Contact Info

Phone:314-935-5450
Email:history@wustl.edu
Website:https://history.wustl.edu/graduate

To earn a PhD at Washington University, a student must complete all courses required by their department; maintain satisfactory academic progress; pass certain examinations; complete all requirements for doctoral candidacy; fulfill residence and Mentored Experience Requirements; write, defend, and submit a dissertation; and apply for program completion (graduation) via Workday Student.

For the details of doctoral degree general requirements in Arts & Sciences, including an explanation of Satisfactory Academic Progress, students should review the Doctoral Degree Academic Information page of the Arts & Sciences Bulletin.

Program Requirements

  • Total Units Required: 36 graduate units
  • Degree Length: Five years
    • Note: Students must be enrolled in 9 graduate credits each semester to retain full-time status. As students complete their coursework, if enrolled in fewer than 9 graduate credits, they must enroll in ASGS 9000 Full-Time Graduate Research/Study, which will show 0 units but does count as full-time status. Students should connect with their department to ensure proper enrollment prior to Add/Drop.
  • Grade Requirement: A minimum grade of B is required for coursework to count toward the degree.

These guidelines will remain posted on the Graduate Requirements & Grades page of the Department of History website.

PhD in History

Requirements and Academic Assessment

Doctoral candidates ordinarily spend two to three full academic years in residence. Before the dissertation defense takes place, doctoral candidates must have completed 36 units of graduate credit. Over the course of their doctoral program, graduate students may not register for more than 36 units of credit without special consideration. The Department of History does not allow the use of transferred credits from previous graduate work elsewhere. 

Grades

The performance of students in Arts & Sciences is marked by the grades A, B, C (Conditional), and F. The grade of C indicates unsatisfactory work and will be awarded academic credit only if matched by an equivalent number of units graded A. Plus or minus grades may be given. Some courses may be graded Pass/No Pass.

Graduate students should expect to earn a grade of A or A- as a mark of good progress through the program. Although a grade of B+ or B will qualify a student for full credit, these grades should be viewed as a warning that the student has not sufficiently demonstrated a full mastery of the course material at the doctoral level. 

A full-time graduate student is not allowed more than one incomplete per semester, and that incomplete must be resolved within 120 days of the last day of the semester in which it was awarded. Within this requirement, it is recommended that faculty and students agree in writing as to the resolution of the incomplete. 

Academic Probation and Dismissal

The Department of History closely follows the guidelines of the Office of Graduate Studies, Arts & Sciences, as described in the Policy on Probation and Dismissal for Academic Reasons. 

All students in the PhD program are expected to satisfy the academic performance requirements of the Office of Graduate Studies, Arts & Sciences, which can be found in the General Requirements section of the Doctoral Degree Academic Information page of the Graduate Arts & Sciences Bulletin.

Annual Review Letter

The Department of History uses annual review letters to keep students informed about the department's expectations of their progress and to identify any problems. At the end of each academic year, students receive annual review letters based on the observations of all faculty members with whom they have worked during the academic year, whether in a class, in an Advanced Readings course, or as part of an MER. The letters will identify strengths and room for improvement and will provide clear steps for addressing any concerns.

Graduate Studies Committee

The Department's Graduate Studies Committee manages all departmental decisions regarding placement on probation, removal from probation, recommendations for dismissal after a probationary period, and recommendations for immediate dismissal due to extreme underperformance. The Graduate Studies Committee consists of the Director of Graduate Studies and three or four additional faculty members appointed by the department chair at the beginning of each academic year.

Examining Committee

The Examining Committee consists of three or four field examiners, including the primary advisor. The primary advisor (i.e., the faculty member supervising the dissertation) will serve as chair of the examining committee. The student and the primary advisor will select the additional appropriate faculty members to serve on the student's examining committee. 

