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The University of Montana | Department of History | Liberal Arts Room 256 | Missoula, MT 59812-0864

Graduate Program Requirements

Requirements for the Ph.D. Degree

Doctoral students in history are required to fulfill a range of preliminary requirements, including coursework, research, foreign language competence, and comprehensive examinations, before researching, writing, and defending a doctoral dissertation. Students are admitted to the program with a designated advisor who oversees each student's course of study with oversight from the department's Graduate Committee.

To advance to formal Ph.D. candidacy, doctoral students must fulfill the following (I – IV) requirements:


  1. Coursework & Credits
    1. Students must complete 15 credits past the M.A. (total of 45 credits). Students may transfer up to thirty (30) credits at the discretion of the Graduate Committee. A student may take up to nine credits outside the History Department and have them count towards his or her degree. Students entering with a M.A. may take no more than six (6) credits outside the History Department.
    2. All students must take a 400 or 500 level research seminar.
    3. Students are required to write an M.A. thesis. If accepted directly into the Ph.D. program, students may instead submit two research papers that must be approved by a committee.
  2. Foreign Language
    Students must demonstrate competence in foreign languages. Students in US history will be required to demonstrate competence in one foreign language. Students in other areas will be required to demonstrate competence in two foreign languages. Passage of 102 at UM or the equivalent elsewhere will demonstrate competence. Students may also satisfy the requirement by taking the ETS exam and scoring above the 45th percentile. These requirements are a minimum. At their discretion, advisors may require a higher degree of competence or additional languages.
  3. Comprehensive Exams
    Ph.D. Comprehensive Examinations consist of both written and oral exams that test students' knowledge in four fields and evaluate their abilities of historical analysis and interpretation, and where relevant, their expertise in a related discipline. Students are expected to master the literature in their fields and be aware of the relevant historiographic traditions and debates.
    1. Qualifications for Comprehensive Exams
       In order to qualify to take the exams, students must complete all coursework and maintain a 3.5 average, complete the research requirement, and meet any language requirement.
    2. Timing and Order of Exams
       Students generally take comprehensive exams in their third year of study. Exams will be offered in September, December, and May. Students first take separate written exams in each of the four fields. The oral exam is given the week following the written exams and is administered collectively by the same professors who administered the written exams.
    3. Examination Fields
       Students will select from the following fields:
      1. American History
        1. U.S. to 1877
        2. U.S. since 1877
        3. Topical
      2. European History
        1. Medieval
        2. Early Modern
        3. Modern
        4. Topical
      3. World History
        1. Modern East Asia
        2. Middle East and Islam
        3. Latin America
        4. Topical
      Students may take no more than two fields in any of the designated groups. Students may offer no more than one topical field. Topical fields will be determined by the student in consultation with the professor administering the examination. Examples of topical fields are: U.S. Social History, Early Modern and Modern European Diplomacy, American Legal History, etc.

      One field may be taken outside the department. This field would be chosen in consultation with the student's advisor and must be approved by the advisor. For fields taken outside the department, the supervising professor will administer the written exam and will be part of the oral exam committee (see below). Students may opt out of exams in the field outside the History Department if they take two or more courses in preparation (chosen in consultation with the student's advisor, at least one of which must be at the 500 level) and if they maintain a 3.5 average in the courses offered for the field.
    4. Composition of the Examining Committee
       In consultation with their advisors, students are encouraged, during their first and second years of study, to seek out faculty willing to serve as their examiners. No two fields may be taken with the same examiner. Students should have their examining committees in place by the end of their second year. Normally, the student's advisor serves as the chair of the examining committee.
    5. Assessment
       Students receive a grade of pass or fail on the Ph.D. Comprehensive Examinations. All professors on the committee must agree that the student has passed. Students are informed orally, at the end of the oral examination, of the examining committee's evaluation of their performance. Students who fail to pass their exams may take them a second time. Failure on the second attempt will mean termination from the program. If the examining committee agrees that the student's performance on the oral and written exams is outstanding and meritorious, the committee may award the student a "distinguished pass."
  4. Dissertation Proposal
    Students are required to submit a proposal for a dissertation project, which must be approved by the student's dissertation committee. In consultation with their advisors, students choose members of their dissertation committee and gain the consent of each faculty member concerned. Normally, committees are composed of five faculty members, and the student's advisor serves as the chair of the committee. At least three members of the committee must be members of the History Department. One member of the committee must come from outside the History Department.

    Students are encouraged to consult with all members of their dissertation committee while constructing the dissertation proposal. The student and the dissertation committee will convene a dissertation proposal hearing where faculty members assess the strength of the dissertation proposal. Dissertation proposals will be assessed on a pass or fail basis. All members of the committee must agree that the student has passed. Students are informed orally, at the end of the proposal hearing, of the dissertation committee's evaluation of their dissertation proposal.

    To schedule your dissertation proposal hearing, please fill out this FORM and submit it the History Department office.

