History Graduate Program Regulations
HISTORY GRADUATE PROGRAM REGULATIONS
(Revised April 2024)
ADMISSIONS
A complete application for admission to the graduate program in History consists of the application form itself, transcripts of all previous academic work, and three letters of recommendation, preferably from faculty members or others who can judge an applicant’s potential for advanced study. JANUARY 15 is the deadline for applicants seeking to begin study in the fall semester; OCTOBER 15 is the deadline for spring semester admissions. The department’s Graduate Committee makes all decisions regarding admissions. A master’s applicant normally will have achieved a “B” average (3.0 grade-point average) or better as an undergraduate, with a major or at least a substantial concentration in history. For admission to the doctoral program, applicants should complete the MA degree in history or a related field, document a record of solid accomplishment at the master’s level, and offer the promise of superior achievement at the doctoral level. In determining admission to the graduate program, the Graduate Committee weighs an applicant’s grade-point average, letters of recommendation, writing sample (mandatory for PhD applicants), interest in a field of history for which there is supporting graduate faculty, and degree of previous exposure to history.
In certain cases, the Graduate Committee may recommend conditional or provisional admission. Conditional admission is appropriate for applicants who show evidence of promise despite previous academic performance below what is normally expected for regular admission. Conditional status normally is removed after completion of the first nine credit hours of course work with a grade of B or better. Provisional admission normally applies to those applicants who show promise but are lacking a key component of their application, such as a late letter of reference. Once the missing component is received and deemed acceptable, the provision is removed. Provisional admission also is appropriate for those who have had little or no formal preparation in history but nevertheless show promise of success in the program. In such a case, provisional status would be removed after the completion of a series of courses specified at the time of admission designed to compensate for the lack of previous exposure to history.
In selecting students for the graduate program in History, the Graduate Committee gives special consideration to students coming from non-traditional academic backgrounds, including those for whom English is not their native language. Such students will be judged by their interest in scholarship and their potential for graduate work.
ADVISORY COMMITTEES
The Graduate Coordinator will assist students accepted into the graduate program in identifying their advisor as soon as possible. Doctoral students are encouraged to do so before they begin their coursework.
Master’s committees will have three faculty members, at least two of whom are History faculty, including the advisor. The MA Advisory Committee members serve as the examiners of a non-thesis student’s oral exam at the conclusion of their studies, or as the examiners at a thesis student’s thesis defense.
Doctoral committees will have five members. Three faculty, at least two from History, including the advisor, will constitute the core committee, which will conduct the student’s comprehensive exams. The other two faculty may be identified after comps. They may be faculty in any relevant department or program at UMaine, within the University of Maine System, or from another institution. This revision is intended to lessen the burden on the declining number of History faculty and to bring comps in line with the more common demands at other institutions.
The Graduate Coordinator should be kept apprised of any changes to the Advisory Committee. Advisors must also report to the Graduate Coordinator any administrative actions concerning graduate students they advise.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
General Requirements
A minimum of 30 credit hours are required for each of the graduate degrees in History. For students doing an MA thesis or doctoral dissertation, up to 6 of those required credits may be thesis credits (HTY 699) taken with their advisor. Because of the benefits of peer-learning in graduate seminars, students should prioritize taking the regular graduate History seminars offered each semester. As part of their program of study, a student may take up to 12 credits of courses from the following list, with no more than 6 credits in any one of these categories:
- 400-level History course(s) modified to be the equivalent of a graduate course (see below)
- HTY 550
- HTY 597
- Graduate-level course(s) outside of History, if approved by the student’s advisor in consultation with the Advisory Committee
Any graduate student may take a 400-level course for graduate credit if the course instructor is willing. If approved, the student and instructor agree upon additional readings and other work to bring the course to graduate level.
HTY 550 is an independent course arranged between an individual student and professor, in consultation with the student’s advisor. HTY 550s are intended to enable a student to study a specific field relevant to their research, or to study a topic that will not be taught by the professor in question during the student’s program of study. The course usually carries 3 credit hours, but lesser credits are allowed for lighter work. The reading list and written work or project for a 550 are agreed upon by the student and the course supervisor prior to the beginning of the semester.
HTY 597 is an internship taken for academic credit, usually at an historical institution such as a museum, archive, or state or national historical site. It usually carries 3 credit hours. One HTY 597 is required as part of the 4+1 Master’s program. A student wishing to arrange an internship is responsible for planning it with the sponsoring institution, in consultation with their advisor, including the form of written or other assessment.
