Discipline Coordinator

Carla Klausner, (816) 235-2540, klausnerc@umkc.edu

Discipline-Specific Admission Requirements

Applicants who choose History as their coordinating discipline, or applicants whose coursework in History will comprise at least 50 percent of the Ph.D. plan of study, must meet the criteria for admission specified by the School of Graduate Studies. In addition, they must:

1. Possess a master's degree in History or its equivalent.
2. Have earned a GPA of 3.5 in graduate courses.

1. A sample of written work.
2. A brief statement of academic and professional goals.
3. A 1,000-word essay that specifies a dissertation topic, demonstrates its interdisciplinary nature and shows how historical methods and approaches would be utilized.
4. A signed mentorship form.
   Coordinating discipline students must have a statement of support from at least two members of the department willing to serve on the student's supervisory committee.
   Co-discipline students must have a statement of support from at least one member of the department willing to serve on the supervisory committee

The doctoral faculty of the Department of History, in consultation with the History faculty as a whole, makes recommendations to the dean of the School of Graduate Studies on each application for admission. These recommendations reflect the majority vote of the doctoral faculty.

Applicants are advised that meeting the criteria of the School of Graduate Studies and the Department of History does not automatically result in admission to the Interdisciplinary Ph.D. program. When making recommendations to the School of Graduate Studies, the History faculty considers other factors as well, particularly the availability of faculty qualified to work in the applicant's area of interest and the availability of library resources and research materials.

Alternate Admission Criteria

The Plan of Study

A student whose coordinating discipline is History will be required to list at least 18 hours of graduate-level history courses (exclusive of dissertation credits) on the plan of study. These will include: 3 hours of HISTORY 5581GR (How To History I) if this course or its equivalent has not been taken before; 3 hours of HISTORY 5582GR (How To History II); 3 graduate colloquia; and at least one graduate-level research seminar.  The remainder of the program must be in courses numbered 5550 or above.

Students for whom history is a co-discipline will be required to take, at the minimum, the five core courses of the department's M.A. program: HISTORY 5581GR (How To History I); HISTORY 5582GR (How To History II); HISTORY 5587R (Research Seminar); and two graduate colloquia. In exceptional or unusual circumstances, some of these hours may be waived upon petition to the student's supervisory committee.

Any student who switches disciplines in the course of his or her graduate career, either adding history as the coordinating or co-discipline, or changing history from the co-discipline to the coordinating discipline, must fulfill all of the requisite doctoral requirements in history for that level (e.g., number of course hours, distribution requirements, exams).

Comprehensive Examination

The School of Graduate Studies guidelines for the comprehensive examination can be found here.

The History Department requires that the comprehensive examination of a student listing History as a discipline include both a written an an oral component. The History members of the supervisory Committee will determine the structure and duration of the History component of the comprehensive exam.

For students with History as the coordinating discipline, there is a list of doctoral fields appended below. The written comprehensives will consist of three examinations, the first from a Chronological/National field; the second from a Topical/Interdisciplinary field; and the third from either the Chronological/National or Topical/Interdisciplinary list of fields.

For co-discipline students, the written comprehensives will consist of questions drawn from one of the Chronological/National fields, and questions from one of the Topical/Interdisciplinary fields appended below.

For both coordinating and co-discipline students, it is assumed that each examination will include an historiographical component.

Written comprehensives will be administered in the first two weeks of November and the first two weeks of march, unless the supervisory committee has allowed an exception.

In the oral examination conducted by the supervisory committee, both coordinating and co-discipline students will be expected to answer questions of an interdisciplinary nature.

A student with History as either a coordinating or co-discipline is considered to have passed the comprehensive examiantion if th eHitory member/s of the examining committee vote that the candidate passes, and if no more than 20 percent of the examining committee vote to fail the student. if failure is reported, the examining committee will either recommend termination as a Ph.D. student or suggest additioanl work or other remedial measures. Furthermore, a student who has failed may not take a second examination for at least 12 weeks. Failure of a second comprehensive examination shall automatically preclude candidacy at this institution.

Dissertation Requirements

A student for whom History is a discipline must meet the requirements of the History Department for the discipline, as well as those of the School of Graduate Studies. On a Ph.D. plan of study, where history is the coordinating discipline, there must be a minimum of 12 credits in HISTORY 5699R (dissertation hours).

The final examination in defense of the dissertation is open to all members of the doctoral faculty, who may attend as interested observers. The supervisory committee and its chair will determine th format and procedures of the defense. The date, time and location must be announced and published at least two weeks before each final examination takes place.

For a student with History as a discipline, this examination may be conducted only after the dissertation has been approved by the History member/s of the supervisory committee, and may not be administered when UMKC is not officially in session.

the defense of the dissertation is approved when a majority of the supervisory committee, including the History member/s of the committee, recommends approval and signs the Report of Result of Final Doctoral Examination form. Within 48 hours of the defense, the supervisory committee chair will report the results of the final edissertation examination in writing to the candidate.

Language Requirements

Those students for whom history comprises less than 50 percent of the plan of study and whose dissertation will not utilize sources in a foreign language will ordinarily not be required to demonstrate language competency. It is strongly urged, however, that all Ph.D. students choosing history as a primary discipline will pursue the development of foreign language skills or equivalent (quantitative) research skills.

Retention in the Doctoral Program

A student who falls below a 3.0 grade-point average, or whose work is deemed unsatisfactory at any stage of doctoral work by the history member/s of the supervisory committee, with the concurrence of a majority of the resident doctoral faculty of the department, may be declared ineligible for further study.

History Department Policies Regarding Doctoral Faculty

Ordinarily, emeritus professors of doctoral faculty status in History shall be allowed to serve on doctoral committees for no more than five years after retirement. Such service shall only be on committees that the required faculty member was already on at the time of retirement. Emeritus faculty members can have their doctoral status extended beyond five years only if at least two-thirds of the members of the History doctoral faculty vote to approve this.

Emeritus professors in History cannot chair dissertation committees. They can, however, co-chair with the approval of a majority of the regular resident doctoral faculty.

The history department adheres to the guidelines of the American Historical Association with regard to student ethics and the responsible conduct of research. The AHA Statement on Standards of Professional Conduct can be found at http://www.historians.org/pubs/Free/ProfessionalStandards.cfm.

Doctoral Fields