History, Ph.D.

Program Requirements

• Students must demonstrate a reading competency in at least one language other than English, as determined by the student's major professor and advisory committee. Competency may be demonstrated through successful completion of undergraduate language courses or reading examinations or by other methods as approved by the graduate liaison. 

Course List

Code	Title	Credit Hours
30 credit hours of elective credits and/or Master's credit hours from an accredited university (26-36 credit hours may be accepted with the approval of the Graduate Studies Committee)		30
HIST 5001	Navigating The History Profession	1
Three courses (9 hours) in Specialized Field 1		9
Three courses (9 hours) in Comparative Field 1		9
Three courses (9 hours) in General Area Field 1		9
HIST 6050	Research Problems	3
HIST 6980	Research for Doctoral Dissertation 2	29
Total Credit Hours		90

¹

Six of the nine required Field courses (18 of the 27 hours) must be seminars from this list: HIST 6200, HIST 6300, HIST 6400, HIST 6700, HIST 6800. Of these 6 required seminar courses, a minimum of three courses (at least one in each of the three fields) must be taken during the doctoral program. Others may be transferred from a completed OU MA degree. This transfer applies only to the PhD seminar requirement, and does not change the total number of credit hours required for the PhD. A maximum of 9 hours of graduate coursework can be substituted for the seminar requirement with the approval of the Graduate Studies Committee. 

²

Between 23-33 Dissertation hours may be accepted with the approval of the Graduate Studies Committee.

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General Requirements for Doctoral Degrees

A student should expect to spend at least the equivalent of three full academic years beyond the bachelor’s degree to obtain the doctoral degree. During this period the student will take appropriate graduate coursework, successfully complete the general examination, and successfully defend and submit the final dissertation.

All coursework applied to the doctoral degree must carry graduate credit.

The doctoral degree requires at least 90 post-baccalaureate hours, including both formal coursework and hours of research.

The minimum hour requirement for a specific doctoral degree program cannot be waived.

No more than one-half of the credit hours, both OU and overall, excluding Research for Doctoral Dissertation (6980), may be S/U-graded coursework.

The student must be in residence at OU for at least two consecutive 16-week semesters during the pursuit of the doctoral degree while enrolled and engaged in coursework or research activities as prescribed by the major academic unit.

For more detailed regulations and requirements for Doctoral degrees, please consult the Graduate College Bulletin: http://www.ou.edu/gradcollege/forms/bulletin