2009-2010 Program Requirements for UCLA Graduate Degrees

Applicable only to students admitted during the 2009-2010 academic year.

History

College of Letters and Science

Graduate Degrees

The Department of History offers the Master of Arts (M.A.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees in History.

Admission

Master's Degree

Advising

See under Doctoral Degree.

Areas of Study

The comprehensive examination covers one of the following fields: (1) ancient (includes ancient Near East) and late antiquity); (2) medieval (includes Byzantine and medieval Jewish history); (3) Europe, ca 1450 to present (also includes British history, Jewish and Russian history); (4) Africa; (5) Near East (includes Armenia); (6) South and Southeast Asia; (7) China; (8) Japan; (9) Latin America; (10) U.S.; (11) history of science; (12) special fields (students in the history of religions or history of Christianity are normally examined in one of the above fields).

Foreign Language Requirement

A reading knowledge of one foreign language approved by the department is required for the M.A degree. It is recommended that this requirement be met in the first year of graduate work, except for students in the European field, who should meet this requirement during the first quarter of graduate work. Students of U.S., Near East and African history may take a departmental translation examination in French, Spanish, or German. Students of European history must take a departmental translation examination in French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, German, or Russian, preferably during the first quarter of graduate work, as noted above, but no later than the beginning of the sixth quarter of full-time study. For other languages, students arrange to take a language examination administered by a faculty member in the History department or a foreign language department at UCLA; certification of competence is made in accord with the standards of the language department faculty. Departmental foreign language examinations are administered during the Fall and Spring quarters.

Course Requirements

The department requires a minimum (and prefers a maximum) of nine upper division and graduate courses in history, at least six of which must be graduate courses. For students in U.S. history, the minimum of nine courses must all be at the 200 level, including History 246A-246B-246C, at least two two-quarter seminars, one seminar in another field in this department, and one graduate level course in another department. Students in European history must take History 225 and two two-quarter seminars. Students in African history must take History 275A-275B-275C.  Students in the history of science must take History 295. For students in fields other than U.S. history, only one 500-series course may be applied toward both the total course requirement and the minimum six graduate (200-series) course requirement. This may be either four units of 596 or four units of 597. History 495 and courses in the 300 series are not applicable toward course requirements.

Teaching Experience

Not required.

Field Experience

Not required.

Comprehensive Examination Plan

The department follows the comprehensive examination plan. Individual fields specify the fulfillment of the examination requirement by (1) a three-hour written examination designed to assess the candidate's ability to synthesize a broad field of knowledge; or (2) the submission of three essays written for at least two different professors as part of the candidate's program of study. At least two of these papers must have been submitted for graduate courses in the 200 series. In addition, some fields have examination formats that differ from the above, and specify dates when the examinations are given, as follows:

The U.S. field requires students to achieve a satisfactory pass of the doctoral written qualifying examination following 12 months in academic residence. Students who fail the examination may retake it once by petition when it is offered again at the beginning of the next Fall Quarter.

The European field requires a comprehensive examination in the form of two completed two-term research papers with the grade of B or better within the period of six quarters of graduate study, and a satisfactory pass in the doctoral written qualifying examination administered during the sixth quarter.

The African field requires a four-hour comprehensive examination.

The comprehensive examination, regardless of format, is graded (1) pass to continue for the Ph.D.; (2) pass, subject to reevaluation for continuance for the Ph.D.; (3) terminal M.A. pass; or (4) fail. In cases where the M.A. degree is awarded with pass subject to reevaluation, the field M.A. committee conducts a special reevaluation of the candidate's progress after no more than three additional quarters of study.

All students must file a petition for advancement to candidacy with the Graduate Office within the first two weeks of the quarter in which they expect to receive their master's degree.

Thesis Plan

None.

Time-to-Degree

Completion of the requirements for the master's degree is designed to meet requirements for admission to the department's doctoral program. Students are advised to complete the requirements within six quarters of full-time study. The department will recommend to the Graduate Division that students who do not complete the requirements for the master's degree within six quarters be terminated from graduate study, unless, by petition, the Graduate Guidance and Curriculum Committee grants an extension of time.

Doctoral Degree

Advising

Entering students must select and submit the name of a faculty adviser to the graduate adviser by the end of the sixth week of the first quarter. Students are expected to meet with the adviser no less than two times a quarter during the first year. By the end of six quarters, students must submit the name of a dissertation chair and committee members to the graduate counselor. During the third year, students are expected to maintain contact (at least two times during the quarter) with the dissertation chair and all committee members, including the faculty member from the outside field. Upon advancing to candidacy, students are expected to maintain contact (at least three times during the year) with the dissertation chair. Failure to maintain contact with the dissertation chair and committee members will result in departmental probationary status and may result in a recommendation for termination of graduate study. The department's graduate adviser, a full-time staff member, monitors the progress of students in their programs. Students are encouraged to consult the graduate adviser about requirements and procedures for progress toward the Ph.D. degree.

