| History of American Civilization |
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Harvard’s doctoral program in American Civilization emphasizes interdisciplinary study within a broad historical framework. Students have the opportunity to study with faculty from many departments in the University while completing core requirements that emphasize classic works in American studies as well as emerging themes and methods. The program is governed by a faculty committee drawn from the Departments of African and African American Studies, English and American Literature and Language, Government, History, History of Art and Architecture, History of Science, Music, and Sociology. The committee also includes professors from the Graduate Schools of Business, Design, Divinity, Education, Government, and Law.
Requirements for the DegreeAcademic ResidenceA minimum of two years of full-time study (16 half-courses or equivalent). Normally a student is not permitted to engage in part-time study prior to the General Examination. For the financial residence requirement, see the GSAS Guide to Admissions and Financial Aid.
Program of StudyThe interdepartmental nature and purposes of the program require that students cut across departments in selecting courses. However, to ensure a coherent program of study, they should plan their schedules in consultation with the program chair. All students are required to enroll in the Colloquium in American Civilization during the fall term of their first and second years. Among their courses students should include two courses in a coherent field from outside the United States (e.g., English literature; Latin American history; comparative gender). In the course of their residence, all students will take two seminars. These seminars should be taken from among the offerings of two different departments. Normally the student will take one seminar in each term of the first year of residence. The remainder of the student’s program (lecture courses, reading courses, and, with the approval of the chair, TIME) will consist of work in fields appropriate to the student’s general examination. (See under Examinations.) Reading courses and TIME are ordinarily not part of a student’s program until the second term of the second year. If such courses are taken earlier, 11 half-courses (lectures, conference courses, and seminars) must be completed by the end of the fourth term. All coursework and language requirements must be met before taking the oral exam. All programs must be approved by the chair.
LanguagesCandidates for the degree must have a reading knowledge of two of the following languages: French, German, Spanish. Other languages may be substituted only with the permission of the committee. For example, on the basis of the student’s research interest and work with primary or secondary sources, knowledge of such languages as Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Yiddish, Portuguese, Italian, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or an American Indian language may replace one of the languages generally required by the Program. No student may take the General Examination until the language requirements have been met. The student must fulfill language requirements by passing two examinations given by the History Department or the English Department; and in case of a substitution, by passing an equivalent examination in a language department. Fellowships for developing language fluency are available for the summer between the first and the second year. Students are also encouraged to enroll in at least one course for credit in which advanced work with texts in other languages is undertaken. One language examination must be passed in the course of the student’s first year of residence. Students who fail to do so may be denied continuation in the program. Students who have one language requirement unfulfilled at the beginning of their second year of residence must pass a history or English department language examination in September of their second year. If they do not pass the language examination, they must enroll in an approved language course and pass a history or English department language exam in January. Students who have demonstrated fluency in one or more languages will receive a language citation with their PhD degree.
Grade RequirementsStudents must maintain a grade average of B+ or better in each year of graduate work. Each student must do work of A or A- level in at least one seminar.
ExaminationsStudents must pass a two-hour oral examination conducted by four members of the faculty no later than the end of September in their third year. One hour of that exam will be devoted to the student’s major field, and one half-hour each to two minor fields. The major field must cover the full chronological sweep in a single discipline such as history, literature, law, or musicology. Normally, there will be two examiners in the major field. They may divide the field chronologically or thematically as long as there is full coverage of themes central to teaching and scholarship in the discipline. Minor fields should be chosen from two areas of study distinct from the major field. A minor field may be defined chronologically or thematically as long as it covers a significant range of material, minimally a century. For example, a student whose major field is American literature and whose primary area of interest is 19th-century fiction, might prepare one minor field in 19th-century US history and another in 19th-century music. Or, a student whose major field is US history, and who plans to write a dissertation on race relations in the 1930s, might prepare a minor field in American protest literature over time and another in African American studies. Field preparation should be seen as laying a broad foundation for future teaching and scholarship rather than as specific preparation for writing a dissertation. Although the pro gram will supply guidelines, students should work closely with individual faculty in selecting courses appropriate to their fields and in designing reading lists for oral exams. In the semester before taking exams, they should submit their reading lists to the committee for approval. If a student fails the oral examination, and the examining committee agrees that the student may retake it, the committee will set a date (not earlier than six months after the date of the first examination) by which the second examination must be taken.
DissertationAfter the general examination has been passed, the student will select a dissertation topic and arrange for dissertation advisors. The choice of a topic and advisors must be submitted to the committee for approval. Students must also submit a draft of the dissertation prospectus to their primary advisor no later than April 1 in their third year. The dissertation should be characterized by a familiarity with the histor-ical treatment of two or more fields in the program. Before the end of May of their third year the student will present at a conference at which a discussion of the prospectus will take place before faculty and students in the program. Upon completion of one substantial chapter, and upon recommendation of the advisors, students defend the finished part of the work as well as an outline for the completion of the dissertation in front of an audience consisting of faculty and students in the program as well as a broader academic public. The final dissertation manuscript should conform to the requirements described in The Form of the PhD Dissertation.
