Ancient History Comprehensive Exams

The Graduate Regulations of the History Department govern how all students take the comprehensive examinations and defend the dissertation prospectus. Students should consult those regulations, as well as the day-of-exam rules outlined on the form which they must submit in advance of the examination. As an addition to those general departmental rules, this document outlines the specific regulations of the Ancient History field.

The two papers comprising the Comprehensive examination in Ancient History (one for Greek, one for Roman) are to be taken on different days, with at least one day intervening, although a wider interval can be agreed. However, you must complete the entire written examination within a single semester, and you must take the papers (in either order) according to a schedule approved no later than two weeks after the beginning of that semester by both your advisor and the field convener. As part of constructing this schedule, you must secure the acquiescence of each participating faculty member to the time you would like to set for her/his paper. Aside from these stipulations, you may self-schedule the papers. Please note that some faculty may be helping multiple students prepare for examinations and that, in such cases, you will be asked to schedule your examination to synchronize with the examinations of others.

The scope of the examination is determined by the content of two reading lists (one Greek, one Roman) which you will receive as soon as practicable after completion of your MA, from your dissertation director, and from up to two other faculty members responsible for overseeing some part of your preparation.

You will be consulted about the choice of works for each list. Each will comprise some fifty or so substantial historical works (or equivalent) identified as critical to an advanced understanding of the field. A faculty member who furnishes a student with an entire list will expect to hold approximately ten meetings with him/her at reasonably spaced intervals during the relevant two-semester period to discuss issues arising from the works selected. A faculty member who furnishes a student with less than an entire list will expect to hold the correspondingly appropriate number of meetings likewise.

Each of the two papers shall not exceed five hours in length, and shall not be taken with the use of books or other notes.

The faculty members responsible for assessing each paper will assign it a graduate grade. A student who receives a grade of F on one paper or grades of L on both papers will be declared to have failed the entire examination and will have to retake it. If a student receives a grade of L on one paper and a grade of H or P on the other paper, he/she will be questioned about the area of shortcomings on the occasion of the oral defense of the dissertation prospectus. A student to be questioned in this way will be given at least four day' notice, as well as an indication of the area(s) of concern. After oral questioning, the faculty members will determine whether to assign a grade of pass or fail for the paper (and hence, for the exam as a whole).