First and Second Years
Credits and Courses
First (Written) Examination
Language Requirement
Second (Oral) Examination
Dissertation Proposal Process
Dissertation Defense (Final
Examination)
Masters of Philosophy and En-Route
Masters
THE FIRST YEAR:
COURSES AND REQUIREMENTS
The State of New York allows Ph.D. students eight
years to complete their degrees, seven years for
those entering with a Masters. Because the dissertation
is the most important thing you will do to earn your
degree, and the main thing most prospective employers
will be interested in, we have constructed a curriculum
that is designed to get you through your coursework
and exams as quickly as possible so that you can
devote the bulk of your years here working on the
dissertation. This explains why the first-year of
your matriculation is the most structured of all,
devoted mostly to required courses. By the end of
the first year, all students will have written a
substantial research paper, roughly equivalent to
a Master’s thesis, and most students will have
taken the reading courses that will be the basis
for their first (written) exams.
The First Year Paper
Every entering student will enroll in a two-semester
seminar (or its equivalent) that will culminate in
the production of a substantial, research-based, first-year
paper. Generally the program offers one first-year
seminar in U.S. history and one in European history
(including Medieval, Early Modern, and Modern). Students
in other fields should consult with the Executive
Officer or a Deputy Executive Officer about taking
one of these seminars (but doing a research project
in their own field) or, in rare instances, taking
an independent study that will involve work similar
to that done in the seminars.
The first semester of the first-year seminars is devoted
to discussions of methodology and preparation of a
paper topic. The professors running the seminars will
provide students with two critical services: First,
they will set a series of deadlines for the formulation
of a research topic, the preparation of a bibliography
of secondary works, the writing of a historiographical
essay, and finally, by the end of the first semester,
a well-developed research proposal with a bibliography
of primary sources. Students will be graded on these
proposals. Second, the professors will direct students
to the faculty members who can provide students with
the substantive advice they need to pursue their topics.
In the Spring semester, seminar students will research
and write their papers, while continuing to meet as
a course. Students will meet a second series of deadlines
for the production of a preliminary introduction,
early drafts, complete drafts, and final papers, and
will read and critique each others work as it develops.
.
The first year paper is a critical requirement of
the program, and students who fail to complete the
paper satisfactorily cannot continue into the second
year.
In the second year students will normally complete
their second research paper in the Fall semester and
begin working on the minor field, most often by enrolling
in the relevant Literature Survey of the proposed
minor field. In the Fall semester of the third year,
students should enroll in a research seminar with
the goal of producing a paper that will, ideally,
represent a first, research-based version of the eventual
dissertation proposal. Students who follow this curriculum
will have completed their course work by their third
year.
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CREDITS
AND COURSES:
The Ph.D. Program in History requires 60
hours of approved graduate coursework, including transfer
credits. A full load is three courses per semester.
All schedules must be approved by the Executive Officer,
a Deputy Executive Officer, or a student’s advisor.
Most required courses have five credits; elective
courses have three credits. There are two types of
required courses, research seminars and literature
surveys. Electives are strictly reading courses.
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FIRST (WRITTEN)
EXAMINATION
The First Examination is a four-hour written comprehensive exam testing broad,
general historical and historiographical knowledge of the student's major field.
It must be taken at the end of the semester in which the student completes the
Literature Survey of the major field. In fields where no surveys are available,
the First Exam must be taken at the end of the semester after the student has
completed 30 credits. First Examinations are given in the week before the semester
begins (technically, this is the last week of the previous semester), generally
in late January and late August. So, for example, students who complete their
Literature Survey in May will take the First Exam that August. In most cases
students prepare for the First Exam by completing the two Literature Surveys
of their major field and mastering the bibliography attached to the syllabus
for the Literature Survey.
First Examinations are made up and graded by committees
of three faculty members selected by the Executive
Officer in consultation with the Executive Committee.
Membership on these committees is rotating. Students
are generally required to answer three questions,
one in each of three different categories. Grading
the examinations is the collective responsibility
of the examiners. Students will be informed of their
First Examination grades by the Executive Officer.
They will not be informed as to how individual faculty
members graded their examinations. After the results
have been submitted, students may contact faculty members
on the committee to discuss their individual examinations.
Exams are rated “qualified” or “unqualified.”
Students receiving an “unqualified” rating
the first time they take the exam must take the entire
exam over within one semester. However, those taking
the exam for the first time who fail only one of
the three sections will be required to retake and
pass only that section within one semester. (Students
must make a good faith effort to answer all three
parts of the examination. If the examination committee
judges that a student did not do so, they will have
to retake the entire examination even if they only
failed one section.) Those who receive a grade of "unqualified"
on their second attempt, whether they take all or
part of the exam, will be dropped from the program.
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LANGUAGE
REQUIREMENTS
The History Program requires all students
to demonstrate a reading knowledge of at least one
foreign language; many fields require more than one
foreign language. Only in rare circumstances will
these requirements be waived with the approval of
the Executive Officer, the student's adviser, and
one additional faculty member in the student's major
field.
Students demonstrate competency in a foreign language
by translating one and half to two printed pages
of a passage written by a contemporary historian.
Examiners are more concerned with accuracy than speed
in translation. Translations must be written in idiomatic,
intelligible English, convey the major points made
by the authors, and do so without major grammatical
errors. Students are permitted to use a dictionary
during the examination. The program offers these
language examinations in the first week of every
semester. Comparable language examinations taken
at other graduate schools before the student's admission
to The Graduate Center may be accepted. Students
may also fulfill language requirements by getting
a grade of B+ or better on Level II examinations
offered by CUNY Graduate Center Language Reading
Program.
