Department Of History Images In History

Doctor of Philosophy in History

The PhD student must satisfy the degree requirements that are in force at the time the PhD is awarded. These requirements are subject to change at any time. It is the student's responsibility to be aware of the requirements in effect at the time of the degree.

Degree Requirements (Departmental)

  1. Completion of required Core Colloquium for first-year graduate students.
  2. Satisfactory progress in the doctoral program.
  3. Official establishment of the Doctoral Supervisory Committee and submission of the Request for Establishing a Doctoral Supervisory Committee form. This requirement must be met no later than the end of the third quarter after entrance to the PhD program. For students promoting into the PhD program from the MA program, this form must be completed no later than the end of the first quarter of doctoral study.
  4. Language requirements must be satisfied no later than the quarter immediately preceding the quarter in which the student expects to take the Ph.D. General Examination.
  5. Satisfactory completion of a seminar paper while enrolled as a Ph.D. student. This paper must be completed before the student takes the Ph.D. General Examination. Students who have not completed a graduate research seminar in this department for their M.A. will ordinarily be expected to enroll in such a seminar as part of their course work for the Ph.D., and to write their research paper in the context of this seminar.
  6. Satisfactory performance in the Ph.D. General Examination, which consists of four written examinations in four fields and an oral examination. Fields must be distributed among at least two divisions, such that at least one of these four fields lies clearly outside the student's primary division of concentration. Students will be expected to construct their fields of study in consultation with their supervising faculty. Ph.D. students concentrating in the U.S. history division will be required to offer at least one of the following three chronological fields: Early America, 19th Century, 20th Century.
  7. Satisfactory presentation of a dissertation prospectus .
  8. Preparation of an acceptable doctoral dissertation.
  9. Satisfactory performance in a final oral examination in defense of the dissertation

Degree Requirements (Graduate School)

  1. A minimum of 90 credits must be completed of which at least 60 credits must be completed at the University of Washington. Up to 30 credits from a UW MA program may be used toward the requirement of 60 UW credits.
  2. At least 18 credits of numerically-graded coursework in approved 400- and 500-level courses must be completed at the University of Washington and prior to the General Examination.
  3. At least 18 credits of coursework at the 500-level and above must be completed at the University of Washington and prior to the General Examination.
  4. Completion of 60 credits prior to scheduling the General Examination.
  5. Creditable passage of the General Examination (field examinations). Registration is required for the quarter this exam is taken and for the quarter candidacy is conferred.
  6. A minimum of 27 credits of HIST 800 taken over a period of at least three quarters. At least one quarter must come after the student passes the General Examination.
  7. Preparation of and acceptance by the Dean of the Graduate School of a dissertation that is a significant contribution to knowledge and clearly indicates training in research. Credit for the dissertation ordinarily should be at least one-third of the total credit.
  8. Creditable passage of the Final Examination (dissertation defense). Registration is required for the quarter this examination is taken and for the quarter the degree is conferred.
  9. All work for the degree must be completed within ten years. This includes quarters spent on-leave or out of status (not registered, not on-leave) as well as applicable work from the Master's Degree from the University of Washington or a Master's Degree from another institution, if used to substitute for 30 credits of enrollment.
  10. A minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 is required for a graduate degree at the University of Washington.