Program Guide in PDF Format - Department of History, UC Berkeley

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Part 1: The History PhD Program at BerkeleyIntroductionThe Berkeley Department of History represents a rich spectrum of research interests, collaborations, and approachesspanning 16 established fields of history: Africa, America Since 1607, Ancient Greece and Rome, Britain, Byzantine, EarlyModern Europe, East Asia – China, East Asia – Japan, Jewish, Late Modern Europe, Latin America, Medieval, MiddleEast, Science, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. The depth and breadth of our program and the strengths of our facultymembers, students, and other professionals provide an especially stimulating and congenial setting for graduate training.Comprising the department are over 50 full-time faculty members, a number of distinguished emeritus faculty andvisiting professors, 190 graduate students, and 10 support staff. Our department is the center of a history community atBerkeley that also includes faculty, professionals, and student colleagues from other departments and campus entitiessuch as the area studies centers, the Townsend Center for the Humanities, the campus archives, and informal studygroups.Why study at Berkeley?* The Berkeley doctoral program is presently ranked no. 1 in the nation, according to the most recent US News andWorld Report. We share this distinction with Princeton and Yale.* The department’s faculty has been honored with four MacArthur Foundation “Genius” awards, more than a dozenGuggenheim Fellowships, and a Mellon Foundation Distinguished Achievement Award. The quality of our research hasbeen recognized with myriad book prizes and our dedication to teaching and mentoring has also been honored withawards.* In addition to the main library and the Bancroft (our rare book and manuscript library), there are 11 specialized librarieson campus with more than two dozen special collections and over 10 million volumes. These resources are enhancedby borrowing privileges at Stanford’s libraries and by access to the holdings of the nine other University of Californiacampuses. The Bancroft holds over 60 million manuscript items and has particular strengths in the history of westernNorth America (including California, Mexico, and Central America), the history of science and technology, major Europeanand American authors (especially the Beat Generation), and the largest collection of papyrus documents in the westernhemisphere (the Center for the Tebtunis Papyri).* More than 60 ancient and modern languages are taught on the Berkeley campus, placing us among the top fiveuniversities in the country in terms of the breadth of our language offerings. If there is a language you need for yourresearch, you can learn it here.* While pursuing a doctorate in history, you can also earn a concurrent PhD in Medieval Studies or a designated emphasisin areas such as Communication, Computation, and Statistics; Critical Theory; Dutch Studies; Film Studies; Folklore;Global Metropolitan Studies; New Media; Renaissance and Early Modern Studies; and Women, Gender, and Sexuality.* In 2012 and 2013, recent graduates of the program have received tenure-track jobs at schools including AmericanUniversity of Paris, Baruch College, Boston College, Brown University, College of Staten Island, Illinois State University,Mount Holyoke, New York University, Southern Illinois University, University of Colorado, University of Colorado - Denver,University of Connecticut, University of Kansas, University of Massachusetts, University of Michigan, University of SanFrancisco, Wellesley College, Western Washington University, University of Wisconsin - Superior, and, of course, righthere at the University of California. A number of others have received prestigious postdoctoral fellowships such as theAndrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Humanities.Applying (in brief)The Berkeley History program admits only the strongest applicants who intend to devote full-time study towardsattaining the doctoral degree (PhD) in history. We do not offer a stand-alone or terminal master’s degree, but studentswho enter the program without an MA in history may receive an MA en route to the PhD (more information about this isprovided below). The department does not grant deferrals to those offered admission, so individuals should apply onlyfor the academic year of intended enrollment.— 4 —
Although most admitted students have an undergraduate major or a master’s in history or its equivalent, we acceptapplications from able students who have majored in other disciplines but who have acquired the historical backgroundand other skills (e.g., languages) necessary to be competitive within the applicant pool. A master’s degree is not requiredfor admission.On the graduate application, all applicants should indicate their degree goal is the PhD and also indicate their firstfield of emphasis from among the “established fields of history.” Unlike some programs, our department does notrequire that entering students be “sponsored by” a single faculty member under whose guidance they will proceed inthe program. Rather, upon entry, a student is encouraged to explore connections and collaborations with a number offaculty inside and outside their field of concentration before settling on the composition of their orals and dissertationcommittees. So that we may anticipate these possible collaborations, we ask applicants to list on the application thosefaculty members whose research is of particular interest.To access complete information about how to apply to the Berkeley History Department, please see our Admissionswebsite at history.berkeley.edu/graduate/admissions/index.html.Waiving creditsA student who has completed graduate coursework at another institution may petition to have typically no more thantwo courses used in lieu of our PhD course requirements. Syllabi, papers, examinations, and other clear evidence thatthere is course equivalency should accompany the petition, which must be approved by the Head Graduate Advisor.Courses from another university, if accepted, will be accepted internally and will not be transferred to the Berkeleytranscript. Credits used towards fulfillment of the MA degree must be Berkeley courses, with the exception of languagecourses.A special note to change-of-major applicantsIf you are or ever were a Berkeley graduate student, you are a change-of-major applicant. First, you should contact thedepartment to identify yourself. Second, rather than submit an online application through UC Berkeley’s Jazzee system,you will need to submit a paper “Graduate Petition for Change of Major or Degree Goal.” Third, you should be aware thatthe Graduate Division starts the normative time clock for all graduate students upon their matriculation at the University.So, for example, if you have spent two years in another program, your first year in the history doctoral program wouldbe considered your third year by the University for the purposes of determining your time to advancement to candidacyfor the PhD and your eligibility for the Dean’s Normative Time Fellowship (DNTF; for those who entered prior to 2010)or for the Doctoral Completion Fellowship (DCF; for those who entered in 2010 and after). If you wish to have yournormative time clock reassessed (rolled back one or more semesters), you should petition the Graduate Dean soon afterentry into our program so that you will know how much time you have to advance to doctoral candidacy to qualify forthe DNTF/DCF. (Please refer to the section on Financial Support to see the potential impact on funding packages forchange-of-majors.)A special note to new (entering) students: EmpowerUThe University of California now requires a violence prevention education session, entitled EmpowerU, for all incomingstudents. You have until the end of your first semester to complete this. To fulfill the requirement, sign up for a sessionat geneq.berkeley.edu/empoweru.PhD progress requirements at a glanceTypically two graduate courses per semester, taken for a letter grade; progress toward fulfillment of at least one foreignlanguage requirement by the end of the first year; completion by the first year and in the first field of any combination ofgraduate courses number 275 and 280 and if possible one 285; minimum overall GPA 3.0 and history graduate course GPA3.5; yearly evaluation; passing of the third semester examination; fulfillment of all course requirements (at least 34 units)and language requirements before taking the doctoral qualifying examination; passage of the PhD qualifying examination,taken no later than the end of the spring semester of the third year for students in a six-year field and by the end ofthe spring semester of the fourth year for students in a seven-year field; advancement to doctoral candidacy (includingapproval of a dissertation committee and written dissertation prospectus); enrollment in Directed Dissertation Research296; after advancing, submission of annual progress reports by doctoral candidates; submission of the dissertation bythe end of the sixth or seventh year (depending on field).— 5 —
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Page 25 and 26: Appendix II: Language Requirements
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Page 31 and 32: Sargent, Daniel (Harvard, 2008): As
Page 33 and 34: Appendix V: Interdisciplinary Studi

Program Guide in PDF Format - Department of History, UC Berkeley

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