The following are the
fields requiring more than one foreign language:
Latin America: Spanish and Portuguese
Ancient: Latin and Greek and either French or German
(another modern European language may be substituted
with approval of the adviser)
Medieval Europe: Latin and either French or German
Early and Late Modern Europe: two languages
Jewish: Hebrew and either French or German (another
modern language may be substituted with approval of
the adviser)
Middle East: one Middle Eastern and one European language
Students must pass one language examination before
completing 30 credits of coursework and fulfill all
other language requirements before completing their
coursework.
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SECOND
(ORAL) EXAMINATION
Students must take their Second (Oral) Examination
within one semester after completing their coursework.
By then the student must have passed the First (written)
Exam, fulfilled the language requirement, and completed
the requirements for the minor. The Second Exam covers
the student’s major and minor fields and is
conducted by a committee of five faculty members
(three in the major field, two in the minor field)
selected by the student and his/her adviser and approved
by the Executive Officer. Students must contact members
of their Oral Committee at least six months in advance
of their examinations to confer on a reading list
and discuss the topics on which they may be examined.
Second Examinations are graded as Pass, Pass with
Distinction, or Fail. Students have two chances to
pass their Second Examinations. Students who fail
both sections (major and minor) will be required
to retake the entire examination in the following
semester. Those who fail only the major section will
be re-examined the following semester by the three
members of their original committee in the major
field; those who fail the minor section will be re-examined
by the chair and the two members of the original
committee in the minor field. Students who fail either
part of the Examination twice will be dropped from
the program.
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DISSERTATION
PROPOSAL
As soon as possible (but no longer than
one semester) after passing the oral examination,
the student must submit a dissertation proposal to
a proposal committee. In most cases students will
have laid the groundwork for their dissertation proposal
as part of their coursework and before taking their
orals. To help transform the third research paper
into a shorter, more concise dissertation proposal,
the student will select–with the approval of
the Executive Officer--two faculty members to serve
as dissertation sponsor and first reader, respectively.
Both must be active (nonretired) members of the doctoral
faculty in History. Under their supervision the student
should prepare a dissertation proposal of no more
than ten pages of text, plus appendices. The proposal
must include the following:
1. A statement of the problem.
2. An examination of the present state of scholarship
on this problem.
3. A strategy for dealing with the problem.
4. The possible significance of the findings.
5. A critical bibliography with special attention
to new or seldom used materials.
When the dissertation proposal has been approved
by the sponsor and first reader, the student notifies
the Executive Officer, who appoints a dissertation
proposal committee of between three and five persons,
but always including the sponsor and first reader.
All members of the Committee should receive copies
of the proposal at least two weeks in advance of
the meeting with the student.
After the meeting the committee may ask the student
to revise and re-submit the proposal for a second
meeting or it may authorize the sponsor to approve
the requisite changes. The second meeting must be
scheduled within two months or no later than the
first week of following semester. If the committee
does not approve the revised proposal at its second
meeting, the student will be dropped from the program.
He or she may appeal to the entire Executive Committee.
If the Executive Committee rejects the appeal the
student will be dropped from the program.
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DISSERTATION
DEFENSE (FINAL EXAMINATION)
The Final Examination in the Ph.D. Program is an
oral defense of the dissertation. The Dissertation
Defense Committee shall be composed of five members.
Three must be "active" (i.e., not retired) members
of the doctoral faculty; the others may come from
other programs or from outside The Graduate Center.
One member should be someone who has not participated
in the supervision of the dissertation. At least
four to six weeks in advance of the examination,
the dissertation sponsor, after consultation with
the student, forwards a list of suggested Committee
members to the Executive Officer for approval. If
approved, the Executive Officer will forward the
list to the Provost who must also approve it.
All decisions by the Dissertation Defense Committee
are determined by majority vote. The committee has
four options. Dissertations can be approved as presented,
approved with major revisions, approved with minor
revisions, or judged unsatisfactory. If approved
with minor revisions, the dissertation must be resubmitted
to the chairperson of the examining committee for
final approval. If approved with major revisions,
it must be resubmitted and approved by the chairperson
and two other members of the committee.
If the student's performance in the Final Examination
is judged unsatisfactory, he/she can be reexamined
at the discretion of the Executive Committee, with
the approval of the Provost.
MASTER
OF PHILOSOPHY AND THE EN-ROUTE MASTER’S DEGREE
A doctoral student who is making normal progress
toward the Ph.D. degree is automatically eligible
to receive an M.Phil degree when advanced to candidacy.
This occurs when all degree requirements except the
dissertation and Final Examination have been met.
When the student is Advanced to Candidacy, an application-for-degree
form is sent to the student along with the notice
of advancement to candidacy. The M.Phil degree is
awarded by The Graduate Center.
An en-route master’s degree may be awarded
by a CUNY senior college. It requires a minimum of
45 credits with an average grade of “B,”
passing the First Examination, and satisfactory completion
of a major research paper. The requirement of 45
credits cannot include courses for which “SP”
grades are received or any advanced-standing transfer
credits. The student who wishes to receive an en-route
master’s degree should make an appointment
with the Executive Officer, who must initiate the
appropriate form.
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