PhD Program by Year

Year 1

  • Regular PhD program (admitted with an MA degree):
  • Direct-entry PhD students:
    • Complete five half-year courses.
  • All PhD students:
    • Beginning of year: Meet with your supervisor to determine the fields you will study.
    • Take field seminars.
    • Begin working on fulfilling your language requirements.
    • By April: Your fields and comp committees should be set. Meet with your committee to agree on a plan of study.

Year 2

  • Direct-entry PhD students:
    • Complete four additional half-year courses.
  • All PhD students:
    • Continue working on fulfilling your language requirements.
    • Meet regularly with your field supervisors and dissertation supervisor.
    • April (normally): Write comprehensive exams. (They are also held in October and January.)
    • Six weeks after your comprehensive exams: Draft of your thesis proposal is due to your dissertation committee.

Year 3

  • September (normally):
    • ​Dissertation committee meets to approve the final version of your dissertation proposal.
  • By end of year:
    • Prepare a report on your research in progress for your dissertation supervisor, preferably at the end of the third PhD year and no later than the fourth PhD year.
  • Conduct research. (See: Safety Abroad policies and Research Ethics.)

Year 4

  • September (normally):
    • ​Dissertation committee meets to review your progress.
  • September 30:
    • Dissertation committee’s progress report due to graduate office. 

Year 5

  • September (normally):
    • ​Dissertation committee meets to review your progress.
  • September 30:
    • Dissertation committee’s progress report due to graduate office. 

Year 6 and Beyond 

  • September (normally):
    • ​Dissertation committee meets to review your progress.
  • September 30:
    • Dissertation committee’s progress report due to graduate office. 
  • Regular PhD program (admitted with an MA degree):
    • ​After six years, you will have to apply for an extension from our department.
  • Direct-entry PhD students:
    • ​After seven years, you will have to apply for an extension from our department.
  • Apply for doctoral completion funding

Before Your Thesis Defence

  • Eight (8) weeks before examination date:
    • Submit a final, unbound copy of your thesis to each member of your committee
    • Submit an abstract (max. 350 words) to the graduate office

After Your Successful Thesis Defence

  • Submit:
    • One digital copy of your thesis to the School of Graduate Studies
    • One bound copy (navy blue cover) to the Department of History’s graduate office, with your name and the year of the oral exam on the spine. (See: the School of Graduate Studies’ guide to producing your thesis.)
    • An abstract of your thesis (maximum 350 words) to the Department of History’s graduate office. The abstract will be printed in Dissertation Abstracts.