Program Overview

Program Overview

The Doctor of Philosophy in History of Ideas is a 60 semester credit hour program beyond the master's degree. The program consists of coursework, field examination preparation, breadth requirements, major electives, and free electives.

Coursework

• 42 semester credit hours of coursework are required, with at least 33 hours in organized courses.
  • Required Courses: 15 semester credit hours
    • IDEA 6300 Proseminar in History of Ideas
    • ARHM 6310 Team-Taught Interdisciplinary Seminar
  • Field Examination Preparation: 9 semester credit hours
    • IDEA 8305 Field Exam Preparation in History of Ideas (6 semester credit hours)
    • Exam preparation in any discipline at the 8000-level (3 semester credit hours)

Breadth Requirements

• 6 semester credit hours
  • One 3 semester credit hour course in HIST
  • One 3 semester credit hour course in PHIL

Major Electives

• 15 semester credit hours in any combination of HIST and PHIL courses

Free Electives

• 6 semester credit hours of electives in any organized graduate-level courses

Disciplinary Emphasis

Students may optionally declare one of the following disciplines of emphasis:

• History Emphasis
  • Required Courses: 3 semester credit hours (HIST 6301 Historiography)
  • Courses in History: 12 semester credit hours in HIST courses, with at least 3 hours in a "Research Oriented" course
• Philosophy Emphasis
  • Courses in Philosophy: 15 semester credit hours in PHIL courses

Foreign Language Requirement

Students in all Ph.D. programs in the School of Arts and Humanities are expected to demonstrate intermediate-level reading proficiency in a foreign language. The requirement can be satisfied upon enrollment or during graduate study at UT Dallas.

Doctoral Field Examinations

The doctoral field examinations consist of three written sections and an oral defense. The examining committee oversees the definition and preparation of the three examination fields within guidelines established by the program.

Dissertation

Students are formally advanced to Ph.D. candidacy when they have successfully completed the doctoral field examinations and received final approval for dissertation topics. A four-person supervising committee oversees dissertation work, and each candidate writes a doctoral dissertation supervised and defended according to general University regulations.