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Ph.D. Program in History
Admission
Course of Study
Areas of Concentration
Faculty Areas of Specialization in the Doctoral Program (pdf 24k)
Required Core Courses
Foreign Language Proficiency
Minor
Doctoral Preliminary Examination
Dissertation
Admission
To be considered for admission, you must meet Graduate School admission requirements, and hold a master's degree in history or a related field.
Please submit the following to: Admissions, UW-Milwaukee Graduate School, P.O. Box 340 Milwaukee, WI 53201-0340.
- Completed Graduate School Application and $45 Application Fee. The application may be submitted electronically at: http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/Grad_Sch/Prospective/admission.html
- Two official transcripts from each academic institution you have attended.
- A statement of purpose outlining your reasons for graduate study in History. In this statement you should identify one of the three areas of concentration you would like to study-Global, Urban, or Modern. Please also discuss at some length the historiographical issues about this area that especially interest you. What questions do you especially find provocative? What books and articles have influenced your research interests? Finally, tell us why you would like to earn a Ph.D. in History, and provide any other information that you would like us to know about your commitment to scholarly work at the Ph.D. level.
Send the following directly to the Director of Graduate Studies, UW-Milwaukee History Department, P.O. Box 413, Milwaukee WI 53201-0340.
- Three letters of recommendation from persons familiar with the applicant's scholastic achievement and potential.
- A sample of the applicant's written work that demonstrates his or her ability to conduct historical research and/or the ability to critically analyze the work of others.
- Scores on the Graduate Record Examination general test (but not the test in History).
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Course of Study
To earn the Ph. D., students must have accumulated at least 54 graduate credits, at least 30 of them taken at the post-master's level. Precise numbers of credits and actual course requirements while in Ph.D. status will be determined after a review of the applicant's previous course work. Doctoral students may not accumulate more than 6 credits in U/G courses or more than 6 credits in independent study without the approval of the Director of Graduate Studies. Of the 54 credits, at least 9 must be taken in fields other than History. No more than 18 credits in courses outside of History may be counted toward the doctoral degree.
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Areas of Concentration
Applicants to the History doctoral program must indicate their preference for one of the following doctoral concentrations:
- Modern Studies. Modern Studies focuses on both the modern period of world history and especially on the application of current theoretical and interdisciplinary perspectives for the study of the modern period and of "modernity" itself. Typically, scholarship in this category may appropriate concepts and methodologies from other academic fields, and may involve literary theory, feminism and gender critique, traditions of the avant-garde, cultural studies, Marxism, neoconservatism, modern and postmodern art and architecture, film, media studies, and theories of post-industrial society.
- Students in the Modern Studies concentration are encouraged to participate in the university's Center for 21st Century Studies and its thematic programs that explore contemporary cultural and social phenomena, and to consider taking elective courses in the English Department's Modern Studies Concentration.
- Concentrators must take History/English/MAFLL 740 or 741, Backgrounds of Modernism I or II (3 credits); and colloquia and seminars in modern history and other appropriate colloquia and seminars in Modern Studies and related disciplines (21 credits).
- Global History. Global history focuses on the study of phenomena that transcend single nations or regions, including the environment, religion, ideology, labor, migration/diaspora, war, peace, industrialization, colonialism and imperialism, social movements and political conflicts, slavery, class, women, gender, science and technology, popular culture, trade and finance, demography, politics, nationalism, and international relations. Students in Global History may emphasize African, Asian, European, Latin American, Middle Eastern, or United States history in a global context, analyzing historical issues within localities, regions, and nation-states, or concentrate on transnational dynamics and phenomena. In their inquiries, they will often cross geographic, disciplinary and conceptional boundaries, question or perhaps challenge existing regional or chronological frameworks, and develop new approaches to understanding global developments and interactions.
- Students in global History must take History 839, Approaches to Global History (3 credits); and colloquia and seminars in
Global History and other appropriate graduate courses in History and related disciplines (21 credits).
- Urban History. Urban history is the study of urban areas, including cities, suburbs, and metropolitan regions, around the world and throughout recorded human existence. Students of urban history examine all aspects of urban life. They examine how the physical landscapes and social structures of urban areas have been produced and have changed over time. They study how people respond to the problems and opportunities that arise in urban contexts, and they study the cultural activities that take place in urban areas. The evidence and sources on which urban historians draw are diverse. They include quantitative documents produced by government and other research entities; the records of the proceedings of municipal entities, voluntary, religious and political organizations; manuscript collections from private organizations and individuals, oral interviews, and reports from the media such as newspaper collections.
- Students in Urban History must take History/Urban Studies 980, Growth of Urban Society (3 credits); and colloquia and seminars in urban history and other appropriate graduate courses in History and related disciplines (21 credits).
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Required Core Courses for All Concentrations
All students must take three methods courses from among the following:
| History 712 |
Historiography and Theory of History (3 credits) |
| History 713 |
Historical Research Methods (3 credits) |
| History 716 |
Professional and Pedagogical issues in History (3 credits) |
| History 717 |
History and the New media (3 credits) |
All students must also take History 990, Dissertation Research (6 credits minimum); and 15 elective credits (which may include additional dissertation credits).
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Foreign Language Proficiency
A student must demonstrate proficiency in one or more relevant foreign languages by passing a written examination involving translation or historical analysis. If a student's major professor considers proficiency in more than one language necessary to the student's specific plan of study, exams in more than one language may be required. With the approval of the major professor, a student may substitute proficiency in another skill relevant to historical study (such as statistical analysis). In these cases, proficiency will be demonstrated through relevant course work.
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Minor
A minor is not required, but students can supplement their concentration by selecting one of the following options:
- Option A: Minor in One Field (8-12 credits in a single department culminating in an examination in the field).
- Option B: Interdisciplinary Minor (8-12 credits in two or more departments).
- Option C: Minor in Public History (21 credits, including 6 in internship and 9 in either museum studies, historic preservation, or archives administration).
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Doctoral Preliminary Examination
The doctoral preliminary examination includes written and oral components designed to demonstrate the breadth of a student's knowledge and the ability to conduct advanced historical research. Students who fail the preliminary examination may not proceed to the dissertation. The exam may be retaken only once.
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Dissertation
The dissertation is a major piece of original research representing a substantial contribution to historical scholarship. In consultation with the major professor, the student chooses a dissertation committee, which must approve the dissertation prospectus. The student's major professor provides guidance in preparing the prospectus and in developing and writing the dissertation. The candidate must pass an oral examination in defense of the dissertation.
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