprehensive qualifying exams.

F. Doctoral students who have not received their M.A. degrees from William and Mary or another accredited institution by the May Commencement of their second year of graduate study will not be eligible for continuation of graduate financial aid until they receive the degree.

G. Students in history must spend two years of graduate study after the first in continuous residence.

H. Students receiving a stipend who wish to reside outside the greater Williamsburg area must request permission from the Graduate Director.

2. TERMS OF STIPENDS AND AWARDS OF STUDY

A. Doctoral students who receive four-year departmental financial awards are expected to serve as teaching assistants or teaching fellows for six of the eight semesters under the award. Students with funding must be available to teach in three out of the four semesters after they satisfactorily complete their comprehensive qualifying examination. For an exemption, the student must apply to the Director of Graduate Studies for a research assignment.

B. Students are assigned to research in the semester in which they take the comprehensive qualifying examination and one other semester after they successfully complete the examination.

C. Students may also apply for appointment as a Teaching Fellow in one of the other two semesters after passing the examination.

D. Students who wish a research assignment outside of Williamsburg must request permission from the Graduate Director.

3. COMPREHENSIVE QUALIFYING EXAMINATION

A. Preparing for the Comprehensive Qualifying Examination

(1) The comprehensive exam requires students to demonstrate their command of the history and historiography in three chronological fields in early American and U.S. history and one field outside of U.S. history.

(2) A student may substitute for one of the chronological American fields other than his or her dissertation field a topical field in American history that covers at least two of the three chronological fields. For possible exam fields, see Appendix VI. A student selecting this option must take two proseminars (or other approved graduate courses) in the chronological field for which the topical field is substituted. A proseminar in a topical field spanning chronological fields may count as one of the student's required proseminars in any of the chronological fields covered.

(3) Since each student is expected to acquire an expert knowledge in the major field and in the specific area of the dissertation, he or she should plan to prepare that field in more depth. In no field should the comprehensive exam be considered merely an examination of coursework already taken.

(4) Before taking the comprehensive exam, a student must have fulfilled the language requirement, completed all coursework, received formal approval of the masters thesis by the thesis committee, and received approval of the dissertation prospectus.

(5) No later than the third semester of doctoral study, the student should consult faculty about serving on his or her examination committee. The Graduate Director will make every effort to comply with the student's request in making assignments to the committee consistent with the need to distribute assignments equitably among the faculty.

(6) The comprehensive examination committee will be composed of four faculty members, one for each field offered, and will include the student's dissertation advisor, who will serve as chair.

(7) With the approval of a student's comprehensive qualifying examination committee, a faculty member from another program or department from whom a student has taken specialized training (for example, historical archaeology) may sit as a secondary examiner with the department examiner in one of the examination fields.

(8) The student will work with each member of his or her committee to generate a reading list for each examination field. Each professor may choose whether to have a preset list or to require students to create their own lists as part of the comprehensive preparation process. Such lists will normally be 30-40 books or article equivalents, though faculty may sometimes require more depending on the student's preparation. See section 3.

(9) Each student is expected to consult with the examination committee members in preparation for the exam.

B. The Timing of the Exam

(1) Students must take the comprehensive qualifying examination for the doctorate during the spring of their second Ph.D. year.

(2) A student who for any reason fails to qualify to take the comprehensive exams in his or her fourth semester of doctoral study must wait until the sixth semester of doctoral study and will be ineligible to pass the exam with distinction.

(3) A student who fails to qualify to take the exam in the fourth semester of doctoral work will forfeit stipends at the end of the fourth semester.

C. The Exam Itself

(1) The exam has two parts-one written and one oral. Students must pass both parts.

(2) The written portion of the exam tests the depth of a student's knowledge and ability to present his or her ideas coherently. Some examiners may require a student to write several essays. Others may call for one essay. Likewise, the questions may be specific or sweeping. To name just two possibilities, one question may require a student to discuss debates within a particular field; another may call upon a student to draft a lecture on a given subject.

(3) Each member of the examination committee is solely responsible for preparing the questions and evaluating the answers for one of the four fields on the written portion of the examination. An examiner may, but is not required to, request the assistance of other faculty members in preparing questions and evaluating answers, but each examiner alone determines the result for the field. A secondary examiner from outside the department in a field will report his or her opinion to the departmental examiner in that field.