Research Advisory Committee (RAC)

In consultation with their advisor, students must constitute a Research Advisory Committee (RAC), which consists of three faculty members. The formation of the committee is a required milestone for program completion. The primary advisor is the chair of the committee. The student and the chair will select appropriate faculty members to serve as the two additional members. At least one of the two must be Department of History faculty. Please note that the Research Advisory Committee will not necessarily consist of the same faculty members as the examining committee; however, the student's primary advisor will serve as chair on both committees. The student will submit the Research Advisory Committee (RAC) form to the Graduate Program Administrator prior to their dissertation prospectus defense. 

Doctoral Dissertation Committee

The Doctoral Dissertation Committee that examines the student during the defense consists of at least five members. Normally, the members of the RAC also serve on the Doctoral Dissertation Committee. More information can be found below in the Dissertation Prospectus & Defense section of this page.

General Course Requirements

Doctoral candidates must complete 36 units of graduate credits. Graduate students must be registered for 9 graduate credits for the semester. To be eligible for tuition remission, courses must be taken at the graduate level, taken for a grade, and approved in advance by the student's advisor for the student's degree. Graduate-level courses are numbered at 5000 or above. Audited courses are not eligible for tuition remission and cannot count toward full-time status in a given semester. Undergraduate courses open to graduate enrollment will have a corresponding course number at the 5000 level to enable students to enroll for graduate credit. When certain conditions apply, graduate students may be permitted to register for Arts & Sciences courses numbered below 5000, but those courses will not be covered by tuition remission and will not count toward the student's degree requirements. For specific exceptions, refer to the General Requirements section of the Doctoral Degree Academic Information page of the Graduate Arts & Sciences Bulletin.

Required Courses

  • HISTORY 5473 Literature of History
    • Offered during the fall semester on an annual or biannual basis; serves as an introduction to the graduate study of history
  • HISTORY 5472 Proposals, Prospectuses, and Professional Development
    • Offered every other spring semester; usually taken during the second or third year

Seminars & Readings

Graduate seminars, which are 5000-level courses designed for graduate students, are devoted to intensive reading and critical discussion. These courses help students to develop a broad understanding of current debates in the fields to be covered in the qualifying examination.

Advanced seminars are devoted to the writing of a major paper in a particular historical field or on a specific period or topic. They train the student in the analysis of historical problems, in research techniques, and in writing, which are the nuts and bolts of later work on a dissertation.

In some fields, students frequently enroll in readings (e.g., HISTORY 5220 Advanced Reading, HISTORY 5230 Advanced Reading). In readings, between one and four students work closely with a faculty member.

Qualifying Examinations

Progress toward the PhD is contingent upon the student passing examinations that are variously called preliminary, qualifying, general, comprehensive, or major field exams. The qualifying process varies according to the program. The program, which determines the structure and schedule of the required examinations, is responsible for notifying the Office of Graduate Studies, Arts & Sciences, of the student’s outcome, whether successful or unsuccessful.

To advance to PhD candidacy, in addition to completing the necessary coursework, students must meet the following requirements:

  1. The qualifying examination, which entails the following three requirements:
    1. Evidence acceptable to the examining committee of competence in foreign language(s) or other skills relevant to the proposed research
    2. One portfolio paper that meets the approval of the examining committee
    3. Successful completion of the qualifying examination, which consists of a written component and an oral component
  2. The dissertation prospectus

These two basic requirements may be met in any order at the discretion of the student's primary advisor. 

The qualifying examination evaluates the student's competence in three fields of history or in two fields of history and one other discipline or program. The examining committee also assesses the student's readiness to undertake independent research for the dissertation, as indicated by the student's portfolio paper. The student should take their qualifying examination during the fourth semester. The student must defend their dissertation prospectus by the beginning of the fifth semester, no later than September 30.

Examiners do not formally grade performance on the qualifying examination except to indicate passage or failure. A student who fails to qualify for dissertation research may be recommended for a master's degree in lieu of a PhD. The primary advisor and the student should notify the Graduate Program Administrator of the completion of these academic requirements. 

