Doctor of Philosophy in History

DEGREE REQUIREMENTS

Graduate School guidelines expect Ph.D. candidates to earn a master’s degree in the course of earning a doctorate. This outline summarizes the sequence to be followed by students who begin their graduate studies in history at the University of South Carolina. The department will apply the same principles on a case-by-case basis to students who enter the doctoral program with a master’s degree from another institution.

I. Fields of Specialization
II. Ph.D. Requirements Leading to the M.A. degree
III. Ph.D. Requirements Beyond the M.A. degree
IV. Doctoral Dissertation
V. Miscellaneous Requirements

I. Fields of Specialization

A. Ph.D. candidates choose three fields of specialization. The major field, in which the dissertation is written, shall be one of the following fields:

Ancient World
Medieval World
Early Modern Europe
Modern Europe
United States to 1877
United States since 1789
History of Culture, Identity, and Economic Development

B. The second and third fields may include two of the following special fields: public history or one of the component areas of specialization in public history (archives, museum studies, historic preservation), African American studies, U.S. South, Latin America, East Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa, Middle East, women’s history, gender studies, environmental history, military, diplomacy, legal or constitutional history, industrialization, labor, rural studies, ethnicity, nationalism, or one cognate field in another discipline.

1. One of the student’s two minor fields may be a chronologically and/or geographically defined field, provided that it covers a different area and/or time period from the student’s major field. A minor field can never be merely a subset of the student’s major field.

2. The student’s other (second or third) minor field may be in any approved field if the student’s first minor field is a topical, thematic, or comparative field; otherwise, this field shall be a topical, thematic, comparative field, or a cognate field. Students will be encouraged to select at least one minor field associated with the department’s intellectual focus on "History of Culture, Identity, and Economic Development."

II. Ph.D. Requirements Leading to the M.A. degree

A. Students choose two fields, one of which will be the major field for the doctorate and one of which will be the second or third field for the doctorate. Ph.D. candidates may elect to complete either the M.A. in History or the M.A. in Public History during this phase of the doctoral program.

B. Students who choose to complete the M.A. in History take a minimum of 30 semester hours, distributed as follows:

1. (3 hours) HIST 720 (Introduction to the Study of History).

2. (6 hours) Students majoring in United States history shall choose two of the following courses as part of their program of study: HIST 701, HIST 702, HIST 703, HIST 797. Students majoring in European History shall choose two of the following courses as part of their program of study: HIST 706, HIST 707A, HIST 707B, HIST 796.

3. (3 hours) One 800-level writing seminar.

4. (6 hours) Two other courses in the student’s major field of study.

5. (9 hours) Three courses in the second field.

6. (3 hours) Thesis Preparation (HIST 799).

C. Students who choose to complete the M.A. in Public History take a minimum of 36 semester hours. They also produce and defend a portfolio summarizing their classroom and practical experiences, as described more fully on the Public History page of the department website. Their coursework will be distributed as follows:

1. (3 hours) HIST 720 (Introduction to the Study of History).

2. (6 hours) Students majoring in United States history shall choose two of the following courses as part of their program of study: HIST 701, HIST 702, HIST 703, HIST 797. Students majoring in European History shall choose two of the following courses as part of their program of study: HIST 706, HIST 707A, HIST 707B, HIST 796).

3. (3 hours) One 800-level writing seminar.

4. (6 hours) Two other courses in the field that will be the student’s major field for the Ph.D.

5. (12 hours) Four courses in Public History, chosen from one of the three concentrations:

Museums: two courses in the museums core (HIST 787, HIST 789, MUSM 700, MUSM 701); two courses chosen from HIST 692, HIST 781, HIST 786, ARTH 543, ARTH 560, ARTH 561, ARTH 562, MUSM 703, MUSM 704, or a remaining core course.

Historic Preservation: two courses in the preservation core (HIST 692, HIST 712, HIST 789, HIST 792, ARTH 542); two courses chosen from HIST 786, ARTH 790, ANTH 545, ANTH 576, ANTH 742, ANTH 745, or a remaining core course.

Archives: two courses in the archives core (HIST 790, HIST 791, SLIS 719, SLIS 750); two courses chosen from HIST 786, SLIS 710, SLIS 724, SLIS 734, SLIS 797, or a remaining core course.

6. (3 hours) An internship in Public History (HIST 798). Students in the M.A./M.L.I.S. joint program should enroll in SLIS 794.

7. (3 hours) Thesis Preparation (HIST 799).

Note: Students in the Public History program may apply to the university’s McKissick Museum to enter the Museum Management Certificate Program and to the Department of Anthropology to earn a Certificate in Historical Archaeology and Cultural Resources Management. Students in the archives track may apply to the School of Library and Information Science to enter the M.A./M.L.I.S. joint degree program. Students in the M.A./M.L.I.S. joint program should prepare and file separate Programs of Study for each degree but submit them to the Graduate School together. A sample program of study illustrates how a doctoral candidate might earn an M.A. in Public History with a Museum Management Certificate while completing the master’s degree phase of the Ph.D.

D. The master’s thesis will ordinarily be a revised version of the student’s 800-level research paper, submitted as an article-length, potentially publishable essay. The thesis shall be prepared for submission according to the current regulations of The Graduate School.

E. Candidates must pass an oral comprehensive examination on the student’s master’s thesis. In this examination, the student will be asked to place her or his thesis in historiographical perspective.

1. Grades on the M.A. comprehensive examination are given on the following scale: A, A-, B+, B, B-, and F.

2. If a student fails, the exam may be retaken one time. The examination will be administered by the same committee.

F. Students must also demonstrate reading knowledge of a foreign language or, with the approval of the Graduate Committee, competence in an appropriate methodology such as GIS, which is valuable in the field of historic preservation.