    Upon completion of the above requirements (I – IV), Ph.D. students officially advance to Ph.D. candidacy or "ABD" (All But Dissertation) status. The following requirements remain:

  5. Doctoral Dissertation
    Students are required to write a doctoral dissertation that is an original contribution to scholarship. It must be presented in acceptable literary form. It must be of a quality that all or a substantial part of it would merit eventual publication. Normally, students will complete at least fifteen (15) credits of thesis work.
  6. Dissertation Defense
    The final stage will be an oral defense of the dissertation. The student must provide the members of his or her dissertation committee with completed copies of the dissertation three weeks before the defense. Oral examinations are open to the public and guests may ask questions on recognition by the chair. Dissertations will be assessed on a pass or fail basis. All members of the committee must agree that the student has passed. Students are informed orally, at the end of the defense, of the dissertation committee's evaluation of their dissertation.

    To schedule your dissertation defense, please fill out this FORM and submit it the History Department office.

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Requirements for the M.A. Degree

In addition to the regulations specified in the bulletin of the Graduate School, the Master's student in history must complete the History Department's credit, language, and thesis requirements. Students are admitted to the program with a designated advisor who oversees each student's course of study with oversight from the department's Graduate Committee Graduate Committee.


  1. Coursework and Credits
    1. Students must complete thirty (30) credits beyond the B.A. Up to six (6) of these thirty (30) may be "Thesis" credits (HSTA699). With approval from the Graduate Committee, students may apply up to six (6) credits in cognate fields towards their history M.A. Graduate school rules require that a minimum of one-half of all coursework be done at the 500-level.
    2. All students must take a 400 or 500 level research seminar.
    3. The History Department requires that students complete a minimum of four 500-level reading courses. In order to prepare students broadly for research and teaching, students must complete at least one 500-level reading course in two of the following three areas:
      1. United States
      2. Europe
      3. World
    Students must take at least two 500-level reading courses in their designated major area.
  2. Foreign Language

    Students must fulfill (or have fulfilled) the Department's B.A. foreign language requirement or its equivalent (one year of instruction). Language exams may be met by work completed as an undergraduate student. At the University of Montana, the requirement may be satisfied by completing any one of the following options:
    1. The 101-102 active skills sequence in any foreign language at University of Montana or equivalent courses elsewhere. Students must earn a "C" or better to fulfill this requirement.
    2. Any single course at or above the 102 level in any foreign language at University of Montana or equivalent courses elsewhere. Students must earn a "C" or better to fulfill this requirement.
    3. An equivalency test administered by the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures. Students may be required by their major professor to do further work in a language or in cognate fields.
    Students may be required by their major professor to do further work in a language or in cognate fields.
  3. Master's Thesis

    A maximum of six (6) thesis credits may be counted toward the total of thirty (30) credits required for the M.A. These credits may be taken in any semester or semesters in which students are in a position to pursue the required work.

    No thesis may go to committee nor may any examination thereon take place until all other requirements for the degree have been fulfilled.

    The thesis will be directed and signed by the advisor and examined by a committee composed of at least three (3) members: the advisor, one other member of the History Department, and one outside faculty member to be selected by the student and the advisor.

    The department strongly suggests that thesis committees convene as students begin work on a thesis. This meeting will enable faculty and students to set a research agenda, to discuss methodological issues, and for the student and the committee to become familiar with each other. Subsequent meetings prior to the defense may be arranged at the discretion of the advisor and student.

    To schedule your thesis proposal hearing, please fill out this FORM and submit it the History Department office. and submit it the History Department office.

    The thesis must be a monographic study, make an original contribution to scholarship, and be presented in acceptable literary form.

    M.A. candidates must adhere to the semester schedule provided by the Graduate School, which stipulates that the approved committee draft of the Master's thesis must be submitted to the Graduate Dean at least twenty days before the end of the semester in which all degree requirements will be completed. The draft must be approved by the Graduate Dean before the final oral examination. The University must be in session and students must be enrolled at the time of the defense.

    The final stage will be an oral defense of the thesis. The student must provide the members of his or her thesis committee with completed copies of the thesis at least two weeks before the defense. Oral examinations are open to the public and guests may ask questions on recognition by the chair. Theses will be assessed on a pass or fail basis. All members of the committee must agree that the student has passed. Students are informed orally, at the end of the defense, of the committee's evaluation of their thesis.

    To schedule your thesis defense, please fill out this FORM and submit it the History Department office.
  4. NonThesis Master's

    Requirements are the same as for the thesis M.A., except that the student will:
    1. Complete thirty-six (36) hours of course work. No more than three (3) professional paper credits (599) may count toward the degree.
    2. Prepare one professional paper of "publishable quality." Specifically the professional paper shall consist of an article-length, monographic study, based substantially on primary sources. A professional paper committee, composed of the director of the professional paper, one additional faculty member, and a faculty member from outside the Department, will conduct an oral defense of the professional paper, with a "pass" to be determined by unanimous vote of the committee. The final draft shall be submitted to the second departmental reader and the outside reader no less than ten days before a scheduled defense.

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