Languages and Quantitative Skills

Each graduate student’s need for linguistic and quantitative skills is determined during their first semester in consultation with their advisor. This determination is subject to review by the Graduate Studies Committee. The student's examining committee will ascertain, by the time of the qualifying examination, if sufficient progress toward acquiring these skills has been made.

The minimum requirement is normally competence in the language of the documents or culture in which the student proposes to do dissertation research as well as competence either in one other language (other than English) or in the practice of a quantitative or other technical skill. Students normally demonstrate competency by passing a translation examination, using foreign-language primary sources to write a portfolio paper, or successfully taking a particular course.

Portfolio Paper

As part of the qualification process, students prepare one portfolio paper. Based extensively on primary sources, the portfolio paper often serves as the foundation for a student's first academic publication. The paper may (but is not required to) relate to the student's proposed dissertation work. Students frequently revise and refine their paper after completing the seminars in which they were initially written. Papers completed during graduate study elsewhere, as well as those written expressly for presentation to the examining committee, are also acceptable. Ordinarily, the paper should be written under the supervision of the primary advisor and connected to the student's major field.

Written and Oral Components

The qualifying examination consists of both written and oral components.  In each of the three fields, the examiner determines the form of the written exam. It may be a timed, written exam of three hours administered one to two weeks before the oral exam. It may be a syllabus for a proposed course. It may be an extensive literature review of a field. The oral examination takes place after all written components are completed. During the oral exam, faculty ask students questions about debates in the field, sometimes drawing on the written work to do so. 

Dissertation Prospectus & Defense

The dissertation prospectus is a detailed statement describing the dissertation the student proposes to write. The dissertation should make an original contribution to historical scholarship. 

Before choosing a subject, the student should consult the American Historical Association's list of theses in progress to avoid duplication. In roughly six to twelve pages, the prospectus should answer, as explicitly as possible, the following four questions:

  1. What are the major hypotheses or generalizations that the student expects to develop and test in the dissertation? 
    1. The prospectus should describe the historical phenomena (i.e., events, figures, situations, trends, or problems) to be explored. It should, however, look beyond mere narrative and description to the kinds of questions and potential answers the research itself will produce. In doing so, the prospectus should indicate the significance of the research for the contribution to historical knowledge. Since hypotheses are subject to the test of research, the prospectus may include tentative assertions that contradict as well as complement one another.
  2. What is the present status of relevant historical literature, and how will the proposed research contribute to ongoing debates in the field? 
    1. The answer will indicate how far the student has gone in thinking about the problem, demonstrate the student's familiarity with secondary materials, and attempt to situate the student's own investigation relative to other scholars in the field. A bibliography should be appended to the prospectus.
  3. What kinds of sources and data will the project involve, and what research procedures and techniques will be required? 
    1. ​The writer must have a conception of the resources needed, where they may be found, and how they can be tapped and analyzed. Unexpected data or documents are sure to turn up, but the researcher must know where to begin. Some indication is needed of the documents, archives, published primary materials, and oral histories that will be consulted.
  4. What are the specific limits to the research that will keep the dissertation within manageable scope and length? 
    1. ​Reasonable care must be taken to develop a practicable dissertation problem and research plan that can be brought to completion. The prospectus should include information about any completed research work, manuscript drafts, and a tentative schedule for the project.

Since research alters the character of any proposed dissertation, the student is not bound to carry out the exact program described in their prospectus. However, the student should have a feasible plan in place by the prospectus deadline, September 30 of the fifth semester. Students planning on applying for major research fellowships, including the Fulbright or ACLS, should submit them during the summer of year two. If successful, those fellowships would support research abroad during year four. 

Students defend the dissertation prospectus before the RAC, which does not formally grade performance on the defense of the dissertation prospectus except to indicate passage or failure.  

Title, Scope, and Procedure (TSP)

After the Dissertation Prospectus Defense, the student will submit the Title, Scope & Procedure Form, which must be signed by the RAC members and by the program chair and submitted through the Graduate Program Administrator to the Office of Graduate Studies, Arts & Sciences. The Title, Scope, and Procedure Form must be filed before the end of the student's fifth semester of graduate study. 

