United States

Courses: In their first year, students in American History are required to take GR8910 Introduction to History and Historiography and five additional courses (at least two of which much be graduate colloquia and at least one of which must be a research seminar). In the second year, students enroll in three courses, at least one of which must be a research seminar. They also begin preparation for orals.

Languages: Students are required to pass one examination demonstrating proficiency in a foreign language. Although students in American History may receive the M.A. degree without having passed the language exam, no student can take the oral examination without having fulfilled the language requirement.

Orals: Orals are generally taken in the fifth term. The orals fields in U.S. history consist of three American fields—colonial history, nineteenth-century history, and twentieth-century history—and a minor field. The minor field may be drawn from another discipline such as political science, sociology, literature, etc., or a field of history outside the United States. It cannot be a subfield of American History such as Southern history or American women’s history, but may be a comparative field with some American content (such as comparative labor history, imperialism, etc.). Students may also petition the U.S. area chair for permission to be examined in only two of the three chronological fields in American History and two minor fields as described above. Those permitted to choose this option must have taken one course with substantial coverage of the chronological period of American history omitted from the examination.

Dissertation Prospectus: Students are expected to defend the dissertation prospectus in the sixth term.