Degree requirements

The Doctor of Philosophy with a major in history is offered in four concentrations: United States; Europe; Military; and Body, Place, and Identity. All students pursuing the PhD in history will be examined in four fields of history, at least two of which must be within their primary concentration, United States; Europe; Military; or Body, Place, and Identity. One field must come from one of the three remaining concentrations, or from a selection of fields in world history. All examination fields must be chosen from a list maintained by the department. Credit hour requirements for the PhD include a minimum of 30 classroom hours of graduate courses and 12 hours of dissertation. A minimum of four research seminar courses in history and 3 hours in historiography are required. If disciplinary training outside of history would enhance the student’s program or career plans, the student’s committee may allow an outside minor field with the permission of the department’s Director of Graduate Studies, but no more than 6 such credit hours may be applied as credit toward degree requirements. Completion of a specific number of graduate hours does not automatically make a student eligible for a degree. The student must also show proficiency for the PhD by demonstrating satisfactory performance on written and oral examinations, by the completion of a language requirement, and by the completion of and successful defense of a doctoral 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 their major professor and doctoral committee. The department’s Director of Graduate Studies 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 major professor will serve as the chair of the student’s doctoral committee and, in consultation with the student, will select other members of the committee. The student’s degree plan and the composition of the doctoral committee must be approved by the department Director of Graduate Studies and by the dean of the Toulouse Graduate School.

The student’s doctoral committee will guide the student on program planning, will arrange for all departmental examinations, and will approve the student’s dissertation topic. They will also judge the completed dissertation as a piece of original research that justifies the awarding of the PhD 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 by passing a proficiency exam administered by the UNT Department of World Languages, Literature and Cultures 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 doctoral committee arrange both written and oral examinations that cover four fields. 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 doctoral committee and the department Director of Graduate Studies, based upon the academic record of the student, approval of a dissertation topic, successful completion of language requirements, and success passing the qualifying examinations.

Research and dissertation

A doctoral student is expected to produce a dissertation that provides an original, specific, and significant contribution to historical scholarship. Completion of the dissertation requires original and independent research in the field of specialization. The final oral examination will be a defense of the completed dissertation.