Doctoral Candidacy

Candidacy marks the transition from coursework and initial study to independent research and dissertation writing. At this stage, the student is considered prepared to contribute to their field through independent scholarship.

The status of candidacy for WashU Arts & Sciences doctoral students indicates a student has, at minimum, completed and passed their qualifying exam/paper and pre-candidacy requirements. Pre-candidacy requirements are determined by each PhD program. Those requirements may include, for example, completion of required coursework; completion of required foreign language exams; completion of the Mentored Experience Requirement; successful submission of the Title, Scope and Procedure form; and completion of the oral presentation to propose the dissertation to their Research Advisory Committee.

Students must defend the dissertation prospectus by the beginning of the fifth semester and complete all remaining pre-candidacy requirements, advancing to doctoral candidacy by the end of the fifth semester.

Mentored Experience Requirements

For complete information about the guidelines and definitions for completion of the Mentored Experience Requirement (MER) please consult the Mentored Experience Requirement (MER) page of the website of the Office of Graduate Studies, Arts & Sciences.

As part of their graduate training, students will complete five semesters of Mentored Teaching Experiences (MTEs). Refer to the History Department's Mentored Experience Implementation Plan. Students will enroll in appropriate credit units and be responsible for any paperwork required for each MER.

The Dissertation Defense

Approval of the written dissertation by the Research Advisory Committee (RAC) is strongly recommended before the student can orally defend the dissertation. The Doctoral Dissertation Committee that examines the student during the defense consists of at least five members. Normally, the members of the RAC also serve on the Doctoral Dissertation Committee. The dissertation committee is then additionally augmented to ensure that the following criteria are met:

  1. Three of the five members (or a similar proportion of a larger committee) must be full-time Washington University in St. Louis faculty members or, for programs involving Washington University in St. Louis-affiliated partners, full-time members of a Washington University in St. Louis-affiliated partner institution. All members must be authorized to supervise PhD students and have appropriate expertise in the proposed field of study. One of these three members must be the PhD student's primary thesis advisor, and one may be a member of the emeritus faculty.
  2. All other committee members must be active in research/scholarship and have appropriate expertise in the proposed field of study whether at Washington University in St. Louis, at another university, in government, or in industry.
  3. At least one of the five members must bring expertise outside of the student's field of study to the committee, as judged by the relevant department/program and approved by the Office of Graduate Studies, Arts & Sciences.

The approval processes outlined in the RAC section of the Doctoral Council bylaws also apply to the Doctoral Dissertation Committee, including approval of each dissertation committee by the Office of Graduate Studies, Arts & Sciences.

The student is responsible for making the full text of the dissertation accessible to their committee members for their review in advance of the defense according to program rules. Washington University in St. Louis community members and guests of the student who are interested in the subject of the dissertation are normally welcome to attend all or part of the defense but may ask questions only at the discretion of the committee chair. Although there is some variation among degree programs, the defense ordinarily focuses on the dissertation itself and its relation to the student's field of expertise.

Attendance by a minimum of four members of the Doctoral Dissertation Committee, including the committee chair and an outside member, is required for the defense to take place. This provision is designed to permit the student's defense to proceed in case of a situation that unexpectedly prevents one of the five members from attending. Students should not plan in advance to only have four members in attendance. If four members cannot attend, the defense must be rescheduled. The absence of all outside members or of the committee chair also requires rescheduling the defense.

Students, with the support of their Doctoral Dissertation Committee chair, may opt to hold their dissertation defense in person or by utilizing a virtual or hybrid format.

A Doctoral Dissertation Guide and a Dissertation Template that give instructions regarding the format of the dissertation are available on the website of the Office of Graduate Studies, Arts & Sciences. Both should be read carefully at every stage of dissertation preparation. 

