Academic Year:
History
Telephone: (302) 831-8226
http://www.udel.edu/History/
Faculty Listing: http://www.udel.edu/History/faculty.html
Program Overview
The Department of History offers MA and PhD programs in American history, European history, and the history of industrialization. In conjunction with these, it provides an opportunity for students to earn a certificate in Museum Studies or to earn a Masters degree in history education. The Department offers more limited graduate study in Ancient, African, Asian, Latin American, and Middle Eastern history.
Graduates from its programs hold professional positions in government, schools, museums, and historical agencies, in addition to academic positions in colleges and universities.
The University Of Delaware - Hagley Program
This program offers a core curriculum focused on the history of industrialization, with an emphasis on social, cultural, and comparative perspectives. Prospective students with interests in the history of technology, consumption, business and work may apply for fellowships for MA and PhD work. Students may also earn a certificate from the University's Museum Studies Program.
History Of American Civilization
The Department of History in cooperation with the Winterthur Museum and numerous departments across the campus, sponsors a PhD program in the History of American Civilization. Based on the multidisciplinary study of American social and cultural history, the Program is distinguished by its emphasis on American material culture.
Museum Studies
An MA or PhD candidate from any of the History graduate programs may qualify for a certificate in Museum Studies upon satisfactory completion of the required twelve credits in the Museum Studies Program. The University of Delaware is a recognized leader in education for museum careers; its graduates now staff scores of museums and historical/archival agencies across the country.
Access To Special Resources
Students who do not seek admission to the Hagley or American Civilization programs may still take the courses that these programs feature. All history programs are enriched by the University's affiliation with the Hagley and Winterthur museums and by the proximity of museums and archival collections nearby in the mid-Atlantic region.
Courses in historical editing, archaeology, archival management, and visual approaches to history are offered on a regular basis.
Requirements For Admission
Programs at both the MA and PhD levels are offered. Master's Degree applicants should have a combined verbal and quantitative GRE score of at least 1050, an overall undergraduate average of 3.0, an undergraduate history average of 3.0, and must submit 3 letters of recommendation and a history seminar paper or its equivalent. PhD track applicants should have a combined GRE score of 1250, an overall undergraduate/graduate average of 3.0, an undergraduate/graduate history average of 3.5, and must submit 3 letters of recommendation and a history seminar paper or its equivalent. Applicants should note that the admissions committee will evaluate this writing sample closely and it should represent the applicant's preparedness to do rigorous graduate work. Admission is selective and competitive based on the number of well-qualified applicants and the limits of available faculty and facilities. Those who meet stated academic requirements are not guaranteed admission nor are those who fail to meet those requirements necessarily precluded from admission, if they offer other appropriate strengths. The History Department normally admits students to all History programs for the fall semester only. The deadline for application is January 15, but early application is strongly encouraged. Students considering graduate work in history should consult "Guidelines to Graduate Programs in History" at www.udel.edu/History.
Financial Aid
Teaching Assistantships, Stewart Fellowships, tuition scholarships, and University Fellowships are available to graduate students at the MA and PhD levels. Please refer to Graduate Fellowships and Assistantships for additional information.
Requirements For The Degrees
Candidates for the MA degree are required to complete 30 hours of course work, of which 21 hours must be in history. The history credits must include one of the department's five basic historiography courses, 4 reading seminars, 2 research and writing seminars or 1 research and writing seminar and a 6-credit MA thesis.
The PhD degree recognizes the candidate's command of specific fields of history as well as the ability to conceive and execute a PhD dissertation. The following specific requirements must be met: completion of 30 credits of graduate work of which at least 24 must be in history; the history credits must include 2 of the Department's 5 basic historiography courses, 4 reading seminars, and 2 research and writing seminars; demonstration of reading competence in a foreign language (faculties in certain specialties require additional language or skill requirements); passage of written field exams; a defense of the dissertation prospectus within six months of passing exams, and a presentation of a dissertation-based research paper to a departmental assembly of faculty and graduate students within a year of passing exams. After the preceding requirements have been met, the candidate must finish a dissertation and defend it in an oral exam.
Although every effort has been made to assure the accuracy of the information in the Catalog,
students and others who use the Catalog should note that the policies, rules, regulations,
requirements for graduation, course offerings, and other materials reproduced in the Catalog change
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