Doctor of Philosphy (PhD) Requirements
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Dissertations awarded by the History Department
Program Requirements:
1. Completion of the Department’s three credit-hour historiography course, if not already done at the MA level.
2. Completion of two readings/seminar sequences beyond those offered for the MA.
3. Preparation of four fields, at least three of which must be in history; the other may be in a related external field approved by the department. Each internal field is designed by the student in conjunction with examining committee members, with seminar work highly recommended for each field. Fields in the past have included, but are not necessarily limited to, the core areas listed for the MA. In selecting four fields of examination, students must have at least one field in a geographic area outside that of their major field of concentration.
4. History Department Foreign Language and Research Skills Requirement
Individual faculty may require their students to master one or more languages, to demonstrate proficiency in particular research methods (quantitative analysis, paleography, GIS, etc.) or to develop other skills as necessary for their fields of study and dissertation projects.
5. Passage of a preliminary oral qualifying examination at the end of the first year of full-time study or the completion of twelve hours of course work.
6. Passage of the comprehensive written and oral examination in the four fields of study and admission to doctoral candidacy.
7. Submission and acceptance of a dissertation proposal within one semester after passing the comprehensive examination.
8. Submission and acceptance of a dissertation with a successful defense of the dissertation in a final oral examination.
9. All full-time PhD students who have not yet taken their comprehensive examinations are required to be enrolled in HIST 799 Department Colloquium.
Areas for Ph.D. Dissertations
Currently the Department is supervising dissertations in the areas of U.S. History, European history, West Virginia/Appalachian regional history, and modern African history.
Specialization in Appalachian History & Culture
Specialization in African History
Dissertation Requirements:
The Ph.D. dissertation must represent the results of the candidate’s individual investigation and must embody a definite contribution to knowledge. The dissertation is an original piece of research, set within a definable historiographical tradition, which demonstrates the candidate’s mastery over primary source materials and the ability to use these materials in the advancement of knowledge. The suggested length of a dissertation is 250-350 pages.
Students form a dissertation committee, composed of a director and four members, one of whom must be outside the department. After completion, candidates must defend the dissertation in a final oral examination.
For a complete description of University requirements, consult the WVU Graduate Catalog. The actual mechanics of preparing texts are discussed in ””Regulations Governing the Preparation of Dissertations and Theses.””:http://www.libraries.wvu.edu/theses/index.htm