(4) Normally, examiners will be expected to provide students with options on the written portions of the comprehensive exam.

(5) The examiner should make copies of his or her questions available to the chair of the comprehensive examination committee several days before the beginning of the written exam.

(6) Students may pick up all sections of the written examination after 8 a.m. on the first day and must return all sections by 4:30 p.m. on the fifth day.

(7) Students may take the four fields of the examination in any order and at any time during the five-day period. Students are on their honor to observe the following stipulations:

a. They may not open the sealed envelope containing the examination for a field until they are ready to begin the examination for that field.

b. At no time after they have opened the sealed envelope for a field may students consult any personal notes or printed, microform, or computerized sources (except spelling and grammatical programs) or consult any person other than the department chair, the chair of the examination committee, or the Graduate Director about any aspect of the examination before submitting their answers.

c. Students will be allotted eight hours per field, from the moment they open that field's exam to the moment they complete it (including breaks, editing, and printing).

(8) Typically, answers range from 3,000 to 5,000 words per field.

(9) By the Wednesday following completion of the written exam, examiners will normally inform the chair of the student's committee whether the student passed or failed and will have discussed with the chair the strengths or weaknesses of the student's performance. The chair of the committee only will communicate these results to the student and to the Graduate Director as soon as possible after receiving them from committee members.

(10) The student must pass the written portion of the examination in all four fields before going on to the oral section.

(11) A student who fails the written portion of one field will be re-examined in that field only.

(12) A student who fails the written portion of two fields will be re-examined in all fields.

(13) If the four committee members are unanimous that the student passed the written portion of the examination and may proceed to the oral portion, the committee chair will inform the student and the Graduate Director without a meeting of the committee. If the student fails any field, or if there is disagreement over any issue, the committee chair will convene the committee to set the approximate time for the written reexamination and to seek resolution of any disagreement before informing the student of the results of the examination.

(14) The oral portion of the exam is a two-hour examination, wherein the members of the committee ask questions on a wide range of subjects. Faculty may further examine a student's knowledge of subjects covered on the written exam. They may ask the questions that the student chose not to answer on the written portion of the exam, or they may devise entirely new questions. Each student will be judged on the depth and breath of his or her knowledge and also on his or her ability to present that knowledge clearly and coherently.

(15) It is the responsibility of the student to arrange with the committee a mutually convenient date and place for the oral examination before administration of the written portion of the comprehensive qualifying examination. Oral examinations normally will be scheduled no earlier than the second Monday after completion of the written exam and no later than one month after the written exam.

(16) A student who fails the oral portion of one field will be re-examined in that field only. The entire comprehensive examination committee will normally be present when the student retakes the one oral field that he or she initially failed.

(17) A student who fails the oral portion of two fields will be re-examined orally in all fields.

(18) The final evaluation of the comprehensive exam will take into account the student's performance on both the written and oral portions of the exam and will use the following categories for evaluation: distinction, pass, or fail.

(19) A student who fails to pass the exam in the fourth semester of doctoral work will forfeit stipends at the end of the fourth semester.

(20) Only one re-examination will be permitted for the written portion of the examination and only one for the oral portion. The graduate program committee may waive this rule only under the most unusual and compelling circumstances. It is the responsibility of the student to bring such conditions to the attention of the Graduate Director no later than two weeks after notification of failure on the first re-examination.

(21) No comprehensive qualifying examinations or re-examinations will be administered during the summer session.

(22) No doctoral student may serve as an instructor in the History Department until he or she has passed the comprehensive qualifying examinations.

 

4. COURSE REQUIREMENTS

A. Candidates for the Ph.D. degree must complete at least 27 hours of graduate coursework in History (not including History 800) beyond the master's level within the first three semesters of residency.

B. With approval of the Graduate Director, students may take graduate courses in other departments or programs.

C. At a minimum, students must schedule at least three courses (not including History 800: Dissertation) each semester.

D. Students who fail to maintain a grade point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale over the three semesters of study before taking the comprehensive qualifying examination, or who receive two Cs, are automatically dropped from the program. (Students should note the a grade of B-minus falls below the required average.)

E. A doctoral student must take two research seminars in two separate fields of American history. A student may have one of the required seminars waived if he or she has satisfied the research seminar requirement for his or her M.A. degree. Research seminars are offered only in the fall semester.

