Program Overview
The Graduate History program at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill is committed to training professional historians to be both scholars and teachers. Our program allows ample choice to students in designing academic programs to fit particular interests and needs while providing students with rigorous training in U.S. History, Ancient History, European History, Latin American History, Global History, Russian and East European History, Women’s and Gender History, and Military History.
Degree requirements and departmental culture encourage comparative and interdisciplinary study. The program promotes close mentoring relationships with faculty and sustains a lively intellectual community among the graduate students. In the course of graduate study, our students also receive valuable teaching experience.
Special Programs/Resources: The resources for historical study at Chapel Hill include excellent libraries at UNC-CH and in the larger Research Triangle community. The department also has close cooperative relationships with neighboring universities including Duke and North Carolina State. Students at UNC can seamlessly enroll in classes at these neighboring schools and faculty members from these schools take an active part in the graduate history program and regularly serve on student advisory committees at Chapel Hill.
The graduate program in History at Chapel Hill promotes excellence in teaching. Because demonstrated teaching ability is an increasingly important prerequisite for most college and university teaching positions, the department provides constructive instruction in teaching.
In addition to orientation programs for teaching assistants, the department has a faculty-student Committee on Teaching that hosts programs on creative pedagogy throughout the academic year. A for-credit course, which addresses syllabus planning, assignment planning, and teaching methods, is also regularly offered.
To prepare our graduates for the competitive job market, each year our faculty placement officer organizes regular workshops for graduate students planning to enter the job market covering topics such as writing job application letters, curriculum vitae and resumes, and soliciting letters of recommendation. Mock interviews are conducted for job seekers and mock job talks are staged. The placement officer typically attends the annual meeting of the American Historical Association to provide additional support for any students who have job interviews at the convention.
Financial Aid: The History Department at Chapel Hill
is committed to offering financial aid to as many as possible of the
graduate students in our program.
Virtually all entering History Ph.D. students are recipients of five years of financial support. These packages include tuition, health insurance, and an annual stipend (to be $14,700 for 2009-2010 academic year). The department also supplements this financial support with three years of summer research funding. Exceptional applicants may be nominated for some of the one year and multi year competitive and prestigious fellowships awarded by the Graduate School at Chapel Hill.
These fellowships either supplement the base stipend or provide full stipend support at a higher level than the base stipends. The department admissions committee nominates accepted students for these fellowships based on their qualifications.
Both the department and the Graduate School offer support for graduate student travel to scholarly conferences to present papers. Students also receive a small research fund (currently $1500) upon passing their comprehensive exams. Additional funds have been allocated for graduate students to acquire specialized skills (language skills, paleography training, etc.). In addition, the Graduate School offers funds on a competitive basis for pre-dissertation and dissertation research. Competitive fellowships for students completing their dissertations are awarded by both the Graduate School and the History Department.
Requirements for Degree: Candidates for the Ph.D.
degree typically complete 30 credit hours during their first two years
in the program, and an additional 15 credit hours by the time they
defend their dissertations. The MA degree is typically earned by the
end of the fourth semester, by the end of three semesters under the new curriculum, and comprehensive exams are completed by the
end of the sixth semester of study. In addition, Ph.D. candidates must
also satisfy language and technical competency requirements appropriate
to their particular fields of study by their sixth semester. Successful
completion of these requirements and the comprehensive exams allows
candidates to pursue dissertation research and writing, normally a
three year process. Click here for new curriculum.
FAQ
1) How many applications to the PhD program did you receive for the
fall 2009 term? 407
2) How many students matriculated into the PhD program in fall 2009?
21
3) How many students are currently enrolled in the PhD program (since
the Directory only lists the number of graduate students
enrolled)? 109
4) What proportion of the PhD students counted above received some type
of financial aid from the university? 84%
5) What proportion of the PhD students counted above will serve as TA's
in the current academic year? 81%
6) What proportion of the students matriculated into the PhD program in
fall 1996 have:
- completed a PhD? 74%
- are still working toward the PhD? 1%
- are no longer working toward the PhD? 25%
7) What proportion of the students matriculated into the PhD program in
fall 2001 have:
- completed a PhD? 65%
- are still working toward the PhD? 20%
- are no longer working toward the PhD? 15%