Defense of the dissertation

Once admitted to candidacy, students have one final requirement to meet ‑‑ the research, writing, and final oral defense of a dissertation. During this period students should register for dissertation credit (History 994) for at least six hours; in other words, students must be registered for the final three hours at the time of the dissertation defense. Five faculty members (preferably all present at the defense of the prospectus) compose the committee for the oral defense of the dissertation. An application for the final oral exam should be submitted to the Graduate Secratary three weeks prior to the defense.  The student should reserve a room for the defense with the Graduate Secretary when a time and date is agreed upon.  Copies of the dissertation should be submitted to the committee members at least three weeks prior to the defense.  The student is responsible for completing the Application for Graduation by the required deadline.  This form and deadline can be found on the Graduate School's webpage. During this interval, the student's advisor will consult with examining faculty to determine whether it is appropriate to proceed with the defense. If circumstances warrant, the defense of the Ph.D. dissertation may include the participation via telephone of one faculty member. In such instances, the communication should continue through the length of the defense (that is, the long‑distance examiner should not phone in, ask some questions, and hang up, but should instead participate for the entire length of the defense). Because of expense, such telephonic communication may not include international calls, and because of technological hurdles, other modes of communication ‑‑ especially via computer ‑‑ are not yet feasible alternatives.

A dissertation, by University definition, is expected to be "of such scope, independence, and skillful presentation as to indicate that the candidate has acquired a command of the subject, has the demonstrated ability to contribute fresh knowledge or a fresh outlook to the subject, and has mastered the research methodology of the discipline." The format for the manuscript is specified in the Graduate School's "Guide to the Preparation of Theses and Dissertations."  A bound copy of your dissertation should be submitted to the department upon completion of your degree.  Guidelines can be found here.

In most cases, students should expect to complete an 18-month interim meeting with their Dissertation Committee.