A basic syllabus for an HTY 550 or a graduate-adjusted 400-level course should be added to the student’s file, as should a plan for an internship as HTY 597.
Doctoral Degree
A PhD in History requires a minimum of 24 credit hours of graduate-level coursework, plus up to 6 credit hours of thesis credits, to satisfy the 30-credit requirement. One course must be on a topic or region outside the student’s area of focus. Once a student has completed 30 credits and passed their prospectus defense, they need take no more than one (1) thesis credit per semester to be considered a full-time student.
The History Department requires completion of a Master’s degree or its equivalent, preferably in History, before a student begins the PhD program. Applicants accepted for the PhD who have a Master’s degree or its equivalent in a different field should consult with their advisor before enrolling for classes, to determine how many, and which, courses they should take to gain the requisite background for their intended dissertation research. No more than 9 additional credit hours will be required, if any. Only courses taken at the graduate level may count toward a doctoral student’s required degree credit hours.
A currently enrolled MA student in History at the University of Maine who wishes to continue in the PhD program must re-apply through the Graduate School, but they will be exempt from the usual application fee. Such students are encouraged to request letters of recommendation from faculty with whom they have studied at UMaine.
MA Thesis Option
Students doing an MA thesis must complete at least 24 credit hours at the graduate level, with the balance of their credit hours taken as HTY 699 thesis credits with their advisor. Students must take at least one graduate-level History course that covers a geographical region or topic outside their field of research.
The thesis should demonstrate the student’s ability to do independent research, organize and analyze historical data, and write thoughtful and polished historical prose. It should incorporate information derived from primary sources and illuminate a well-defined historical problem chosen in consultation with the student’s advisor. The thesis should be more substantial than a term paper but considerably less than a doctoral dissertation; 40-80 pages will be an appropriate length in most cases. Normally, an MA thesis should be completed by the end of the second year or the beginning of the third year of full-time graduate study. The thesis must conform to the Graduate School’s regulations regarding form and style.
MA Non-Thesis Option
Students following this option must complete 30 credit hours of coursework at the graduate level. Students may take a mix of courses or concentrate the majority in a particular geographical or topical area of interest. If they specialize, they must take at least one graduate-level History course that covers a geographical region or topic outside their chosen concentration.
4+1 MA
Undergraduate History majors at the University of Maine who meet the requirements for the 4+1 MA program are eligible to apply in their junior year. In exceptional circumstances, a student may be allowed to apply in their seventh semester. A full explanation of the specific course requirements and structure of the 4+1 program are available here. In their second, full-time graduate year, 4+1 students take only graduate courses. Because of the accelerated nature of this program, 4+1 students may not do an MA thesis, and only exceptional students will be considered for a TAship or other graduate assistantship.
RESIDENCE REQUIREMENTS
MA students will normally spend at least one year in residence. A minimum of 12 credit hours taken as a full-time student will establish residency and can be achieved in the following manners: by the completion of 12 credit hours in one semester or in one summer, or by the completion of a minimum of 6 credit hours in each of two semesters or 6 credit hours in each of two summer sessions.
PhD students must be in residence for at least two consecutive academic years. Students entering the doctoral program with an MA from another university must register for at least one academic year of study at the University of Maine. Under special circumstances it may be possible for candidates to take course work on other University of Maine System campuses participating in cooperative programs with the University of Maine.
PROGRAM OF STUDY (all students) and ADMISSION TO CANDIDACY (PhDs)
Preferably no later than the end of the second semester of full-time enrollment (or the completion of 12 credit hours), each graduate student, in consultation with their advisor, must work out a Program of Study (POS) and select the remaining members of the Advisory Committee. The completed POS form must be signed by the advisor and the Graduate Coordinator. The Graduate Coordinator sends the signed POS form to the Graduate School, with a copy to the Department’s Administrative Assistant for the student’s file.
A Change in Program of Study form should be filed with the Graduate School whenever a student wishes to alter an approved program of study. This could include a change in the student’s Advisory Committee, the completion of additional courses, or recording the number of thesis credits taken after the completion of coursework requirements.
A student will apply for admission to candidacy for the PhD degree after completing their comprehensive examination, meeting all other program requirements (such as demonstrating proficiency in a second language or other specialized training), and passing the defense of their dissertation prospectus. Admission to candidacy means that a student has become a dissertator. The application for candidacy, signed by the student’s advisor and the Graduate Coordinator, normally should be submitted to the Graduate School within one month after approval of the dissertation prospectus.