F. A doctoral student is expected to complete History 703 (Quantitative Methods).

G. Doctoral students who are appointed as teaching assistants must take History 705 (Teaching History) if they have not previously done so.

5. LANGUAGE REQUIREMENT

Doctoral students are required to pass a departmental language examination in one foreign language before the comprehensive qualifying examination. No credit will be granted for language requirements passed at other institutions, but students who have fulfilled the departmental language requirement as M.A. candidates at William and Mary need not repeat the process at the doctoral level. (For further details, see the description of the language requirement under the Master's Program.)

6. DISSERTATION

A. Each candidate for the doctorate must submit a dissertation that is based on original research and which makes a contribution to historical knowledge. A prospectus on the topic must be approved by his or her dissertation advisor and submitted to the Graduate Program Committee by October 15 of the third semester of Ph.D. work. For a description of the Dissertation Prospectus, see Appendix XIV.

B. Students are advised to register their dissertation topics with the American Historical Association as soon as the prospectus is approved.

C. The dissertation committee will be composed of  four faculty members, including the advisor.  Normally, two will be American historians in the department, one will be a non-Americanist in the department, and one will be an "outside" reader (either a faculty member from another department at William and Mary or from another institution.)  Students will decide upon their committees in consultation with their advisors; all committees must be approved by  the Graduate Director and the Dean of Research and Graduate Studies.

D. At least one member of the doctoral dissertation committee other than the director must read and approve the draft of the dissertation before it is typed in final form and submitted to the other members of the dissertation committee.

E. Before graduation each doctoral student must have registered for at least one hour of History 800 (Dissertation). Faculty members will not be available for the supervision of dissertations during the summer months except by prior arrangement. For additional directions see the section on "Theses" above.

F. A Caution: Drafts of dissertations take time to read and revise. Students should secure the approval of their dissertation director before passing the dissertation draft to the second reader and then that person's approval before circulating it to other members of the committee. Since normally directors and other committee members are concurrently teaching a full schedule, students should allow as much as four to six weeks each for a director and second reader to complete a reading (more if revisions require further reading) and two to three additional weeks for other committee members to read the final draft. When students submit a draft, they should ask the reader for an approximate date the manuscript will be returned. Faculty are not available to read dissertations or hold defenses of dissertations over the summer except by prior arrangement. Students should be certain to discover well in advance when readers will be on leave.

G. See also,  Appendix III: Rules for Submitting Theses and Dissertations

7. DISSERTATION DEFENSE

After the dissertation has been accepted by the committee, the student must defend his or her dissertation in a final oral examination before the faculty and such other persons as the dissertation committee may invite.

SEE ALSO:

APPENDIX I:     PROGRESS CHECKLIST
APPENDIX III:   RULES FOR SUBMITTING THESES AND DISSERTATIONS
APPENDIX VI:    POSSIBLE COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATION FIELDS
APPENDIX VII:   TYPICAL DOCTORAL PROGRAM
APPENDIX IX:    APPRENTICESHIP AND INTERNSHIP PROGRAMS
APPENDIX X:    TEACHING INTERNSHIP PROGRAM
APPENDIX XI:    WRITING AND COMPUTING PRECEPTORS
APPENDIX XII:   GLUCKSMAN FELLOWSHIP
APPENDIX XIII:  FORMS TO BE COMPLETED (Ph.D.)

Appendix I: Progress Checklist

1ST SEMESTER M.A.

  Take language exam (if appropriate)

2ND SEMESTER M.A.

  Apply for admission to Ph.D. Program by first day of classes (if desired)

  Take language exam (if necessary)

  Defend M.A. prospectus

1ST SEMESTER Ph.D.

  Attend Dean's T. A. Orientation

  Take Language exam (if necessary)

  Review plan of course work with advisor

2ND SEMESTER Ph.D.

  Complete all requirements for M.A. by May 1

  Complete all outstanding work of courses graded "I" or "G"

3RD SEMESTER Ph.D.

  Submit comprehensive exam committee to the graduate director by the end of the first full
  week of classes

  Complete bibliographies for comprehensive exams

  Make arrangements to have no outstanding "I" or "G" courses

4TH SEMESTER Ph.D.

  Take comprehensive exams

  Apply for research leave for following year (if desired)

5TH/ 6TH SEMESTER Ph.D.

  Apply for Teaching Fellowship

7TH SEMESTER Ph.D.

