History

Discipline Coordinator

Carla Klausner, (816) 235-2540, klausnerc@umkc.edu

Discipline-Specific Admission Requirements

Applicants who choose history as their coordinating discipline, or applicants whose coursework in history will comprise at least 50 percent of the Ph.D. plan of study, must meet the criteria for admission specified by the School of Graduate Studies. In addition, they must:

1. Possess a master's degree in history or its equivalent.
2. Have earned a GPA of 3.5 in graduate courses.

1. A sample of written work.
2. A brief statement of academic and professional goals.
3. A 1,000-word essay that specifies a dissertation topic, demonstrates its interdisciplinary nature and shows how historical methods and approaches would be utilized.
4. A signed mentorship form. Coordinating discipline students must have a statement of support from at least two members of the department willing to serve on the student's supervisory comittee. Co-discipline students must have a statement of support from at least one member of the department willing to serve on the supervisory committee

The doctoral faculty of the Department of History, in consultation with the history faculty as a whole, makes recommendations to the dean of the School of Graduate Studies on each application for admission. These recommendations reflect the majority vote of the doctoral faculty.

Applicants are advised that meeting the criteria of the School of Graduate Studies and the Department of History does not automatically result in admission to the Interdisciplinary Ph.D. program. When making recommendations to the School of Graduate Studies, the history faculty considers other factors as well, particularly the availability of faculty qualified to work in the applicant's area of interest and the availability of library resources and research materials.

Alternate Admission Criteria

The Plan of Study

A student whose coordinating discipline is history will be required to list at least 18 hours of gradute-level history courses (exclusive of dissertation credits) on the plan of study. These will include: three hours of History 5680; three hours of History 5687; six hours minimum of History 5697 (or at least one independent readings course with each member of the department on the Supervisory Committee); three hours of History 5581 if this course or its equivalent has not been taken before; and the remainder of the program in courses numbered 5500 or above. Coursework should be fashioned to prepare the student for the Comprehensive Examintion (see below). Thus the student should identify a general field of historical study, a specific field relevant to the dissertation topic, and seek through History 5680 and other courses to attain a general comprehension of hitorical analysis and methodology.

Students for whom history is a co-discipline will be required to take, at the minimum, the five core courses of the department's M.A. program (History 5581--Research Methodology; two research seminars--History 5587R; and two graduate colloquia), as well as History 5680 (Doctoral Colloquium).

In exceptional or unusual circumstances, some of these hours may be waived upon petition to the student's supervisory committee.

Any student who switches disciplines in the course of his or her graduate career, either adding history as the coordinating or co-discipline, or changing history from the co-discipline to the coordinating discipline, must fulfill all of the requisite doctoral requirements in history for that level (e.g., number of course hours, distribution requirements, exams).

Suggested Compatible Co-disciplines

Comprehensive Examination

For students with history as coordinating discipline, there will be three areas of examination: one covering approaches to history; one covering a general field of history; and one covering a specific field or fields of history relatd to the dissertation topic. See the list below of general and specific fields offered by the department.

For co-discipline students, the written component will cover two areas: methods of and approaches to history; and a specific field of history related to the dissertation topic. See the list below of general and specific fields offered by the department.

A student with history as either a corodinating or co-discipline is considered to have passed the comprehensive examination if the history member/s of the examining committee vote that the candidate passes, and if no more than 20 percent of the examining committee vote to fail the student. If failure is reported, the examining committee will either recommend termination as a Ph.D. student or suggest additional work or other remedial measures. Furthermore, a student who has failed may not take a second examination for at least 12 weeks. Failure of a second comprehensive examination shall automatically preclude candidacy at this institution.

In the list below, specific fields are indicated under the general fields:

1. Europe Before 1600
   • Roman Republic
   • Medieval Europe
   • Renaissance and Early Modern Science
   • Darwinian Revolution

2. Europe After 1600
   • 19th Century Diplomatic
   • European Revolutions
   • Intellectual and Cultural
   • Modern Germany
   • Modern Britain

3. Asia
   • Japanese
   • Modern South Asia

4. Middle East/Jewish
   • Ancient Jewish
   • Medieval Jewish
   • Modern Jewish
   • Medieval Islamic
   • Arab-Israeli Conflict

5. U.S./North America to 1828
   • African-American
   • Childhood
   • Civil War and Reconstruction

6. U.S. 1828-1877
   • Constitutional
   • Foreign Relations

7. U.S. 1877-1920
   • Military
   • Presidency

8. U.S. 1920-Present
   • Religion
   • Social/Cultural
   • Urban
   • West
   • Women

Dissertation Requirements

Language Requirements

Those students for whom history comprises less than 50 percent of the plan of study and whose dissertation will not utilize sources in a foreign language will ordinarily not be required to demonstrate language competency. It is strongly urged, however, that all Ph.D. students choosing history as a primary discipline will pursue the development of foreign language skills or equivalent (quantitative) research skills.

Retention in the Doctoral Program

A student who falls below a 3.0 grade-point average, or whose work is deemed unsatisfactory at any stage of doctoral work by the history member/s of the supervisory committee, with the concurrence of a majority of the resident doctoral faculty of the department, may be declared ineligible for further study.

History Department Policies Regarding Doctoral Faculty

Ordinarily, emeritus professors of doctoral faculty status in history shall be allowed to serve on doctoral committees for no more than five years after retirement. Such service shall only be on committees that the required faculty member was already on at the time of retirement. Emeritus faculty members can have their doctoral status extended beyond five years only if at least two-thirds of the members of the history doctoral faculty vote to approve this.

Emeritus professors in history cannot chair dissertation committees. They can, however, co-chair with the approval of a majority of the regular resident doctoral faculty.

The history department adheres to the guidelines of the American Historical Association with regard to student ethics and the responsible conduct of research. The AHA Statement on Standards of Professional Conduct can be found at http://www.historians.org/pubs/Free/ProfessionalStandards.cfm.