Degree
Requirements For Graduate Study at UIC
Master
of Arts in History (Stand-alone)
MA students
concentrate on one major
and two minor fields
of study.
- The minor
fields must be distinct in space or time from the major field.
MA Degree Requirements:
- Earn a grade
of A or B in History 501, Introduction to the Graduate Study of
History. This course is ordinarily taken during the first semester
of graduate study.
- Complete
at least 32 credit hours in graduate-level courses. At least 20
of these credit hours must be taken in courses at the 500 level
and at least 16 of those credit hours must be in 500 level courses
taught by members of the graduate faculty in the Department of
History. Students enrolled in courses listed at the 400 level
will be expected to undertake extra work or demonstrate a higher
standard of proficiency. No student may receive graduate credit
for a course below the 400 level.
- Maintain
a grade point average of at least 3.0
- Earn a grade
of A or B in one research seminar. The research seminar requires
preparation of a major research paper based on primary sources.
- Complete
the colloquia series required for the student's major and minor
fields. (Students majoring in Colonial America and the United
States are required to pass History 551 parts 1 and 2. Students
majoring in other fields should consult with their faculty advisor
and the Director of Graduate Studies to determine which colloquia
are required.)
- Demonstrate
a reading knowledge of one foreign language. This is normally
done by taking the Foreign Language
Exam. Faculty advisors may require that students
demonstrate competence in additional languages if they deem it
necessary for the field of study.
- Successfully
pass Comprehensive Exams
in two minor fields
and one major field.
Note: Any exceptions
to these requirements must have the support of the student's faculty
advisor and the approval of the Graduate Advisory Committee
New Students see also:http://www.uic.edu/depts/hist/newstudentinformation.html
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Master
of Arts in History (Doctoral-track)
The requirements for the
MA (Doctoral-track) are the same as the requirements for the MA (Stand-alone),
except:
Students do not take Comprehensive Exams, and
Students must pass a
review of their work in their final semester, including (but not necessarily
limited to) grades, recommendations, and a writing sample. Students who do
not pass this review will need to fulfill the requirements of the MA in
History (Stand-alone).
Master
of Arts in Teaching of History
See Master of Arts in Teaching Website: http://www.uic.edu/depts/hist/teacherEd.html
See also :
http://www.uic.edu/depts/hist/TeacherEd/degrees.html
New Students see also:http://www.uic.edu/depts/hist/newstudentinformation.html
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PhD Program
The graduate
faculty offers training at the PhD level for a select number of
advanced graduate students. Admission is restricted to those students
who, in the opinion of the graduate faculty, have demonstrated the
potential to make a significant contribution to scholarship. All
incoming PhD students must consult with a faculty advisor to plan
an appropriate program of study. It is particularly important that
students make the necessary arrangements to obtain adequate preparation
in the one major and three minor fields in which they are to be
examined. The graduate faculty expects full-time students to take
their preliminary examinations during their second year and to defend
their dissertation at some point within the next four years. The
Graduate College requires students to complete their PhD degree
within seven years of their admission to the PhD program, and within
five years after passing the preliminary examination.
Students entering
the PhD Program with a master's degree from another department
or discipline may be required to complete additional coursework
which is specified upon admission.
Note: Any exceptions
to these requirements must have the support of the student's faculty
advisor and the approval of the Graduate Advisory Committee
New Students see also:http://www.uic.edu/depts/hist/newstudentinformation.html
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Requirements
for the PhD
- Earn a grade of A or B in History
501-Introduction to the Graduate Study of History.
This course is ordinarily taken in the first year of graduate study.
This requirement can be waived for students who took History 501
as UIC MA candidates or who completed an equivalent course in another
History MA program.
- Earn a grade of A or B in History
591-Preparation for Preliminary Examinations and
Dissertation Prospectus (eight credit hours).
- Earn a grade of A or B in two research seminars.
Research seminars require preparation of a major research paper
based on primary sources. (Students entering the program with an
MA degree in History may be exempted from one of the research seminars.)
- Complete 64 credit hours in graduate-level courses
(400 or 500 level) beyond the MA (includes 48 hours of thesis research, see below...) . At least 12 of these credit hours
must be in courses that are taught at the 500 level by members of
the graduate faculty in the Department of History. No student may
receive graduate credit for a course at the 100, 200, or 300 level.
Should a student enroll in a 400-level course, which is also open
to advanced undergraduates, the instructor has the right to require
the student to undertake extra work or to demonstrate a higher standard
of proficiency.
- Students must take 16 of these credit hours prior
to the preliminary examination. The remainder may be earned in History
599-Thesis Research-in which the student enrolls
while preparing the dissertation.
- Maintain a grade point average of at least 4.00.
- Successfully complete any colloquia required for
the student's major or minor fields. Students majoring in the history
of colonial America and the United States are required to pass the
two-semester historiograpical colloquium series History 551A and
551B. Students majoring in other fields are required to complete
colloquia on appropriate topics. To find out which colloquia are
required, students should consult their faculty advisor. The faculty
advisor can waive all or part of these requirements if the student
already obtained an MA in history.
- Demonstrate reading knowledge of one foreign language.
This requirement is usually met by passing the Foreign
Language Exam. The requirement may be waived for
students who received an MA in history from UIC.
- Successfully pass Preliminary
Examinations in one major
field and three minor
fields.