  Take Dean's Orientation on Teaching

8TH SEMESTER Ph.D.

  Apply for 6th year funding opportunities (if desired)

 



 

Appendix II: Apprenticeship and Internship Programs

A. In cooperation with the Ohomundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, the College Library, the Department of Anthropology, and the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the Department of History sponsors Apprenticeship Programs in the Editing of Historical Books and Magazines, in Archives and Manuscripts Collection, in Humanities Computing, and in Historical Archaeology.

B. The programs in archaeology and archives run from July 1, the program in editing from August 1, and the program in humanities computing from the beginning of fall classes, in each year to June 30 of the next. During periods before fall classes begin apprentices participate in a full-time program of on-the-job-training. They also work full-time during the week and a half before registration for the second semester in January, and during the remainder of May and, at the discretion of program directors, during all of June after final examinations in the spring.

C. While classes are in session, apprentices pursue the normal course of study for the M.A. and are responsible to their supervisors for approximately ten to twelve hours of work per week.

D. Doctoral students and students in the M.A./Ph.D. track should be aware of the opportunities for an internship in editing or archaeology described in his appendix.

E. All Doctoral students must participate in the Internship in College Teaching. (See Appendix X)

 



 

Appendix III: Rules for Submitting Theses and Dissertations

A. Guide for Writers of Theses and Dissertations is available on the College web site:

http://www.wm.edu/graduate/theses.html

B. In order to meet the College deadlines for submission of the thesis to the Dean of Graduate Studies in Arts and Sciences, the candidate should deliver three copies of the thesis approved by the thesis committee, to the Department of History at least one week before the deadline announced in the graduate catalog.

C. The thesis must be accompanied by a receipt from the College Cashier for the cost of binding the three copies required by the College. (Please check each year for the correct price). The student must arrange for binding additional copies on his or her own; the College will not bind additional copies for students.



 

Appendix IV: Teaching Assistants

Selected Master's candidates are appointed as Teaching Assistants. They are required to fulfill the duties described under TEACHING INTERNSHIP PROGRAM described in Appendix X.



 

Appendix V: Forms To Be Completed (M.A.)

The responsibility for the completion and submission of the following four forms
rests with the student:

A. Prospectus Defense Form -- three copies should be signed by all members of the examining committee at the time of the examination and filed with the Graduate Director.

B. Thesis Recommendation Form -- this form must be signed by all members of the student's committee when the thesis is accepted. This form is needed in addition to the approval sheet that is bound into the thesis. The form should be returned to the Graduate Director after all committee members have signed.

C. Approval Sheet -- three copies on acid-free paper (prepared by the student--see Guide for Writers of Master's Theses) must be signed by all three members of the thesis committee and by the student. When submitted for binding each of the three required copies of the thesis must include an approval sheet.

D. Notice of Candidacy for a Degree -- this form should be filed by the student with the Registrar
sixty days prior to the commencement (August, December, or May) at which the student hopes to receive a degree. If degree requirements have not been completed by the second Monday before commencement cancellation must be made by the student in writing. A new form must be submitted for the commencement at which the degree will be awarded.

 



 

Appendix VI: Possible Comprehensive Examination Fields

Chronological American fields:

Early American to 1789
Early American and U.S., 1789 to 1877
U.S., 1877 to Present

Topical fields in American history include but are not limited to:

African American
The US South
The Backcountry to 1860
Business
Cultural and Intellectual History
Foreign Relations
Gender/Women's History
Religion
Sexuality
Immigration
Labor
Material Culture
Urban
The West

Fields outside Early American and U.S. History:

Africa: 1800 to the present
England to 1485
England: 1485-1714
England since 1714
Medieval Europe: 400-1450
The Modern Middle East: 1500-1800
The Modern Middle East: 1800 to the present
Europe: 1400-1648
Europe: 1648-1815
Europe: 1815-1945
Europe: 1945-present
Russia: 1905 to present
Western Civilization
Latin America (Colonial)
Latin America (National)
East Asia: 1600-1850
East Asia: 1850 to Present

 



 

Appendix VII: Typical Doctoral Program

A. Doctoral students will normally take three courses per semester in addition to History 800 (Dissertation) before taking their comprehensive qualifying examinations.

