2017-2018 Graduate Studies Bulletin (Archived Copy) [Archived Catalog]
History, Ph.D.
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Learning Outcomes
- Students will demonstrate competence in three fields of history.
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- Students will produce significant contributions to scholarship prior to completing the dissertation.
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- Students will produce important doctoral dissertations.
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- Students who serve as graduate teaching assistants will develop competence as teachers.
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- Students will become familiar with the employment options for which the Ph.D. in History is a valuable credential and will learn the paths most likely to lead to fulfillment of their individual career goals.
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Degree Requirements
The Ph.D. is offered in the following major fields:
- U.S. to 1877
- U.S. since 1789
- Early modern Europe
- Modern Europe
- Latin America
- History of culture, identity and economic development
- History of science, technology, and environment
Ph.D. candidates will choose three fields of specialization. The major field in which the dissertation is written shall be one in which the Ph.D. is offered. The second and third fields may include up to two of the following special fields: African American studies; diplomacy; Latin America; East Asia; sub-Saharan Africa; North Africa; Middle East; public history or one of the component areas of specialization in public history (archives, museum studies, historic preservation); military, legal, or constitutional history; U.S. South; women’s history; gender studies; industrialization; labor; rural studies; environmental history; ethnicity; and nationalism, or one cognate field in another discipline may be substituted for one of the minor fields.
The major field shall reflect the student’s main interest and shall be chronologically and/or geographically defined.
One of the student’s two minor fields also may be defined chronologically and/or geographically, provided that it covers a different area and/or time from the student’s major field; or it may be a topical, thematic, or comparative 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. The second and third fields cannot be subsets of the student’s major field. Normally, students will be expected to complete 9 hours of course work in the second field and 6 hours of course work in the third field.
The student’s third field can be in any approved field if the student’s second field is a topical, thematic, or comparative field; otherwise, it shall be a topical, thematic, comparative field, or cognate field.
A written qualifying examination in the student’s major field (with two examiners) shall be taken within the first year of residence. Under the following conditions, students may exempt the qualifying examinations: the student has an M.A. in history from another accredited institution and has successfully completed 15 hours of Ph.D. course work at the University of South Carolina with at least a B+ average, or the student has passed the M.A. comprehensive examination at the University of South Carolina.
Qualifying exams may be retaken once and must be administered by the same committee.
Ph.D. candidates shall file a program of study immediately after their admission to candidacy, which follows the successful completion of the qualifying examination or comes no later than 24 months after entering the program.
Doctoral students are required to take a minimum of 18 hours of course work beyond the M.A., but additional hours may be specified by their advisor and approved by the Committee on Graduate Studies.
Credit hours shall be distributed as follows:
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