History of Ideas Graduate Programs

Coursework in the History of Ideas program begins with the Proseminar in History of Ideas. This course has a Common Reading List and set of Student Learning Outcomes that set the tone for study in the program.

Download the Proseminar Common Reading List and Student Learning Outcomes.

The History of Ideas program involves coursework in both History and Philosophy, as well as free electives and a Team-Taught Interdisciplinary Seminar. Students have the ability to choose a disciplinary emphasis in History or Philosophy, which prepares them to teach courses in that discipline at the college level.

For more information, please see the UT Dallas Graduate Catalog.

Students in all PhD programs in the Bass School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology are expected to demonstrate intermediate-level reading proficiency in a foreign language (equivalent to two years of foreign-language study at the undergraduate level). Students must fulfill the language requirement before scheduling doctoral field examinations. 

For more information, please see the UT Dallas Graduate Catalog.

The doctoral field examinations consist of three written sections and an oral defense. The examining committee, composed of three members of the faculty (at least two in History of Ideas), oversees the definition and preparation of the three examination fields within guidelines established by the program. Initial committee formation must take place during the 36th semester credit hour of coursework, which will typically be followed by nine semester credit hours in Field Examination Preparation. Exams normally should be completed before the completion of 60 semester credit hours.

Field exam guide.

Students are formally advanced to PhD candidacy when they have successfully completed the doctoral field examinations and received final approval for dissertation topics. After that examination, a four-person supervising committee is formed, normally from the examining committee plus another faculty member proposed by the student, to oversee dissertation work. The supervising committee must then approve a formal dissertation proposal before the student submits it to the Graduate Studies Committee for final approval.

Each candidate then writes a doctoral dissertation, which is supervised and defended according to general University regulations.

Coursework requirements for the master’s degree, including the Proseminar in History of Ideas, are similar to the PhD coursework requirements prior to Field Examination Preparation, as described above. 

For more information, please see the UT Dallas Graduate Catalog.

Students in the professional option normally complete all 33 required semester credit hours of coursework in organized courses. They are not required to complete a portfolio or meet a foreign language requirement.

Students pursuing the research option must prepare a research portfolio and complete the foreign language requirement.

Students focusing on the research option under the History Emphasis must take at least one 3 semester credit hours course that is marked in the syllabus as “Research Oriented” and has a final product consisting of a research paper.

For more information, please see the UT Dallas Graduate Catalog.