Procedure

One month before the anticipated defense, the student and the advisor should work with the Graduate Program Administrator to complete the necessary paperwork and schedule the defense. The History Department requires the student to make the full text of the dissertation available to the committee members at least two weeks before the defense.

Submission of the Dissertation

After the defense, the student must submit an electronic copy of the dissertation online to the Office of Graduate Studies, Arts & Sciences, by the established deadline for their graduation term. Dissertations must be submitted no later than three months after the oral defense of the dissertation. Petitions for an extension to the three-month limit may be submitted to the director of graduate studies for consideration and approval. 

The submission website requires students to choose among publishing and copyrighting services offered by ProQuest's ETD Administrator. Students are asked to submit the Survey of Earned Doctorates separately. The degree program is responsible for delivering the final approval form, signed by the committee members at the defense and then by the program chair or director, to the Office of Graduate Studies, Arts & Sciences. Students who defend their dissertations successfully have not yet completed their PhD requirements; they finish earning their degree only when their dissertation submission has been accepted by the Office of Graduate Studies, Arts & Sciences.

Master's Degree Along the Way/
In Lieu of a PhD

Along the Way

In Lieu of a PhD

Students who, for whatever reason, are unable to continue in the PhD program may apply for a master's degree in lieu of the PhD. To earn this degree, the student must have done the following: 

  • Satisfactorily completed a minimum of 36 units of credit. The Department of History does not require an MA thesis. Therefore, none of the required 36 units will be awarded for thesis research.
  • Successfully completed the course HISTORY 5473 Literature of History
  • Successfully passed an oral examination in two fields of history

Students who have not completed their exams by September 30 of their fifth semester may be asked to depart the program at the end of that semester by meeting the requirements for an MA in lieu of a PhD. 

Visit the History page
for additional information about this program.

As part of their degree requirements, PhD students must complete a program-defined Mentored Experience Requirement (MER) as per these guidelines. The Mentored Experience Implementation Plan (MEIP) is the written articulation of a program-defined degree requirement for PhD students to engage in mentored teaching activities and/or mentored professional activities, collectively referred to as the MER.

Mentored Experience Requirement (MER)

Philosophy of Teaching

The History Department considers teaching to be a key component of the historian’s role and teacher-training to be a central feature of our doctoral program. It aims to prepare students to be adept teachers as well as able scholars. To that end, it provides all doctoral students with a graduated sequence of Mentored Teaching Experiences (MTEs) that includes both teaching alongside faculty mentors in lecture courses and teaching discussion sections. The MTE represents a collaborative mentoring process between graduate students and faculty members to reflect on and interpret disciplinary knowledge; to find multiple ways to represent disciplinary content; to adapt content to students’ abilities and prior knowledge; and to develop methods to assess and improve the teaching and learning process in an academic discipline. Upon recommendation from a student's primary advisor and with the approval of the Director of Graduate Studies and the Director of Undergraduate Studies, that training should usually culminate with an opportunity either to teach an independent course (at the 1000 or 2000 level, usually relating to a student’s dissertation research) or to participate in a Mentored Professional Experience.

Preparatory Engagement

Preparatory Engagement activities are those that represent an introduction to the foundational skills associated with teaching or communication. Pedagogical preparation engagement activities are normally completed before students are permitted to engage in assisting or teaching in a classroom.

History’s PhD preparatory engagement includes two required activities:

  1. The Center for Teaching & Learning Orientation (to be taken the first summer/August before their first AI)
  2. A department-based pedagogy workshop in the summer of year two (by which point they will have completed two semesters worth of AI and will have enough experience both to reflect on and plan improvements in their pedagogical strategy). Each graduate student would satisfy the requirements of this second Preparatory Engagement 1) by participating in group discussion to share best practice; and 2) by drafting, evaluating, and revising a teaching philosophy statement.