Note that any project utilizing oral histories or any other research involving human subjects first must be reviewed and approved by the Institutional Research Board (IRB). Contact the Office of Research Administration or the Graduate Coordinator for details.
SECOND LANGUAGE OR OTHER SPECIALIZED TRAINING
In consultation with their advisor, every doctoral student and MA thesis student should discuss the specialized training that would be most useful to advance the student’s historical research. Learning or mastering a second language is essential for some students’ archival work and textual interpretation. The History Department also recognizes, however, that some historical research projects may require other kinds of knowledge and advanced training, such as statistical analysis, computer programming, mapping and GIS, interview methodologies, methods to assess visual art or photography, and more. Whichever approach is deemed best, the student must prepare a brief written proposal explaining this aspect of their graduate training.
The proposed training must be unanimously approved by the student’s full committee at, or before, the time of an MA student’s thesis defense or before a doctoral student’s comprehensive exams.
Non-thesis MA students and those in the 4+1 MA program are exempt from this requirement.
To prove proficiency in a foreign language, a student must either pass an intermediate-level, university course in the language (specifically, the second semester of the second year or equivalent) with a grade of B or better; or they must pass a translation exam under the supervision of an experienced language teacher. This examination should exhibit the student’s ability to utilize the secondary historical literature written in that language. Students taking this exam must demonstrate an overall understanding of the author’s interpretation and an adequate grasp of the most fundamental arguments. The examiner and the student should agree on the format and details of the exam beforehand. Up to 6 credits of language courses taken at the graduate level may be counted towards the student’s degree.
To prove proficiency with another kind of skill, the student must pass a graduate course, with a grade of B or better, that provides sufficient training for the student to apply the skill in their own research. For doctoral students, their core committee must approve the selection of the course. The course may be taken at the University of Maine or a comparable institution. Credits from up to two courses taken for training at the graduate level may be counted towards the student’s degree.
GRADES
Graduate students must earn grades of at least B in all courses that are part of the program of study. No credit will be given for a C grade except in extraordinary cases and then only with the approval of the Department Graduate Committee. A student who receives more than two grades of C or lower while enrolled as a graduate student in the Department of History will be dropped from the graduate program. This does not apply to courses taken to fulfill the language requirement. No graduate student will be allowed to graduate with an incomplete grade.
COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATIONS
MA students who follow the non-thesis option take an oral comprehensive examination at the end of the semester in which they complete the 30th credit hour of required coursework. The student must demonstrate an ability to integrate material from their various seminar courses and readings in a coherent manner in their oral exam. MA students who follow the thesis option are exempt from the oral exam, as they instead defend their thesis in an oral examination conducted by their Advisory Committee.
PhD students take their comprehensive examinations after they complete their coursework and the requirement to demonstrate proficiency in a second language or another research skill. Their three-person core committee conducts the comps exam. The structure, content, and organization of the PhD comprehensive examinations will vary as appropriate for each candidate. The student constructs a reading list with each committee member in coordination with their advisor. Successful candidates will demonstrate the breadth of knowledge necessary to effectively teach university-level courses, be able to place their future research area in its broader historical context, and will show a command of the core historiographical developments in their intended area of dissertation specialization.
The PhD comps will normally consist of a written exam in each of three history fields and their historical literature. The student is normally allowed four hours to write each exam answer, with the full set completed with 1-2 weeks, as considered appropriate by the Advisory Committee. The advisor will consult with the faculty members, as well as the student, to determine the form of the exam.
Comprehensive examinations are governed by the honor system. Students may type their answer on a computer but may only have access to a copy of their reading lists. Students are not permitted to consult books, notes, or any other information during the exam.
Each member of the core committee should read each of the written exams and participate in the oral discussion at the defense portion of the comps. The committee then deliberates to decide whether the student has passed or must retake one or more portions of the exam. One member can demand that the student retake any portion of the exam. If two members are not satisfied with the student’s work, the student will be considered to have failed the entire exam and will be eligible to retake it after a period of six months. A candidate will have only two opportunities to pass the written and oral comprehensive examinations.
PROSPECTUS
PhD students will submit a dissertation prospectus to their advisory committee within six months of successfully completing their comprehensive exams. This requirement aims to provide adequate guidance for graduate students writing dissertations, to ensure momentum in a student’s program of study, and to provide students with a working document from which they can develop grant proposals and communicate the contents of their work to the scholarly community at large.
