History
Director of Graduate Studies: Dana Rabin
Department of History
309 Gregory Hall
810 South Wright Street
Urbana, IL 61801
(217) 244-2591
E-mail: history@illinois.edu
Major: History
Degrees offered: M.A., Ph.D.
Graduate Concentrations: African American Studies (available to all degrees), Medieval Studies (available to all degrees)
Major: Social Studies, Teaching of
Degrees offered: M.A.
Medical Scholars Program: Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in History and Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) through the Medical Scholars Program
Graduate Degree Programs
The Department of History offers graduate courses leading to the Master of Arts and the Doctor of Philosophy degrees, complete details of which may be found in the Graduate Studies section of the department's web site. Students are not normally admitted to a terminal master's degree program.
Admission
Applicants should have a minimum of 20 semester hours of undergraduate work in history and cognate disciplines with an overall GPA of 3.25 in the last two years. Applicants who have a master's degree should have a grade point average of 3.5 for previous graduate-level work. All applicants are required to submit Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores (verbal, analytical, and quantitative are mandatory; history is optional). All applicants are required to submit a writing sample. Language preparation may be weighted heavily, depending upon the field of specialization. Foreign students whose native language is not English need a paper-based Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) score of at least 600 (250 on the computer-based test). Most successful applicants have GRE verbal scores of over 80% and/or TOEFL scores of over 630 (260 computer). Only in exceptional circumstances are students admitted for the spring term. The department is not currently admitting to the Teaching of Social Studies program. For additional details refer to www.history.illinois.edu/graduate/prospective/.
Degree Requirements
*For additional details and requirements refer to the department's graduate degree requirements and the Graduate College Handbook.
Master of Arts
| Required Courses: | Thesis option - Required Hours | Non-thesis option - Required Hours |
|---|---|---|
| History 598 (2 hours per term) is required of candidates who hold teaching assistantships, during each semester they hold an appointment | ||
| History 593 and 594 | 8 | 8 |
| Two additional 500-level courses in history | 8 | 8 |
| Two courses in each of two of the fields of specialization offered by the department. | 16 | 16 |
| Language Requirement: candidate must demonstrate ability to read one foreign language related to his or her field of interest as approved by the graduate advisers | ||
| Thesis Hours Required – HIST 599 (min/max applied toward degree): | max 8 | |
| Total Hours | 32 | 32 |
Minimum 500-level Hours Required Overall: |
16 | 16 |
| Other Requirements:* | ||
| At least one research seminar (HIST 596) with a grade of B or better must be included. | ||
| Students may take up to two of the required eight courses in departments other than History, if approved. | ||
| Minimum GPA: | 2.75 | 2.75 |
Students enrolled in the Ph.D. program can usually earn a Master of Arts in History within three semesters.
Doctor of Philosophy
| Required Courses: | Required Hours - Entering with approved M.S./M.A. degree | Required Hours - Entering with approved B.S./B.A. degree* |
|---|---|---|
| History 598 (2 hours per term) is required of candidates who hold teaching assistantships during each semester they hold an appointment; students with research assistantships may enroll for History 596 for 2 hours credit per semester during the assistantship. | ||
| History 593 and 594 | 8 | 8 |
| Research seminars (or 596), under the direction of at least two faculty members (may be reduced by one four-hour course at the discretion of the advisor) | 8 | 12 |
| Three additional courses at the 500 level | 12 | 12 |
| Choose from History 591, History 592, or Oral History | 8 | 8 |
| To fulfill the minimum requirement of 64 or 96 graduate hours, 16 graduate hours in disciplines other than history may be applied. | 0-16 | 0-16 |
| Language Requirement: The department requires proven competence in two foreign languages for the Ph.D. degree, except for students of US History who must demonstrate competence in one foreign language. Language competence means the ability to read and comprehend a foreign language well enough to paraphrase a scholarly article in English. Students admitted into the Ph.D. program are expected to demonstrate competence in the second language within four semesters and always before they take their last prelim exam. A major advisor may require a student to acquire a reading knowledge of more than two languages, or more than one for US History students). | ||
| Thesis Hours Required – HIST 599 (min/max applied toward degree): | 32 max | 32 max |
| Total Hours | 64 | 96 |
| Other Requirements:* | ||
| Minimum GPA: | 2.75 | 2.75 |
| Qualifying Exam Required | No | No |
| Preliminary Exam Required | Yes | Yes |
| Final Exam/Dissertation Defense Required | Yes | Yes |
| Dissertation Deposit Required | Yes | Yes |
In certain circumstances, a student in British history may substitute courses in quantitative skills for the second language. For the preliminary examination, the candidate customarily offers three fields in history - one major and two minor fields. At least one of these must be a "geographical/chronological field" and one must be a "comparative/thematic" field. One must involve a period of time before 1815. At least two geographical areas must also be represented by the fields offered for the examination. One of the three fields may be in a specialization outside the Department of History or may be a "constructed" field specially designed by the candidate in consultation with field examiners and the major advisor. To fulfill the minimum requirement of 64 or 96 graduate hours, 16 graduate hours in disciplines other than history may be applied.
Medical Scholars Program
The Medical Scholars Program permits highly qualified students to integrate the study of medicine with study for a graduate degree in a second discipline, including History. Students may apply to the Medical Scholars Program prior to beginning graduate school or while in the graduate program. Applicants to the Medical Scholars Program must meet the admissions standards for and be accepted into both the doctoral graduate program and the College of Medicine. Students in the dual degree program must meet the specific requirements for both the medical and graduate degrees. On average, students take eight years to complete both degrees. Further information on this program is available by contacting the Medical Scholars Program, 125 Medical Sciences Building, (217) 333-8146 or at www.med.illinois.edu/msp.
Graduate Teaching Experience
Although teaching is not a general Graduate College requirement, experience in teaching is considered an important part of the graduate experience in this program.
Facilities and Resources
The extraordinary University Library is the department's main research facility; within it, the History, Philosophy & Newspaper Library, the Rare Book Room, and the area studies libraries (Slavic, Africana, Latin American, Asian Libraries) all serve faculty and students with expert bibliographers and focused collections. Among other special collections much used by historians are Afro-Americana and Women's Studies; the library is also a major repository for government documents.
Financial Aid
Financial aid is almost always awarded on an academic-year basis. Applications by incoming students are considered with admission applications. All fellowships and assistantships include a stipend plus tuition and service fee waiver.
Both University and department endowment fellowships are available to entering students and to advanced doctoral students embarked on their research or the writing of their dissertations. Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowships may support first- and second-year students who have special interests in foreign area studies. Entering students from underrepresented groups may be awarded one- to three-year Graduate College Fellowships. The Illinois Consortium for Educational Opportunity Program (ICEOP) offers renewable fellowships to underrepresented minority students who are Illinois residents and plan academic careers within the state. Half-time teaching assistantships are the department's primary form of financial aid for graduate students in the Ph.D. program. Students who progress satisfactorily toward their degrees and demonstrate effective teaching will have their teaching assistantships renewed for a second, and usually a third, year.