Dissertation ReviewStudents entering the program will be required to have a formal dissertation review. The review committee will consist of the students dissertation committee plus one additional member drawn from the American Civilization program, a Harvard department, or from outside the university. Before setting up the dissertation review, the student should have completed the dissertation. With the approval of the dissertation director, the student will ask the chair or administrator of American Civilization to schedule the dissertation review, which will normally occur not later than April 1 for a May degree, not later than September 1 for a November degree, and not later than December 15 for a March degree. The review itself will last 90 minutes. Once the dissertation has been successfully defended, members of the dissertation committee will sign the dissertation acceptance certificate. The dissertation director will then write a report, ranging from a paragraph to a few pages, which summarizes the strengths of the dissertation and suggests revisions for publishing it as a book (or series of essays). Upon successful defense of the dissertation, the student must submit one bound and one unbound copy of the dissertation to the FAS Registrar, plus one bound copy to the American Civilization Program office. This requirement is for all students in the program filing for the PhD degree after May, 2009. A student may petition to have the dissertation review waived for reasons of hardship.
Recent PhD Dissertation Titles“The Perpetrators’ Past: Consciousness and Conscience in the Historical Novel,” Peter Becker “Performing History: History and Politics in the Works of Suzan-Lori Parks, Anna Deavere Smith, Naomi Wallace, and Charles Mee,” Talaya Adrienne Delaney “Peculiar Memories: Slavery and the American Cultural Imagination,” Salamishah Margaret Tillet “‘They Call It Marriage’: The Interracial Louisiana Family and the Making of American Legitimacy,” Diana Irene Williams “Figurations of Catastrophe: The Poetics and Politics of AIDS Loss,” Dagmawi Woubshet “‘Aint Got No Home’: Race and American Migration Narratives in the Depression Era,” Erin Royston Battat (2008) “Carrying the Mill: Steam, Waterpower and New England Textile Mills in the 19th Century,” Marti Jaye Frank (2008) “Academic Populism: The People’s Revolt and Public Higher Education, 1880-1905,” Scott M. Gelber (2008) “Pacific Crossings: China, the United States, and the Transpacific Imagination,” Hua Hsu (2008)
Further information regarding study in the History of American Civilization Program may be obtained by contacting:
Applications for admission and financial aid may be obtained from the Admissions Office, Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Holyoke Center 350, 1350 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138. We encourage online submission of the application. See www.gsas.harvard.edu.
Members of the Committee on Higher Degrees in the History of American CivilizationBeckert, Sven, Laird Bell Professor of History Bernstein, Robin, Assistant Professor of Women, Gender, and Sexuality, and of History and Literature Biel, Steven, Senior Lecturer on History and Literature Braude, Ann D., Senior Lecturer in American Religious History (Divinity School) Brooks, Lisa T., Assistant Professor of History and Literature and of Folklore and Mythology Buell, Lawrence, Powell M. Cabot Professor of American Literature Carpio, Glenda, Professor of African and African American Studies and of English and American Literature and Language Chaplin, Joyce, James Duncan Phillips Professor of Early American History Cohen, Lizabeth, Howard Mumford Jones Professor of American Studies Cott, Nancy F., Jonathan Trumbull Professor of American History and Pforzheimer Foundation Director of the Schlesinger Library Crawford, Margaret Lee, Professor of Urban Design and Planning Theory (School of Design) Desan, Christine, Professor of Law (Law School) Gates, Henry Louis Jr., Alphonse Fletcher Jr. University Professor Goldin, Claudia D, Henry Lee Professor of Economics Hempton, David, Alonzo L. McDonald Family Professor of Evangelical Theological Studies (Divinity School) Higginbotham, Brooks, Evelyn, Victor S. Thomas Professor of History and of African and African American Studies Horwitz, Morton J., Charles Warren Professor of American Legal History (Law School) Jewett, Andrew, Assistant Professor of History and of Social Studies Johnson, Walter, Professor of History Kelsey, Robin, Professor of History of Art and Architecture Kennedy, Randall L, Michael R. Klein Professor of Law (Law School) Keyssar, Alexander, Matthew W. Stirling Jr. Professor of History and Social Policy (Kennedy School of Government) Kloppenberg, James T., Charles Narren Professor of History Lambert-Beatty, Carrie, Assistant Professor of History of Art and Architecture and Visual and Environmental Studies Lepore, Jill, David Woods Kemper ’41 Professor of American History McGirr, Lisa, Professor of History Mangabeira Unger, Roberto, Roscoe Pound Professor of Law, Harvard Law School Menand, Louis, Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of English Ogletree, Charles J, Jesse Climenko Professor of Law (Law School) Oja, Carol J., William Powell Mason Professor of Music Reuben, Julie A., Professor of Education (School of Education) |