Doctor of Philosophy in Humanities: History
Director:
Matthew Osborn
osbornmw@umkc.edu
(816) 235-6118 x8
History faculty who are members of the doctoral faculty.
Overview:
The Humanities Ph.D. offers students the opportunity to engage in coursework and collaborate with faculty to write a dissertation that integrates various methods (which may include digital methods for portfolio creation) with research in the Humanities, with a primary discipline in English or History and a secondary discipline in English, History, Digital and Public Humanities, or General Humanities.
This degree program is designed to prepare students for careers in the academy and several other sectors by combining traditional academic training with applied research experience in the Humanities. This will equip them to bring Humanities content to broad public audiences using traditional and/or digital tools. It will also allow students the option to think creatively about the application of quantitative data analysis methods and digital communication tools to diverse datasets that are not traditionally subjected to this sort of inquiry.
Student Learning Outcomes
Students graduating from this program will:
- Demonstrate a thorough degree of knowledge in the discipline
- Demonstrate an ability to use proper investigation techniques for the discipline
- Use oral and written forms of communication to convey their ideas
Residence requirements: Ph.D. students must satisfy the doctoral residency requirement by satisfactory completion of at least 18 credits in no more than 24 consecutive months. When satisfying the residency requirement, all Ph.D. students are subject to the following restrictions:
- The doctoral residency requirement must be satisfied no later than the end of the semester in which the student completes his or her comprehensive examinations.
- Students must achieve a cumulative graduate grade-point average of at least 3.0 in all courses counted toward satisfying the residency requirement.
Plan of Study: Students should be aware that on their overall Plan of Study, only two (2) courses may be drawn from the 300-/400-level, and only with the prior approval of their advisor.
Rules concerning graduate students taking undergraduate courses: https://catalog.umkc.edu/general-graduate-academic-regulations-information/general-graduate-academic-regulations/course-and-grading-policies/graduate-course-designations/.
Student Learning Outcomes
Students graduating from this program will:
- Demonstrate a thorough degree of knowledge in the discipline.
- Demonstrate an ability to use proper investigation techniques for the discipline.
- Use oral and written forms of communication to convey their ideas.
Admissions Requirements
Application Deadline: December 15
Students intending to apply to the Humanities Ph.D. with a primary discipline of History should first contact the Ph.D. Director during the fall semester, and preferably by the end of November. Except in unusual circumstances, students must begin their work during the fall term.
Applicants who choose History as their primary 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:
- Possess a master’s degree in History or its equivalent.
- Have earned a GPA of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale in graduate courses.
The doctoral faculty of the Department of History will review applications and make their recommendations for admission by the end of February. Applications that are incomplete as of January 15, and completed applications submitted after this deadline, may not be considered until the following year.
Application
In addition to the requirements specified by the School of Graduate Studies, applicants for admission must submit:
- A sample of written work.
- A letter describing academic and professional goals.
- A statement of purpose, around 1,000 words in length, that describes a well-developed research agenda and discusses the theoretical and methodological basis for the research.
- Three letters of recommendation from individuals who are academically or professionally qualified to assess the applicant's ability to pursue doctoral work.
- ALL applicants must identify a regular doctoral faculty member of the History Department who has agreed to serve as their faculty mentor when they enter the program.
Students are admitted to the Doctoral Program by a majority vote of the regular doctoral faculty of the History Department.
When making admission decisions, 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.
In exceptional cases, candidates who do not meet the History Department's minimum requirements for admission may be admitted under alternate criteria. The doctoral faculty of the department have adopted the following alternate criteria, one or more of which will be used to assess the applicant's ability: satisfactory performance in 5400- or above-level classes taken in the department's master's degree program; positive, written recommendations of our faculty willing to work with the applicant who have evaluated his or her previous work; satisfactory completion of specified courses in the department before consideration or reconsideration of a candidate's application; publications or comparable professional achievements related to the study of History.
All coursework in both the primary and secondary discipline must be approved prior to registration by the student's committee chair.