There is a departmental Graduate Guidance and Curriculum Committee, consisting of five faculty members and one graduate student, and appointed by the chair of the department, which reviews and makes recommendations regarding all doctoral programs and any petitions in request of exceptions from the regular program requirements. The vice chair for graduate affairs is an ex officio member of this committee and channels all petitions and programs for review to the committee. The student's committee chair is normally consulted about petitions and exceptions.

The following evaluation procedures determine whether continuing students may proceed to the Ph.D. degree:

Students who enter the graduate program with a B.A. degree: an evaluation comparable to the M.A. comprehensive examination must occur within the period of six quarters.

Students who enter with a master's degree from another department: an evaluation must be completed by the end of three quarters of study in the History Department in order to determine whether or not they are permitted to continue toward the Ph.D. This evaluation is conducted in the same manner as described under the M.A. program.

All students must present to the Graduate Guidance and Curriculum Committee a field approval form signed by the faculty member who has agreed to support their work for the Ph.D., and in accord with the following schedule: by the end of the seventh quarter or earlier for those who enter with only a B.A. degree, and by the end of the third quarter or earlier for those entering with an M.A. degree from another department. Students who do not meet the time limits for proceeding to the Ph.D. degree are subject to dismissal.

An annual review of all graduate students is made each Spring Quarter by the Graduate Guidance and Curriculum Committee. Letters are written to those students with program or grade-point deficiencies or other academic problems.

Major Fields or Subdisciplines

Ancient Greece; ancient Rome; medieval constitutional and legal; medieval social and economic; medieval ecclesiastical and religious; medieval intellectual and cultural (specialists in medieval history may offer no more than two of these fields in medieval history); Byzantine; Russia since 800; East Central and Southeast Europe since ca 1450; England prior to 1485; Britain since ca 1450; the British Empire; ancient Near East; the Near East, 500 to 1500; the Near East since 1500; Armenian; survey of African history; topics in African history (preferably on a regional basis); history of science since ca 1450; Europe, Renaissance/Reformation; Europe, Reformation to the French Revolution; Germany since ca 1450; France since ca 1450; Italy since ca 1450; Spain and Portugal since ca 1450; Europe since 1740; European socioeconomic history since ca 1450; European intellectual and cultural history since ca 1450; Women's history, The Netherlands since ca; 1450; psychohistory; China 900 to 1800; China since 1800; early modern Japan; modern Japan; pre-modern Korea; modern Korea; South Asia; Southeast Asia; Latin America, 1492 to 1830; Latin America since 1759; Latin America and globalization; history of religions; Jewish history; history of Christianity; comparative history; U.S.: (1) mastery of the general field of U.S. history sufficient to teach a college-level survey course and (2) a specialized field chosen from the following: Afro-American, American diplomatic, American West, American Indian, Asian American, California, history of the South, Civil War and Reconstruction, Colonial, cultural, economic, immigration, intellectual, Jeffersonian and Jacksonian America (1800 to 1850), labor, Mexican-American, social, the new nation (1763 to 1800), 20th century, urban, women's history. Both the general and a specialized field must be offered by specialists in United States history and only two fields in United States history are permitted. Either field (1 or 2 or both) may be chosen as minor fields for the Ph.D.

The history of Christianity may be offered as a major or minor field for the doctorate in history. Students may offer this field with emphasis on a particular aspect such as the early church, Protestantism, or orthodox Christianity, although by definition they are required to be familiar with the historical New Testament. Where possible, the field is defined as chronologically and geographically coterminous with an existing departmental field. Emphasis in either American Christianity or medieval Latin Christianity counts as an American or medieval field.

Comparative history Ph.D. students may choose comparative history as one of their four fields. This means choosing one topic across three existing Ph.D. fields. The topic should be chosen with the help of the student's Ph.D. advisers; among possible topics are labor history, women's history, history of religions, economic history, and many others. The geographical/temporal fields covered may correspond to some or all of the student's other three Ph.D. fields. The comparative field is more intensive and involves genuine comparisons. It is highly recommended (and comparative chairs may require) that those majoring in a Western field choose one non-Western field and vice versa. Two or three professors may, if needed, supervise a comparative program, and may help examine the candidate either on the orals or by written examination.

Students in the history of science program must select three of the above fields and either the history of medicine or an allied field. They must also demonstrate a detailed knowledge of the substance and historical development of a particular science or a type of engineering or technology as a subfield common to the historical fields.

PAGE 2 -- Doctoral Degree (con't)

Program Requirements

History