III. Ph.D. Requirements Beyond the M.A. Degree

A. Doctoral students are required to take a minimum of 18 hours of course work beyond the requirements for the M.A. degree. Additional hours may be specified by the candidate’s advisor with approval of the Graduate Committee. With the approval of the Committee, a student may take three hours of HIST 712 (Directed Reading in Field of Emphasis). Students who earned an M.A. at an institution other than the University of South Carolina are admitted formally to candidacy upon the completion of at least 15 hours of course work with at least a B+ average.

B. Credit hours shall be distributed as follows:

1. HIST 783 (History and Theory).

2. An 800-level writing seminar in the students’ major field. (This course is in addition to the seminar completed toward the M.A., though it may be a subsequent offering of the same seminar.)

3. Two courses in the student’s third field.

4. HIST 815 (Dissertation Prospectus Seminar). As part of this course, students will file a Doctoral Committee Appointment Request (GS-48) to establish a dissertation committee of at least four members.

5. An appropriate elective course or courses.

C. Ph.D. candidates must pass written and oral comprehensive examinations in three fields. Written comprehensives will be administered in January, May, and August of each year.

1. Written examinations in the minor fields will be administered independently by the faculty members supervising the students’ preparation in those areas—preferably shortly after the completion of appropriate course work. Written comprehensive exams in minor fields will consist of one four-hour examination for each field.

2. There will be two examiners in the student’s major field, and the written comprehensive examination in that field will consist of two separate four-hour examinations. All requirements for attaining the degree (except for completion of dissertation) shall be completed prior to taking the written comprehensive examination in the major field. This includes the satisfactory completion of the language requirement and the removal of any grades of "Incomplete."

3. Grades on the written comprehensive examinations are given on the following scale: A, A-, B+, B, B-, and F. If a student fails, the exam may be retaken one time; the examination will be administered by the original examiner(s).

4. Oral examinations covering all major and minor fields will be scheduled after the successful completion of written examinations in all fields. Prior to the examination students must file a Doctoral Committee Appointment Request (GS-48) identifying the four members of the examining committee, one of whom must be from outside of the department.

D. All students shall orally present and defend a written dissertation prospectus to their dissertation committee and other interested members of the department. The prospectus defense will take place during or, with the approval of the committee, shortly after the completion of HIST 815.

E. All Ph.D. candidates must prove competency in at least one foreign language or, with the approval of the Graduate Committee, an appropriate methodology. Ph.D. candidates who began their graduate work at the University of South Carolina will have satisfied this requirement in the course of earning the M.A. Additional language and/or methodological requirements for a student whose chosen fields or research interests demand more language and/or methodological training may be specified by the student's advisor with approval of the Graduate Committee.

F. Doctoral Dissertation

1. The candidate will prepare a doctoral dissertation for submission according to the current regulations of the Graduate School. The dissertation is expected to represent a substantial contribution to historical knowledge.

2. The candidate must successfully defend the dissertation in an oral examination conducted by the dissertation committee. Prior to the examination students must file a Doctoral Committee Appointment Request (GS-48) identifying the four members of the examining committee, one of whom must be from outside of the department.

IV. Miscellaneous Requirements

A. In order to establish residency for graduation, a Ph.D. student must be enrolled for at least 18 hours in a span of three consecutive semesters. Note also that any student who uses university facilities at any time during a semester or requires advice from a faculty member shall be registered for at least one hour of course work. Thus, a Ph.D candidate must be enrolled in at least one credit-hour during the semester in which he or she successfully defends the dissertation and graduates.

B. Normally no more than 6 hours of courses may be taken at the 500- or 600-level. All other courses shall be at the 700- or 800-level. No more than 6 hours of credit for courses offered by television or radio may be counted toward the degree.

C. Any HIST 800-level course with the exceptions of 815 and 816 may be taken twice. Thesis or dissertation research and writing courses (HIST 799 and 899) may be taken as many times as deemed necessary by the student’s adviser and with the approval of the Graduate Committee. Students who complete an M.A. with 30 credit-hours and then complete the 18 hours of course work beyond the M.A. will need to take 12 hours of HIST 899 to reach the 60-hour minimum required for the doctorate.

D. Students shall finish the program with at least a "B" average. If a student produces any six hours of work with a grade below "B," or for any three hours receives an "F," that person will be dropped from the program and disqualified from receiving a graduate degree in history from the University of South Carolina. These rules do not apply to a "U" in a foreign language course.

E. Students are to complete the doctoral program within the following time limits:

1. Ph.D. comprehensive examinations are valid for 5 years. With the approval of the dissertation director and all other readers and the Director of Graduate Studies, the Graduate Committee will support a petition for a one-year extension for the submission of a dissertation without requiring a repetition of the comprehensive examination. Under extraordinary circumstances, a petition for a second one-year extension may be granted under the same terms, but other conditions, including the revalidation of comprehensive examinations, may be imposed. Extensions beyond a second year will not be supported by the Graduate Committee without revalidation of applicable courses and comprehensive examinations.

2. Ph.D. courses are valid for 8 years. Individual history courses in a student’s program may be revalidated by repetition and successful completion of the course or by a written and/or oral examination administered by an appropriate member of the faculty. Students seeking to revalidate a course by examination must pay the Treasurer of the University a fee for each course revalidated.

3. Language examinations for Ph.D. students are valid for 8 years.

4. The Graduate Bulletin provides that any student who fails to complete his or her program in the period allowed becomes subject to changes in degree requirements adopted up to a date six years prior to his or her graduation.