Modern European History at the University of Kansas

Faculty in the Modern History at the University of Kansas

History Department Ph.D. Requirements

The student is also responsible for the general History Department Requirements as described in the Graduate Program Manual, although some of these are subsumed by the Field Committee requirements.

A minimum of eleven courses (33 credit hours) is required for the Ph.D. Students may choose between two options for their course work.

A. Track A

  • Students will offer a major and two secondary fields.
  • The major field includes six courses (18 credit hours)The secondary fields include two courses (six credit hours)--Total of 12 credit hours; one of the secondary fields may be taken in a discipline outside the History Department, but a student may offer all three fields in History

B. Track B

  • Students will select two major fields, for which they will take a total of eight courses (24 credit hours), and one secondary field, for which they will take two courses (6 credit hours). The secondary field may be taken in a discipline outside the History Department, but a student may offer all three fields in History.
  • Under the major fields students may chose a 4/4 or a 5/3 configuration for their eight courses.
  • Students are required to take History 805 (or its equivalent).

For both Track A and Track B, the major and the secondary fields will be those designated in the Graduate Catalog and the History Department Graduate Handbook. These will include those traditionally designated as major and secondary fields and any thematic fields that may be established on the basis of an appropriate core of faculty and specified, regular course offerings.

Each major thematic field will require as a core course, History 806: The Study of ___________.

Modern European Field Committee Requirements for Ph.D.

For Ph.D. majors the following basic requirements must be met.

1) The doctoral dissertation is the most important aspect of any doctoral student's program of study. Work on the dissertation will be the primary gauge by which faculty can evaluate the student's accomplishment and potential as an historian. This central concern should be kept in mind as a student selects his or her program of study (i.e., secondary fields, timing of courses, etc.). Throughout a doctoral student's program of study the relationship with his or her dissertation director is a fundamental one. A student must declare his/her prospective dissertation director early in the first semester of enrollment in the graduate program. This choice will, of course, be determined by the area in which the student's proposed dissertation research falls. The student is encouraged to consult regularly (certainly once per semester) with his/her dissertation director about any matter concerning the student's work and about progress toward the Ph.D. degree. Although the graduate advisor for the European area must sign enrollment cards for all students during the advising period each semester, dissertation directors should also approve course selection before each enrollment.

2) Majors in Modern European History at the doctoral level are required to enroll in the seminar in Modern European history (History 934) for at least two semesters. The seminar will be offered by the field at least one time every academic year. Readings courses may be substituted for the seminar only in exceptional cases with strongly compelling circumstances, and through formal petition to the Graduate Advisor for the European Field.

3) Colloquia series in European History:

I. Renaissance-1648

II. 1610-1789

III. 1748-1914

IV. 1870-present

The Standing Field Committee undertakes to offer these colloquia on a regular basis. Students need not take them in a particular order, but must take all four colloquia. Readings courses or upper-level undergraduate courses are not an adequate substitute, and will be approved as a substitute for one of the colloquia only with compelling justification and by formal petition to the Graduate Advisor for the European Field. These colloquia are considered to be the core of a student's preparation for the field examinations for Modern European history. Questions for the written exams will be drawn from themes covered in the colloquia.

4) When preparing to take the written field examinations, the student should talk to those faculty members responsible for his/her examination to clarify any questions concerning the scope of the examination.

5) Two foreign languages should be chosen with regard to the candidate's area of emphasis for the doctoral dissertation, and proficiency is desirable at the earliest possible moment in a student's program of study, especially where such languages are fundamental to research. Certification of reading knowledge of the two languages must be obtained before the student takes the final comprehensive oral examination.

6) The faculty in Modern European History recommend strongly that--except in cases where the emphasis of dissertation research suggests a more appropriate alternative--students select secondary fields in British History and/or Russia and East European History, since these areas of study are integrally related to the history of Modern Western European History.

7) Examinations for the Modern European field are described later in these guidelines.

Ph.D. students with secondary fields (i.e. non-majors) in Modern European history should choose two of the colloquia required of majors for the preparation of their field examinations. There are three possibilities for secondary fields:

  • Europe, Renaissance-1789 (corresponding to colloquia I & II
  • Europe, 1610-1914 (corresponding to colloquia II & III); or
  • Europe, 1748-present (corresponding to colloquia III & IV)

As with majors, readings courses or upper-level undergraduate courses are not considered to be adequate substitutes for the colloquia series. No exceptions to these three possibilities for a secondary field in Modern European history will be allowed without compelling justification and a formal petition to the Graduate Advisor for the European field.