B. Students may take four courses a semester and may have to do so to fulfill requirements.

C. Students will normally prepare for the comprehensive qualifying examinations by taking two graduate courses in their dissertation field and one in each of the two other American (chronological or topical) fields; two courses in the field outside American history; and one elective, normally a proseminar or graduate reading course. For students offering Western Civilization as an outside field, one elective must be in European history.

D. With the permission of the Graduate Director, students may take electives appropriate to their course of study in a department other than history.

E. Students who have not had historiography in the master's year must register for History 701-702.

F. History 703 (Quantitative Methods) is required of all doctoral students.


For 1st Graduate Year, See Typical Master's Program

Second Graduate Year

 

Fall

research seminar

proseminar

History 703 (or non-American course)

dissertation

History 705 (if not taken earlier)

Spring

proseminar

proseminar

History 703 (or non-American course)

dissertation only

Third Graduate Year

 

Fall

elective

proseminar

History 703 (or non-American course)

dissertation

Spring

Comprehensive Qualifying Examination

dissertation

Fourth & Fifth Graduate Years

 

Fall

dissertation only

Spring

dissertation only


 

 



 

Appendix IX: Apprenticeship And Internship Programs

A. All doctoral students receiving financial aid from the department must participate in an internship program: Editing of Historical Books and Magazines, Historical Archaeology, or College Teaching, and may participate in more than one.

B. Directors of internships in editing or archaeology may first require students who have not already completed an apprenticeship in the same field to do so (See Appendix II)

C. Internship programs in these fields are developed individually with each participant and normally require an average of 20 hours a week for two semesters or a semester and one summer after passing the comprehensive qualifying examinations.

D. All doctoral students, whether or not they participate in archaeology or editing internships, must participate in the Internship in College Teaching, as well as enrolling in History 705: Teaching History.

E. Ultimately, after passing the comprehensive qualifying examinations and successfully completing the initial stages of the internship, students may apply to be Teaching Fellows and to be assigned as instructors of record to teach History 101 or 102, 201 or 202, or another appropriate course.

F. The graduate committee, in consultation with faculty supervisors, will evaluate participants each semester for continuation in the internship. All assignments as teaching assistants or teaching fellows are subject to the department's needs.

G. Advanced students in their final year of dissertation writing may apply for two extra semesters of funding as preceptors in the History Writing Resources Center.



 

Appendix X: Teaching Internship Program

A. Selected students in the master's program and all students in the doctoral program are enrolled in the Teaching Internship Program, which is designed to prepare them for college classroom teaching. Students initially are assigned as Teaching Assistants.

B. Their duties are:

1. to attend all classes of the courses to which they are assigned.

2. to hold weekly office hours and tutorial sessions before upcoming examinations.

3. to grade quizzes and sections of examinations preparatory to the instructor's reading of the examinations for the final grade.

4. and to assist in class as the instructor requests.

C. Instructors will discuss aspects of class preparation with assistants, such as devising reading assignments, drafting syllabi, and composing examinations.

D. Assistants are normally asked to give one or two lectures in the course which the instructor helps them prepare. The instructor will evaluate and discuss their delivery.

E. Normally after the first semester, assistants will be assigned as discussion leaders in the "blowup" section of a larger survey class. The instructor meets weekly with assistants to talk about discussion assignments and to prepare examinations, which are partly based on the discussions.

F. Discussion leaders hold weekly office hours and grade examinations and papers for their sections with the faculty instructor assigning the final grade. Discussion sections are evaluated separately from the class lectures in the College's student evaluation system.

G. Doctoral students after successfully completing their comprehensive examinations may apply to be appointed Teaching Fellows and assigned as instructors of record to teach their own sections of a survey course, normally History 101, 102, 201, or 202.

H. Fellows meet with the department chair or a designated representative at the beginning of each semester for orientation as new faculty members.

I. In addition, fellows appointed for either semester of an academic year must attend the orientation offered by the Dean of Research and Graduate Studies each fall. (NOTE: the orientation is not offered in the spring.)

J. The Graduate Director, the student's dissertation supervisor, and the department coordinator for the survey course to which the fellow is assigned will supervise the fellow and advise on such matters as preparation of syllabi, selection of texts, and other relevant issues.

K. The coordinator and the dissertation supervisor will each attend two of the fellow's lectures and place written evaluations in the file. Fellows also will distribute student evaluation forms. All evaluators will discuss their evaluations with the fellow.