Students should work closely with their advisor to develop a prospectus. For details on this process and the expectations for a prospectus, see the Prospectus Guidelines here.
Students will defend their prospectus orally before their full, five-member Advisory Committee. The advisor will communicate the results of that defense in writing to the Graduate Coordinator and provide a copy of the approved prospectus for the student’s file. A student whose prospectus is not approved will be permitted to submit a revised prospectus that responds to their committee’s comments within six months. Students must apply in writing to their advisor to extend the deadline for submission of the prospectus. The chair will forward a copy of the extension request to the Graduate Coordinator.
THESIS OR DISSERTATION
Before a thesis or dissertation is typed or printed in final form, it must be defended before the student’s Advisory Committee. A thesis or dissertation will be considered ready for defense only after all members of the student’s Advisory Committee have had a chance to read it and have signed the Tentative Thesis Acceptance Form. (In the case of a dissertation, the student’s full, five-person committee must read the work and agree that it is ready to be defended.) Normally, requests for tentative acceptance should be made at least three weeks prior to the last date for thesis or dissertation defense in a given semester. A copy of the thesis or dissertation and the signed Tentative Thesis Acceptance Form must be delivered to the Graduate School no later than 24 hours prior to the defense.
The Graduate Coordinator or the student’s advisor will circulate a notice of the defense date to all History Department faculty and graduate students at least one week prior to the defense, along with an abstract of the thesis or dissertation. Others may be notified of the defense if the student wishes.
The Advisory Committee will evaluate the MA or PhD candidate’s thesis or dissertation in a two-part oral examination. During the first part, which anyone may attend, the candidate will present the themes and arguments of the thesis or dissertation. After visitors have been excused, the content, methodology, and form of the thesis or dissertation will be examined by the Advisory Committee (and other members of the graduate faculty if they wish to participate). A majority of the Advisory Committee will decide whether the candidate’s thesis/dissertation and oral examination are satisfactory.
The Graduate School’s regulations concerning thesis or dissertation format and the forms and conventions accepted in the historical profession must be followed throughout. In exceptional cases, a dissertation may be written in French if approved by the Advisory Committee.
TIME LIMITS
All work for the MA degree must be completed within six years of the first registration for work towards the degree. PhD students must be admitted to candidacy within four years from registration for the first work presented for the degree. All work for a doctoral degree must be completed within four years from admission to candidacy.
EXCEPTIONS
Students may petition for exceptions to the requirements. Petitions must be submitted in writing and approved by the student’s advisor, the student’s Advisory Committee, the Graduate Committee, and the Chairman of the Department, before exceptions will be granted.
APPENDIX: TEACHING ASSISTANTS
Selection: Graduate students already in the program (including those wishing renewal) request in writing to the Graduate Coordinator by February 1 that they wish to be considered for a teaching assistantship; prospective students should check the appropriate space on the application form. In making its TA selections, the Graduate Committee looks at such quantitative indicators as a student’s GPA, considers letters of recommendation for outside applicants, and the views of University of Maine faculty with whom inside applicants have worked; tries to balance the desire to accommodate good students already in the program with the need to attract new students; generally favors PhD students over MA students; and considers the interests of the undergraduate student population by favoring candidates who will be effective in the classroom.
Time Limits: Students in the MA program normally will be eligible for up to two years of funding from teaching assistantships. If MA candidates receive a teaching assistantship in the second year of their program work, however, they may hold the TA position for only that year, rather than two. Students in the PhD program normally will be eligible for up to three years of funding from teaching assistantships, with a fourth year possible if circumstances allow. There is no guarantee that students holding teaching assistantships at the MA level will retain them if they move into the PhD program; they will be placed in the same pool as other applicants in the PhD program. The Graduate Committee may make exceptions for the benefit of the Department or as University policy may require.
Assignments: The Graduate Coordinator shall be responsible for assignment of qualified TAs to individual instructors and courses. Assignment shall be made with the best interests of the Department, teaching assistants, and students in mind.
Workload: The primary responsibility of the TA is within the instructional program of the History Department. In addition, there is an orientation session for all new TAs held by the Graduate School early in the fall semester and there may be occasional sessions of TAs and their instructors to discuss teaching problems. Research and personal services are not part of the TA workload.
Evaluation: A TA’s performance as a teacher will be guided and evaluated by the individual faculty member. Reappointment will be based, in part, on the written report at the end of each semester by the faculty member and, where applicable, student evaluations of the TA.
Grievances: The Chairman of the Department shall define channels for TA redress of grievances.