- Successfully pass an oral dissertation prospectus defense. Students must prepare
a dissertation prospectus, and defend it before a committee consisting
of the student's advisor and at least two other dissertation committee
members.
- Complete and defend a dissertation
that is an original and significant contribution to historical scholarship.
- Note: Any exceptions
to these requirements must have the support of the student's faculty
advisor and the approval of the Graduate Advisory Committee.
- Note: Students will
receive credit at the PhD level for any requirements that they have fulfilled
at the MA level.
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The Dissertation
in History at UIC
Prospectus Defense
Following successful completion of preliminary exams students
begin to develop dissertation proposals. Students must work closely
with their advisors to prepare for an oral defense of the proposal.
The student and the chair agree on a proposal committee consisting
of at least three faculty members. The chair, who is usually the
student's mentor, must be a member of the graduate faculty. The
chair is responsible for ensuring that the student prepare a dissertation prospectus for submission to the dissertation prospectus committee for discussion,
comment, and approval. Should the student subsequently change
topics, he must inform the committee of this fact in
writing and submit a new prospectus.
Dissertation Prospectus
The dissertation prospectus is a prospective description that students write
about their proposed dissertations. It typically contains four parts:
- The topic or question that is to be investigated, and the conclusion(s) that
is (are) expected to be reached.
- The base of sources that will be used as
evidence. If oral interviews are to be conducted, then the prospectus will
show how these will be conducted in a way that is consistent with professional
ethics and UIC regulations.
- The state of the question in scholarly
publications, and the dissertation's relationship to it.
- The way(s) in which
the conclusion(s) of the dissertation constitute(s) an advance in knowledge.
The prospectus will be 20-25 pages in length (including bibliography). In
order to demonstrate good academic progress toward the degree, the doctoral
student will normally defend the prospectus within six months of passing
preliminary exams, and not more than 12 months thereafter. The committee
judging the prospectus will normally include at least three people who are
likely to serve on the dissertation defense committee.
The prospectus does not increase the student's time to complete the
dissertation, because the work undertaken to complete the prospectus is work
that needs to be done to write the dissertation.
When the prospectus has been successfully defended, the student becomes a
doctoral candidate. The eventual dissertation may differ from the prospectus
through addition, subtraction, or modification, but to the extent that the
dissertation follows its prospectus, it cannot be substantially criticized or
rejected for having done so. In other words, the successfully defended
prospectus constitutes a compact between the student and the department as to
what kind of product will be deemed acceptable to the department.
Dissertation Research
Candidates should work closely with their advisors and keep their
dissertation committees informed of their progress. It is the
responsibility of dissertation advisor to decide when the candidate
is to submit all or part of the work-in-progress to the other
members of the dissertation committee. Students should register
their dissertations with the American Historical Association so
that they can be listed in Dissertations in Progress.
If for some reason the student's original mentor
no longer wishes to supervise a candidate's dissertation, the
faculty member must inform both the candidate and the Director
of Graduate Studies in writing. If a candidate wishes to change
mentors, the candidate must secure the consent of another member
of the graduate faculty and notify the current mentor and the
Director of Graduate Studies in writing. If a mentor is for any
reason unable to supervise a candidate, the candidate, in consultation
with the Director of Graduate Studies, is responsible for securing
an appropriate alternate.
When the candidate in the judgment of the mentor,
is nearing completion of the dissertation, the proposal defense
committee will be broadened to include a total of five members.
The committee is nominated by the student's mentor and approved
by the Dean of the Graduate College. Graduate College regulations
mandate that the dissertation defense committee consist of five
faculty members, at least two of whom must be tenured members
of the graduate faculty, and at least one of whom must have an
appointment outside the Department of History. At the request
of the adviser, the Graduate Secretary will schedule the dissertation
defense.
Dissertation Defense
The dissertation defense is oral and focuses on the dissertation's
finding, methods, and significance. In attendance are the members
of a specially constituted dissertation defense committee. The
dissertation defense is ordinarily scheduled approximately within
five weeks after the mentor and a second reader have given the
dissertation their tentative approval. This time period is intended
to give the remaining members of the committee sufficient time
to evaluate the dissertation.
The committee may accept the dissertation as it
stands, reject it outright, or accept it conditionally pending
certain revisions. The revisions can range from minor editorial
changes to a major recasting of a substantial portion of the text.
Ordinarily, the committee delegates to the mentor the responsibility
for ensuring that these conditions are met. All dissertations
must meet the format and stylistic requirements of the Graduate
College.
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Foreign Language
Requirement for Graduate Study in History at UIC
Graduate students who are candidates for the MA and the PhD need to demonstrate a reading knowledge of a foreign langauge.
- Students can satisfy the requirement either by passing the exam or by getting a grade of "A" or "B" in either a foreign language reading course for graduate students, or in a foreign language course at the 104 level (fourth semester of college language) taken within two years before taking comprehensive or preliminary exams. Students who fail the exam three times will not be allowed to continue in the program.
- Students who fail the foreign language exam the first time will be strongly encouraged to take a course in the language. Students who fail the foreign language exam a second time will be instructed to take a course in the language.
- Students must satisfy the foreign language requirement for the language most relevant to their studeies and research, and the student's advisor will determine what that language is.
- A student may, with the approval of his or her advisor, petition the GAC to be excused from the foreign language requirement if no foreign language is relevant to his or her studies and research.
- This requirement must be completed the semester before the student takes the comprehensive and preliminary exams.
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