Mentored Teaching Experiences (MTEs)

Assistant in Instruction (AI)

An Assistant in Instruction (AI) is a PhD student who is directly engaged in the organization, instruction, and/or support of a semester-long course primarily taught by a faculty member. An AI receives mentorship from a faculty member related to best practices in classroom engagement, instruction in the field, interpersonal engagement, and other relevant skills. Students and mentors complete a mentorship plan prior to the start of each AI experience. To complete each AI assignment and to ensure that it applies toward their degree requirements, students must register for the appropriate course number for each semester of engagement. Refer to the "Required Pathways for Completion" section below for course numbers and details.

History requires five AI engagements in years 2, 3, and 4. An AI for 10 MER units will be expected to have the following duties, which will be discussed and agreed upon with the faculty before the start of the semester:

  • Preparing and designing course materials
  • Developing and grading quizzes, exams, and other assignments (including mid-term and final papers)
  • Occasional guest lecturing in class
  • Holding office hours
  • Leading a discussion section
  • Providing logistical support

Mentored Independent Teaching (MIT)

MIT is a semester-long experience for PhD students who engage as the primary instructor or co-instructor of a course under the mentorship of a faculty member as part of the MER. Students and mentors complete a mentorship plan prior to the start of each MIT experience. To complete each MIT assignment and to ensure that it applies toward their degree requirements, students must register for the appropriate course number (ASGS 8020 MTE - Mentored Independent Teaching Experience) for each semester of engagement. Refer to the "Required Pathways for Completion" section below for more details.

Mentored Professional Experiences (MPEs)

The MPE is an unpaid professional experience for PhD students that allows students to develop skills and experiences relevant to their intended career outcomes. Students and mentors complete a mentorship plan prior to the start of each MPE. To complete each MPE assignment and to ensure that it applies toward their degree requirements, students must submit the Mentorship Registration Request form for approval and register for the appropriate course number (ASGS 8120 MTE - Mentored Professional Experience) for each semester of engagement. Refer to the "Required Pathways for Completion" section below for more details.

Required Pathways for Completion

Students work with their faculty mentor and their Director of Graduate Studies to plan how and when they will complete their MER. Students register during the normal registration period for courses in accordance with one of these approved pathways.

Pathway #1
ASGS 8010 Take five times

Pathway #2
ASGS 8010 Take four times
ASGS 8020 Take one time

Pathway #3
ASGS 8010 Take four times
ASGS 8120 Take one time

Optional Activity: Professional Intensive Pathway (PIP)

The PIP is an optional pathway for those students whose career interests lie outside of academia or who want to benefit from mentored professional experiences (MPEs). An MPE is an unpaid professional experience for PhD students that allows students to develop skills and experiences relevant to their intended career outcomes. Students and mentors complete a mentorship plan prior to the start of each MPE. Students who are interested in participating in this elective experience must formally request to participate, which is subject to program approval. Due to this experience being an elective, unpaid experience, students who participate in the PIP will not receive compensation. 

To complete the MPE assignment, students must submit the Mentorship Registration Request form for approval and register for the appropriate course number (8120) for the semester of engagement. History allows the PIP in the Spring of year four or Fall of year five. The PIP is allowed and encouraged if the student would prefer an MPE to teaching a class of their own design under the TIP.

Optional Pathway
ASGS 8120 Take one time

Optional Activity: Teaching Intensive Pathway (TIP)

The TIP is an optional pathway for those students whose career interests lie in academia or another field that would benefit from extended teaching experiences. This immersive experience allows students to further explore the breadth and depth of teaching best practices and pedagogy related to their respective field. Students who are interested in participating in this elective experience must formally request to participate, which is subject to program approval. Due to this experience being an elective, unpaid experience, students who participate in the TIP will not receive compensation.

History's TIP is one MIT engagement as the primary instructor or co-instructor of a course under the mentorship of a faculty member. Students and mentors complete a mentorship plan prior to the start of the TIP/MIT. Students register for the appropriate course number (ASGS 8020 MTE - Mentored Independent Teaching Experience) for the semester of engagement. History allows the TIP in spring of year 4 or fall of year 5. 

Optional Pathway
ASGS 8020 Take one time