UCLA Department of History

UCLA's European History program offers graduate students the opportunity to work with some of the world's leading historians in their field. The European field faculty includes 29 of the more than seventy professors in the department. This large group covers an impressive number of sub-fields and provides graduate students a wide range of intellectual support. The European field sponsors lecture series and colloquia featuring eminent historians from around the country and abroad. These events encourage student-faculty interaction and give graduate students a forum for exchanging and discussing their ideas. Our students become central to an intellectual community dedicated to excellence in historical scholarship.

UCLA offers both M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in European history, although there is no distinct M.A. program; students are admitted only for the Ph.D. degree. The Masters Degree is designed to satisfy requirements of the Department's doctoral program and is usually completed within two years. It consists of nine courses, six of which must be graduate courses. The other three can be chosen from among the Department's upper-division undergraduate offerings. For the M.A. degree, students must demonstrate proficiency in one approved European language; for the Ph.D., a second language must be completed. We expect students to finish the Ph.D. in six years of full-time study. They are required to do so in no more than seven years.

Located at UCLA are four interdisciplinary centers--all directed by members of the European field--that contribute significantly to the intellectual life of those interested in European history: The Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies; The Center for 17th and 18th-Century Studies directed by Gail Klingman in association with his role as head of the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library; the Center for European and Eurasian Studies, directed by Ivan Berend; and the Center for Social Theory and Comparative History, directed by Robert Brenner. These Centers offer lecture series, seminars, conferences, and courses tailored to their specializations. All offer graduate fellowships, research assistantships, and other forms of graduate student support.

Full-time faculty members include professors Perry Anderson, Peter Baldwin, Ivan Berend, Robert Brenner, Caroline Ford, Robert G. Frank, Jr., Stephen Frank, Saul Friedlander, J. Arch Getty, Carlo Ginzburg, Lynn Hunt, Margaret C. Jacob, Russell Jacoby, Christina Knudsen, Muriel C. McClendon, David N. Myers, Kathryn Norberg, Anthony Pagden, Theodore M. Porter, Peter Hanns Reill, David Sabean, Debora L. Silverman, Sanjay Subramanyam, Geoffrey Symcox, Mary Terrall, Albion Urdank, Dora B. Weiner, M. Norton Wise, and Robert Wohl.

Foreign Language Requirements:

The field requires proficiency in two foreign languages: For those working on Europe: French and German, either of which can be replaced by another language necessary for research. For those working on Russian or Eastern European history: Russian plus German or French, any of which can be replaced by another one necessary for research.

Any substitutions must be approved by your advisor, the field coordinator and the vice chair for graduate studies. In all cases, proficiency in foreign languages is to be determined by an exam administered by the field. Exceptions to this rule must be approved by your advisor, the field coordinator, and the vice chair for graduate studies.

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 TWO continuing two-quarter seminars. These seminars must include completion of substantial research papers 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.

Students of European History must complete History 225. 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 & Oral Qualifying Examinations:

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

All students in the European field will take the written qualifying examination after five quarters in residence. The European written examination will be administered at the end of the winter quarter. Those failing a part of the examination may retake that part before June 30th of the same year. Those failing the entire examination may retake it on petition the following year. THE EXAMINATION MAY BE RETAKEN ONLY ONCE. The entire European faculty in residence will administer the exam. The exam will be divided into the following sections: Europe, Renaissance and Reformation; Europe, Reformation to French Revolution; Europe since 1740; European Social and Economic History since ca. 1450; European Intellectual and Cultural History since ca. 1450; Russia since ca. 800; Jewish History; East Central and Southeast Europe since ca. 1450; Germany since ca. 1450; Britain since ca. 1450; France since ca. 1450; Italy since ca. 1450; Spain and Portugal since ca. 1450; The Netherlands since ca. 1450; European History of Science Since ca. 1450; Women’s History. Students will choose three sections in which to be examined. Each section will have approximately ten questions overall. The entire exam will last three days. It will be administered in the history department and take place from 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. on three consecutive days. Candidates will take the exams with “neutral computers” supplied by the department. The students may choose the order of the examinations.

Prior to taking the written qualifying examination, a student must have secured the agreement of a qualified member of the Department in the European Field to serve as chair of the doctoral committee. The examination is intended to test a comprehensive, broad understanding of European history, both of the modern and early modern periods. Different facets of history (political, social, intellectual, etc.) are included. An ability to synthesize factual information, sometimes across long chronological periods is, consequently, essential. Knowledge of the scholarly literature and of the principal historiographical controversies arising out of it will be tested, along with interpretive capabilities. Questions relating to the planning of college-level history courses may appear on the exam. Before taking the written exam, the student must have passed at least one language exam.

In the oral qualifying examination, normally scheduled in the third year of doctoral study, students will be examined in four fields, one of which may be an approved field outside the department, such as 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. Students should select the fields in consultation with the faculty adviser. Students must choose their four fields by the fall quarter after they have successfully passed the written qualifying examination (i.e., normally by the seventh quarter of residency). Students 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.

The oral examination will concern the dissertation prospectus and the substantive elements of the four fields as they relate to the prospectus. Each student will be required to select appropriate faculty members from the four fields and to meet with the committee in the fall quarter following satisfactory completion of the written qualifying exam to discuss strategies for preparing the dissertation prospectus and the fields relating to the prospectus. The oral examination will normally take place at the end of nine quarters of residence but must be taken by the end of the twelfth quarter. The second language exam must be passed before taking the oral examination. Should a student fail the oral exam, he or she must retake it at a time set by the committee within six months. Any variance from time limits must be approved by the European field before going to the Graduate Guidance and Curriculum Committee for final approval.