Second Field
The second field requirement is a two‑course requirement designed to broaden the scope of graduate training. Students should consult with advisors on how coursework in the second field can further professional goals either by adding another dimension to an area of specialization or serving as a second teaching field.
The broadening envisioned by this requirement can be construed:
- geographically (e.g., Latin American history for a student in U.S. history)
- chronologically (e.g., Medieval European history for a student in Modern European history),
- thematically (e.g., African‑American history, intellectual history, international history, labor history, military history, religious history, social history, or women's history), or
- in disciplinary terms (e.g., anthropology or sociology).
The second field must add breadth. A geographical or chronological specialization lying within the student's major field (e.g., the U.S. South or twentieth‑century U.S. for a student in U.S. history) does not constitute an acceptable second field. Nor, with the exception of African‑American history and Native American history, should a thematically defined second field be solely a sub‑field of the student's major field (e.g., Latin American intellectual history for a student in Latin American history). With the exception of African‑American history and Native American history, at least one of the courses offered for the thematic field should go well beyond the student's major field of study (e.g., a student in U.S. history whose second field is women's history should take at least one course in women's history which either is outside the U.S. field or is comparative in scope).
Please note that the second field must be distinct from the areas covered on a student's comprehensive examinations ‑‑ that is, the second field must not be identical to an examination topic, nor a subset of it, nor even largely inclusive of it. So, for example, a student in U.S. History whose second field is intellectual history must not choose "intellectual history" as the thematic specialty for the comprehensive examinations in U.S. History. Students with questions about the acceptability of a proposed second field should consult the DGS at the earliest possible date.
Courses taken to fulfill the requirements for the M.A. degree may be used for the second field, although such courses (whether completed in this or another graduate program) cannot be applied toward the fifteen credit hours required at the doctoral level. Courses used to fulfill the second field requirement may not be used to fulfill the second language substitution (discussed below).
Students must have their proposed field and course selection approved by their advisor in advance, and a memo indicating the advisor's endorsement should be sent to the DGS and placed in the student's file.