Degree requirements

The Doctor of Philosophy with a major in history is offered in four fields: United States; Europe; Military; and Body, Place and Identity. All students pursuing the PhD in history will be examined for four areas of history, at least two of which must be within their primary concentration, United States; Europe; Military; or Body, Place and Identity. Students pursuing the PhD in United States history will be examined in at least one non-United-States area; students pursuing the PhD in European history will be examined in at least one non-European area; and students pursuing the PhD in Military history will be examined in two non-military areas. The areas in history must be chosen from a list provided by the department. The student must have a minimum of 30 classroom hours of graduate courses plus 12 dissertation hours. A minimum of four research seminar courses in history and 3 hours in historiography are required. If an area outside history would enhance the student’s program or career plans, the student’s committee may allow the outside area with the permission of the department chair, although no more than 6 such credit hours may be applied as credit towards degree requirements. Completion of a specific number of graduate hours does not automatically make one eligible for a degree. The student must show proficiency by satisfactory performance on written and oral examinations, by completion of the language requirement and by completion of an acceptable dissertation. Any student who fails to register for two consecutive long terms/semesters in classes at UNT will be required to reapply for admission to the history doctoral program.

Each doctoral student will create a program of study and degree plan in conjunction with the student’s advisory committee. The Department Graduate Advisor will serve as the general advisor for all PhD students and will assign incoming students a faculty mentor to guide them until the student selects a major professor. The student may ask the faculty mentor or another professor to serve as major professor. The major professor  will serve as the chair of the student’s advisory committee and, in consultation with the student, will select other members of the committee. The student’s degree plan and the composition of the advisory committee must be certified by the graduate advisor and approved by the chair of the department and the dean of the Toulouse Graduate School.

The committee will advise the student on program planning, arrange for all departmental examinations, approve in conjunction with the student the dissertation topic and judge the completed dissertation as a piece of original research justifying the awarding of the degree.

Doctoral committees in the Department of History must include a university graduate faculty member whose principal faculty appointment is in a department other than the history department. The student’s major professor and the student will work together to select a university member whose expertise will contribute meaningfully to the dissertation.

Foreign language requirement

The student must demonstrate a reading knowledge of one foreign language. Students usually accomplish this by taking at least 12 undergraduate hours of a foreign language with a 2.7 GPA or passing a proficiency exam administered by the UNT World Languages and Literature department or similar accredited program. The language requirement must be completed prior to taking the qualifying examinations.

Admission to candidacy

The qualifying examination will ordinarily be taken when course work, other than research and dissertation, has been completed. The student’s advisory committee arranges the examinations as written examinations and oral examinations covering four areas. The successful completion of these examinations is a prerequisite to admission to candidacy for the degree.

The dean of the Toulouse Graduate School grants admission to candidacy upon recommendation of the advisory committee and the department chair, based upon the academic record of the student, approval of a dissertation topic and successful completion of language requirements and qualifying examinations.

Research and dissertation

The doctoral student will submit a dissertation that is a significant contribution to the knowledge of history. Completion of the dissertation requires original and independent research in the field of specialization. The final oral examination will be primarily a defense of the completed dissertation.