Oral Qualifying Examination

Admission to candidacy for the PhD degree in most doctoral programs entails passing a qualifying examination. In the History Department at BU, this exam is taken in the form of a two-hour long oral examination covering four historical areas. The exam’s oral form tests the student’s knowledge as well as their ability to communicate information on the spot, skills that are central to any career as a scholar, teacher, or researcher. The exam is administered by four faculty members in the Department of History and is normally scheduled before the end of classes during the Fall or Spring semester.

The initial preparation for this examination begins early in a student’s career. Students should choose courses and make personal contacts with faculty members with their oral examinations in mind. They should have a general idea of their examination fields by the time they complete course work, and should then undertake intensive reading in those fields under faculty direction. Each oral examination is unique, for the examination is intended to test the knowledge of a specific student. However, there are certain regulations and norms to which all examinations must conform.

Requirements

Exam Components

General Character

The qualifying oral examination has one major field that shall be comprehensive and cover any and all phases of the subject, and one minor field that lies outside the major field and is less comprehensive. In consultation with their advisor and the DGS, students may elect to define the minor field by a discipline outside history. The examination committee consists of four persons, three of whom must be faculty in the History Department and have expertise in the student’s major field and one faculty member in the minor field. The faculty examiner in the minor field may be a BU faculty member from outside of the History Department, pending the advanced approval of the student’s advisor and the DGS.

Definition of Major Field

The definition of the scope of the major field is primarily the responsibility of the examining faculty, in consultation with the student. The primary major field will ordinarily be the field within which a dissertation topic is chosen. The fields of specialization are: Africa, the United States, Asia, and Europe (medieval; early modern, 1500 to 1815; or modern, 1789 to present). It is also possible, in consultation with the faculty advisor and the Director of Graduate Studies, to define a field that is not geographically specific and would allow for the exploration of a particular theme, or themes, in a transnational context. Within the European field, students may also define a field with national emphasis (for example, on British, German, or Russian history), or a topical emphasis such as social, intellectual, or economic history. The major field in African history requires regional specialization plus knowledge of a related discipline, such as anthropology or economics.

Definition of Minor Field

The precise scope of the minor field is primarily the responsibility of the examining faculty, in consultation with the student. If the minor field lies within the discipline of history, it should be outside the period or outside the country covered by the major field. Minor fields should be more broadly defined and span no less than a century. Appropriate minor fields might be the European Renaissance, Germany since 1871, European thought in the nineteenth century, Russia in the twentieth century, United States history since the Civil War, or modern Latin America. These fields should be the equivalent of a survey course that the student might later teach. Students in United States history may choose a thematic minor field that overlaps with the major field, but at least half of the readings of the minor field must cover regions outside the U.S. In consultation with their advisor, students may decide to be examined in a field outside the discipline of history, such as literature, philosophy, anthropology, economics, or the law. The faculty examiner in the minor field may be a BU faculty member from outside of the History Department, pending the advanced approval of the student’s advisor and the DGS.

Composition and Approval

The examination committee consists of four persons, three of whom must have expertise in the student’s major field and one in the minor field. Students wishing to schedule their oral exam must submit the PhD Qualifying Oral Examination Form to the department at least two months before the exam is to take place. This form confirms that the student has fulfilled the coursework, research seminar, and language requirements prior to taking the exam. It also lists the members of the examination committee, and defines the character and scope of the major and minor fields and examiners. The Director of Graduate Study will not schedule the exam if the student has not completed both language examinations and research papers as well as all course work. The examination committee may postpone the exam if it believes the candidate is not adequately prepared.

The Examination

Students may choose the order in which they wish the examiners to proceed. Each examiner will question the student for half an hour. The entire two-hour examination must be given on one occasion. All examiners are required to be present for the entire period.

Performance

At the conclusion of the qualifying oral examination, in the student’s absence, the chair shall poll the committee on the student’s performance. The student must perform satisfactorily in all fields, the major and the minor, and satisfy all examiners, in order to receive a grade of Pass. The examiners may also award a grade of “Pass with Distinction,” which will be recorded in the student’s departmental file.