Primary Discipline in History
A minimum of 15 credit hours of coursework. Courses are selected from those offered in the discipline.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| HISTORY 5581GR | Introduction to Graduate Studies | 3 |
| HISTORY 5582A | Research Proposal Development | 3 |
| Take two Colloquia | 6 | |
| Colloquium in U.S. History | ||
| Colloquium in World History | ||
| HISTORY 5587R | Research Seminar | 3 |
Secondary Discipline in Humanities Field
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| A minimum of 9 credit hours in coursework. Students with a primary discipline of History may select one of the following secondary disciplines: English, Digital and Public Humanities, or General Humanities. | 9 | |
Comprehensive Exam and Dissertation Hours
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| HISTORY 5697 | Doctoral-Level Independent Reading | 6 |
| HISTORY 5699R | Dissertation | 12 |
Total Credit Hours: 42
Secondary Discipline Coursework
English
Students must complete a minimum of 9 credit hours in ENGLISH and have a member of the Department of English doctoral or graduate faculty on their advisory committee. Coursework can include any graduate-level ENGLISH class (5400- or 5500-level) or 300-/400-level courses with previous approval by their advisor.
Digital and Public Humanities (DPH)
Students must complete a minimum of 9 credit hours in DPH coursework and have a DPH graduate or doctoral faculty member on their advisory committee.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Required Course 1 | 3 | |
| HISTORY 5579 | Public History: Theory and Method | 3 |
| or ENGLISH 5477DH | Studies in Digital Humanities | |
| Two electives: | 6 | |
| Studies in Digital Humanities | ||
| Technical Communication | ||
| Girls, Literacies, and Print Culture | ||
| Histories Of Writing, Reading, And Publishing | ||
| Publication Practicum | ||
| Publication Practicum | ||
| Publication Practicum | ||
| Oral History | ||
| Public History: Theory and Method | ||
| Archival Methods | ||
| Museum Studies | ||
| Public History and New Media | ||
| Art Museums: History and Practice | ||
| Visual Arts Administration | ||
| Introduction to Historic Preservation | ||
- 1
If the student has already taken one of these courses as an MA student, they can replace it with another course from the list of electives below in consultation with their DPH committee member.
General Humanities
Students must complete a minimum of 9 credit hours. Students who select General Humanities may select courses from any Humanities-related field. Coursework can include any graduate-level class (5400- or 5500-level), or 300-/400-level courses with previous approval by their advisor.
Recommended Humanities-related fields:
- Anthropology (ANTHRO)
- Art History (ART-HIST)
- Economics (ECON)
- English (for students with History as their primary discipline) (ENGLISH)
- Film (FILM)
- History (for students with English as their primary discipline) (HISTORY)
- Law (LAW)
- Philosophy (PHILOS)
- Political Science (POL-SCI)
- Race, Ethnic and Gender Studies (REGS)
- Sociology (SOCIOL)
- Theatre (THEATRE)
- Urban Studies (UPD, URBAN ST)
- World Languages and Cultures (FRENCH, FRN-LNG, GERMAN, SPANISH)
Comprehensive Exam
The History Department requires that the Comprehensive Examination include both a written and an oral component. The members of the Supervisory Committee will determine the structure and duration of the History component of the Comprehensive Exam.
For students with History as the Primary discipline, there is a list of Doctoral Fields appended below. In the oral examination conducted by the supervisory committee, students will be expected to answer questions of an interdisciplinary nature.
A student is considered to have passed the Comprehensive Examination if the members of the examining committee vote that the candidate passes, and if no more than 30 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.
Minimum Academic Regulations governing the Comprehensive Examinations can be found here.
Prospectus Development
On the plan of study, there must be a minimum of 3 credits in History 5697 for preparing the dissertation prospectus. The minimum requirements for the dissertation prospectus are established by the History Department faculty. The members of the Supervisory Committee will determine the structure and duration of the prospectus defense.
Dissertation
Doctoral student dissertations must meet the requirements of the History Department as well as the Minimum PhD Requirements of the School of Graduate Studies. On the plan of study, there must be a minimum of 12 credits in HISTORY 5699R (dissertation hours).
The supervisory committee and its chair will determine the format and procedures of the defense, both for the dissertation prospectus and the final dissertation. For a student with History as a discipline, this examination may be conducted only after the dissertation has been approved by members of the supervisory committee.
The defense of the dissertation is approved when a majority of the supervisory committee recommends approval and signs the Report of Results of Final Doctoral Examination form. Within 48 hours of the defense, the supervisory committee chair will report the results of the final dissertation examination in writing to the candidate.
Minimum Academic Regulations governing the dissertation can be found here.