A. Program Description. Emory University offers a highly selective History PhD program with internationally recognized areas of research specialization, including Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, the United States, Jewish History and the ancient world. Doctoral students in History, working in close consultation with the faculty, are expected to define their specific fields of study, reflecting their own blending of geographical, chronological, theoretical, topical and comparative interests. Students form close mentoring relationships with faculty and engage in a lively intellectual community among the graduate students. Depending on their interests, students participate in allied departments and interdisciplinary programs. All students receive financial support for five years, including tuition, stipend, health insurance, and access to generous funding for research, training, and professional development.

B. Special Programs. Excellence in research and teaching is an essential part of the professional historian's calling. Professional Development Support Funds (PDS) are available to support all doctoral students. Awards are made in three funding categories: conference participation; training not available at Emory, including language acquisition; and research. The History PhD Program encourages students to seek external funding, such as Fulbright, SSRC, and Mellon fellowships. Support for external funding is available through the university’s innovative Grant Writing Program. The History PhD Program has several annual named awards to assist graduate students in their pre-dissertation or dissertation research and travel.

Demonstrated teaching ability is an important prerequisite for many academic careers. Emory graduate students are not assigned grading tasks each semester, as they are in many programs. The History PhD program provides practical teaching experience, which is enhanced by the nationally recognized Teaching Assistant and Teacher Training Opportunity (TATTO) program, instituted by the Laney Graduate School. After completing the required teaching assistantships, or an optional internship for exploring alternate career paths, history students are able to teach a freestanding class related to their research interests. Additional teaching opportunities are possible through the Dean’s Teaching Fellowship and the Mellon Graduate Teaching Fellowship.

Graduates have an excellent placement record. A year-long professionalization seminar is organized for graduate students planning to enter the job market, covering topics such as writing job application letters, curriculum vitae and resumes, soliciting letters of recommendation and explores career pathways beyond the professoriate. The History PhD Program conducts mock conference, Zoom, and on-campus interviews to assist job seekers.

C. Financial Aid. Full-time students admitted to the History PhD Program are offered fellowships (tuition, stipend, and health insurance subsidy) or have individual fellowships from outside funding sources. In 2024-25 all such incoming students will receive tuition scholarship, a stipend of $37,467 per year, and 100% health insurance subsidy for five years. In addition, the Laney Graduate School provides three types of admission fellowships to support outstanding applicants: the George W. Woodruff, the Centennial Scholars, and the Laney Graduate School Fellowships. The fellowships are offered on a competitive basis and provide additional financial aid. The History PhD program admissions committee nominates accepted students for these fellowships based on their qualifications. Sixth year funding is available on a competitive basis.

D. Degree Requirements. The history doctoral program encompasses two academic years of course work, two language requirements, the comprehensive portfolio, teaching experience, a dissertation prospectus, and the completion of the dissertation. The minimal residence requirement is three academic years. The normal course load is three courses per semester for four semesters, for a total of twelve courses (36 credit hours) during the first two years of study.

Reading competency in at least two foreign languages is required of PhD candidates in all fields, except American History, which requires competency in a minimum of one. In any focus area, however, a student's adviser may elect to require language facility beyond these minimum guidelines. Students in Latin American History must show facility in both Spanish and Portuguese.

Facility in a foreign language will be demonstrated either by passing a translation examination (with dictionary) administered each semester or by passing, with a minimum grade of B, an approved reading or translation course above the 100-level at Emory. The comprehensive portfolio, usually submitted in the third year, will encompass an introduction to the portfolio, one historiographical essay, three annotated bibliographies covering three fields (two defined chronologically and/or geographically and one thematic, topical, or theoretical), two revised research papers, a grant proposal, two annotated syllabi, teaching assistantship evaluations, and a teaching observation from their teaching assistantship. In addition to the written product, there will be an oral defense that will cover the comprehensive portfolio's content.

All graduate students are required to participate in the Teaching Assistant and Teacher Training Opportunity (TATTO) program. The culmination of the program is sole responsibility for teaching an undergraduate course, usually in the third or fourth year, with supervision by the student's adviser.

A dissertation prospectus is presented in the semester following successful completion of the comprehensive portfolio. The prospectus is a brief explanation of the projected dissertation, outlining the proposed research, defining its validity as a dissertation subject, and suggesting the principal sources to be employed. The prospectus meeting is a public presentation and defense of the dissertation project, based on the written prospectus that has been distributed in advance. Following approval of the prospectus, the student will work with the dissertation director in planning, researching, and writing the dissertation. The dissertation will be read and approved by the dissertation committee members in conjunction with deadlines for submission to the Laney Graduate School.