Master's Program
The two-year M.A. program is the first step for students who seek to earn a Ph.D. in History but have not previously earned an M.A. in History at a different school. During the M.A. program, students receive a graduate-level introduction to history as an academic discipline as well as methodological training in the craft of research and academic writing. Apart from this, they build their expertise in a regional field (Europe, United States, Asia, Latin America) while at the same time exploring transnational/thematic history across regions in our transnational field research clusters. The culminating work of the M.A. program is the completion of an original research paper of approximately 10,000 words, which should be of potentially publishable quality and significance. All candidates for the M.A. degree must demonstrate competency in a foreign language before sitting for the M.A. examination.
After successful completion of the M.A. students may advance to the Ph.D. program, based on departmental approval.
Please note that we do not offer a terminal M.A. program.
For detailed information on the requirements, please see the Graduate Handbook PDF.
PhD Program
After the completion of the M.A. or the acceptance into the program with an M.A. in History from another school, the coursework portion of the Ph.D. program should normally take one year to complete. During this time, students further build their regional expertise and engage with the themes and methods of transnational history. They also acquire the necessary methodological and linguistic skills to conduct the kind of research their doctoral dissertation requires. The coursework portion of the Ph.D. program ends with the completion of the comprehensive exam and the defense of their doctoral overview. Ph.D. candidates are no longer required to take classes but spend their time conducting research and writing their dissertations. The Ph.D. program ends with the defense of the doctoral dissertation, ideally within three years after the defense of the doctoral overview.
For detailed information on the requirements, please see the Graduate Handbook PDF.
