UCLA Department of History

Introduction:

The Jewish history field at UCLA aims to provide students with a broad-ranging training in Jewish intellectual and cultural history, particularly in early modern and modern times. Notwithstanding this emphasis, students acquire familiarity with all periods of Jewish history, from antiquity to the modern age. At the same time, faculty members believe strongly that Jewish history is best studied in the broadest possible historical context. Consequently, students are required to pursue course work in both Jewish history and a related field (e.g., European or Near Eastern history). Similarly, students of Holocaust history, working under the guidance of the distinguished historian Saul Friedlander, are expected to be intimately acquainted with European and Jewish history.

Faculty members in the Jewish history field are David N. Myers, professor of Jewish history and field coordinator, and Saul Friedlander, 1939 Club Professor of Holocaust Studies. Additional faculty resources include Arnold Band (professor of Hebrew literature), Scott Bartchy (adjunct professor of early Christian history), David Ellenson (adjunct professor of Jewish thought), and David Sabean (Henry J. Bruman Professor of German History).

Incoming graduate students are expected to have a strong background in Jewish history, as well as competence in one or more foreign languages (especially Hebrew). Recent seminar topics include modern Jewish historiography, historiography of the Holocaust, the diaspora idea, Weimar Jewish cultures, and the malaise of Jewish modernity. For further information, please contact Professor David N. Myers at : myers@history.ucla.edu.

Foreign Language Requirements:

Hebrew plus German or French. For some specialties, other languages may be required (e.g. Yiddish, Russian, Arabic).

Course Requirements:

As a candidate for the Ph.D., you must meet (a) the special requirements for admission to the doctoral program listed above; and (b) the general requirements set forth under the Graduate Division. An excellent command of English, spoken and written, the ability to read at least two foreign languages, and an acquaintance with general history are expected of all candidates. You are required to complete at least one continuing two-or three-quarter seminar, or alternatively, a continuing sequence of at least two graduate courses approved by the GGCC. This seminar, or its alternative, must include completion of a substantial research paper based at least in part on primary sources.

All students must write a dissertation prospectus (which could be written for credit as a history 596 or 597) expected to contain: (a) a full statement of the dissertation topic; (b) an historiographical discussion of the literature bearing on the topic; (c) a statement of the methodology to be employed; and (d) a survey of the sources sufficient to demonstrate the viability of the topic. The prospectus must be approved by the dissertation adviser prior to the oral part of the qualifying examinations. After approval, copies will be given to each member of the examining committee.

Faculty serving on doctoral committees may require such courses as they deem necessary for preparation for qualifying examinations. Courses taken to fulfill M.A. degree requirements may also be used to satisfy Ph.D. requirements.

Written and Oral Qualifying Examinations:

Before admission to candidacy, you must pass written and oral examinations. Students with outstanding incompletes may not be permitted to sit for these exams.

In the written qualifying examinations, you are expected to show not only a mastery of your special subject, but also an adequate grasp of the wider field of historical knowledge and an ability to correlate historical data and to explain their significance. These examinations are designed to test not merely factual knowledge, but also your power of historical analysis and synthesis, critical ability, and capacity for reflective thinking. A knowledge of the history of any area includes a reasonable knowledge of its historiography and bibliography; of its geography; and of its political, cultural, economic, and other historical aspects.

In the oral examination, you are to be examined in four fields, one of which may be an approved field in anthropology, economics, geography, language and literature, philosophy, political science, or other allied subjects. This allied field must be comparable in size and scope to the history fields listed above. You should select the fields in consultation with your faculty adviser and must receive the Department's approval of all four fields not less than three months before the written qualifying examination is taken. You will need to obtain the "Field Committee Orals" form (orals committee) from the Graduate Office. A copy of "Steps for the Orals" can be obtained from the Graduate Office. A full-time graduate student must begin the written qualifying examinations not later than the end of the ninth quarter of graduate work (See Time-to-Degree).

The written qualifying examination normally includes the major field only. The oral examination will cover all four fields and will normally be held after the written examination. In most fields, the oral examination will be held shortly after the written examination or, at the discretion of the doctoral committee, as late as six months after the written examination. Both the written and oral examinations are to be considered by the committee as a whole in arriving at a judgment of your performance. The written qualifying examination is normally prepared and administered by the chair of the committee and read by the entire committee before the oral qualifying examination.

The written qualifying examination must be passed before the oral qualifying examination can be taken. The members of the doctoral committee determine whether or not an examination may be repeated (normally only once), based on their prognosis of your potential for successfully completing both the written and oral examinations within a specified period of time to be designated by the doctoral committee, but not to exceed one calendar year. The written qualifying examination is not to exceed eight (8) hours and must be turned in to the Graduate Adviser's Office no later than 5:00 pm of the day of the examination.