Students can assume that questions for the written examinations will be drawn from themes covered in the colloquia. When preparing to take the written examinations, students should talk to those faculty responsible for their examination. Questions concerning the scope of the examination should be addressed directly to the faculty members involved in the examination.

Requirements for the M.A. Degree: Please note that the student is also responsible for the general History Department requirements as described in the History Department's Graduate Program Manual/Handbook, although some of these are subsumed by the Field Committee requirements.

History Department MA requirements

The Master's program in History requires the satisfactory completion of thirty hours of graduate courses including at least six hours in history research seminars, and the passing of a comprehensive oral exam. Soon after admission to the graduate program, the student should select a faculty member as his/her advisor who will direct the student's work and advise the student as to the selection of option A or B:

A: Offer three fields of history: The fields shall be the equivalent of secondary fields drawn from three different major fields. When a student's program warrants a substitution, he/she may offer, with the consent of departmental advisors, an "allied field" outside the Department of History that would provide vital support for his/her MA program, such as International Relations for United States Diplomatic history.

B. Offer a major field and one secondary field. At least two history faculty members will serve on the student's MA committee for the major field.

At least eighteen hours of course work shall be taken in the major field and nine hours in the secondary field.

Nine (9) hours of work in courses numbered 801 or higher and six hours of research seminar are required. Normally, at least three (3) hours of seminar shall be taken with the student's program advisor who chairs the oral examine committee.

All master's candidates are required to produce a publishable, article-length paper (approximately 30 pages) in the context of the two seminars that are a requirement for the degree. The final oral examination for the master's degree will include questions concerning the paper as well as coverage of the student's major and secondary fields.

Modern European Field Committee requirements for M.A.

1) Throughout a master's student's program, the relationship with his/her program advisor is a fundamental one. A student should select his/her advisor early in the first semester of enrollment in the graduate program. This choice will be related to the area in which the student's primary research interest falls. Students are encouraged to consult regularly (certainly once per semester) with their advisor about any matter concerning their work and about their progress toward the degree.

2) Colloquia series in European history:

I. Renaissance-1648

II. 1610-1789

III. 1748-1914

IV. 1870-Present

The Standing Field Committee undertakes to offer these colloquia on a regular basis. These colloquia are considered to be the core of a student's preparation for field examinations in Modern European history. In preparation for their field exams, students at the MA level should select two of the colloquia in sequence (i.e., either I and II, II and III, or III and IV).

3) Enrollment in the seminar in Modern European history (HIS 934) for two semesters is required of all MA candidates who are majors in Modern European history. The seminar will be offered at least once each academic year.

4) When preparing to take the field exam, the student should talk to those faculty members responsible for his/her examination to clarify any questions concerning the scope of the exam.

5) Foreign languages are not required at the MA level, but for students in European history, they are almost always indispensable for research. Therefore, students should acquire proficiency in those languages related to their program of study at the earliest possible moment. Majors in European history will be expected to demonstrate this proficiency in the use of foreign language sources for their research in graduate seminars.

6) The faculty in Modern European history recommend strongly that--except in cases where the emphasis of their research suggests a more appropriate alternative--students select minor fields in British history and/or Russian and East European history, since these areas of study are integrally related to the history of Modern Western European history.

MA students with secondary fields (i.e. non-majors) in Modern European history should choose two of the colloquia required of majors for the preparation of their field examinations. There are three possibilities for secondary fields:

A) Europe, Renaissance-1789 (corresponding to colloquia I and II)

B) Europe, 1610-1914 (corresponding to colloquia II and III); or

C) Europe, 1748-present (corresponding to colloquia (III and IV)

As with majors, readings courses or upper-level undergraduate courses are not considered to be adequate substitutes for the colloquia series. NO EXCEPTIONS to these three possibilities for a secondary field in Modern European history will be allowed without compelling circumstances for justification and by formal petition to the graduate advisor for the European field.

Students can assume that questions for the oral examination will be drawn from themes covered in the colloquia. When preparing to take the examination, students should talk to those faculty responsible for their examinations. Questions concerning the scope of the examination should be addressed directly to the faculty members involved in the examination.