 

Appendix XI: Writing And Computing Preceptors

A. The department has available a number of appointments as Writing or Computing Preceptors for which doctoral students who have successfully completed the Teaching Internship may apply. The selection is based on their evaluations as Teaching Fellows and their overall academic performance. Applicants must submit writing samples and be interviewed by the selection committee.

B. Candidates for Computing Preceptorships must have successfully completed History 703.

C. Those selected for Writing Preceptorships must successfully complete an orientation offered by the Director of the Writing Center.

D. Successful candidates for either Preceptorship must attend the orientation given by the Dean for Research and Graduate Studies. (Note that the orientation is only in the fall for preceptors in either fall or spring semesters.)



 

Appendix XII: Glucksman Fellowship

A. By means of an endowment received in 1991, the department annually offers the Glucksman Fellowship to honor one student each year who has distinguished himself or herself in teaching and research. The Fellow normally teaches two seminars related to his or her dissertation or one seminar and one section of the US survey and receives a stipend of $10,000.

B. Candidates must have successfully completed the Teaching Internship with those most recently completing the internship receiving preference. Candidates must submit syllabi and outlines of lecture topics for the proposed courses and present them in a "job talk" before a combined meeting of the departmental graduate and undergraduate curriculum committees.

 



 

Appendix XIII: Forms To Be Completed (Ph.D.)

The responsibility for the completion and submission of the following three
forms rests with the dissertation supervisor:

A. Comprehensive Examination Form -- this form must be signed by all members of the examining committee at the time of the examination and filed with the Graduate Director.

B. Recommendation and Defense of Dissertation Form -- this form must be signed by all members of the dissertation committee at the time of the final examination in defense of the dissertation and filed with the Graduate Director.

C. Approval Sheet -- three copies on acid-free paper (prepared by the student--see Guide for Writers of Doctoral Dissertations) must be signed by all members of the dissertation committee and by the student. When submitted for binding each of the three required copies of the dissertation must include an original approval sheet with original signatures.

The responsibility for the completion and submission of the following four
forms rests with the student:

D. Notice of Candidacy for a Degree -- this form should be filed by the student with the Registrar sixty days prior to the commencement at which the student hopes to receive a degree. If degree requirements have not been completed by the second Monday before commencement cancellation must be made by the student in writing. A new form must be submitted for the commencement at which the degree will be awarded.

E. Survey of Earned Doctorates -- this form should be completed by the student and submitted to the Dean of Graduate Study along with the copies of his/her dissertation.

F. Agreement Form for UMI Dissertation Services -- this form should be completed by the student and submitted to the Dean of Graduate Study at the time the dissertation is submitted. An Abstract is also required to accompany this form. See A Guide for Writers of Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations for instructions.

G. Doctoral Dissertation List -- this form should be completed by the student and the dissertation director and should be returned to the Chairman of the Graduate Program Committee. This form will be submitted to the American Historical Association and will bring up to date the title of the dissertation and record its completion for publication in the AHA List of Doctoral Dissertations.

 



 

Appendix XIV: Prospectus Information For M.A. Theses And Ph.D. Dissertations

Your prospectus should be typed and double-spaced, and it should include a bibliography and the following:

1. RESEARCH QUESTIONS: 1-2 paragraphs discussing your research questions.  In other words: What questions are you bringing to the sources?  What questions are you trying to answer with your research?  Why did you choose this particular topic?

2. HISTORIOGRAPHY: 2-3 pages on the major historiographic trends with which your research project will engage.  This section should not be a detailed account of each piece of scholarship that relates to the historiographic context for your work; rather you should focus more broadly on the general lines of argument within the historiographies that are most relevant to your study.

3. SOURCES: 1-3 three pages discussing how your sources will help you answer your research questions.  Also be sure to make clear how the sources you have chosen (or found) will help you engage with the historiographic trends previously discussed. In other words, this section should not be just a list of your major sources, but rather an analytic explanation of how your sources can be used both to answer your research questions and to support arguments that engage with and offer an original way of thinking about your topic historically.

4. PRELIMINARY THESIS: One paragraphs. A prospectus is the means by which you tell others why you are doing this topic. i.e.. Why the research you are doing, and the project you have constructed is important.  Drawing from the above discussion, this paragraph should state your (preliminary) main argument/claim/contention and why your particular take on this topic is critical to our understanding of history.