Quick Find

Specializations

University Info.

Demographics

Dissertations in Progress

PhDs Awarded

Southern Methodist University

William P. Clements Dept. of History
P.O. Box 750176
Dallas, TX 75275-0176

Phone 214.768.2984
Fax 214.768.2404
E-mail: hist@smu.edu

Alternate Address: For courier delivery: 3225 University, Suite 71, History Dept., Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX 75205

Department Web Site

Areas of Specialization:

American History, Global and Comparative History, and U.S. Southwest and Mexico

Program Description

The William P. Clements Department of History at Southern Methodist University offers an innovative Ph.D. program. The course of study explores American historical experiences in global and comparative perspectives, with special emphasis on advanced-level work on the American Southwest and Mexico. It is built around three fields: a major field in American history, a second in the history of the Southwest and Mexico, and a third in global and comparative history.

Special Programs or Resources

The program is enhanced by several unique University resources; most significantly, the Clements Center for Southwest Studies, which promotes research in a variety of fields related to the American Southwest; the DeGolyer Library, which is devoted to Western Americana, Texana, and the Spanish borderlands; and Meadows Museum of Art, which houses one of the world's finest collections of Early Modern Spanish art outside Spain.

Financial Aid

Fellowships are awarded to all students accepted in to the Ph.D. program. Funding is guaranteed for a period of five years for those who continue to work at the highest levels of excellence. Fellowships include tuition, fees, a $20,000 stipend for the academic year, and medical benefits. In addition, resources are available for travel to professional conferences and to research archives.

Degree Requirements

Entering students are required to pass a language proficiency examination in Spanish and take a historiography course (3 credits). During the first two years, students take a sequence of four courses based upon intensive readings in American history (12 credits) from the era of Indian-European contact to the present, in order to acquire a mastery of the historiography of the field. These colloquia emphasize new problems, interpretations, and debates vital to the study of American history. In addition, students take four specialization courses (12 credits) that may vary in both content and method. They also develop a field in Southwestern/Mexico history (12 credits). A research seminar and a colloquium on the Southwest or Mexico comprise half the field. The third field, in global and comparative history (12 credits), places the American experience in larger contexts by introducing students to the theoretical and conceptual frameworks that have guided advanced research in recent decades. Students take two courses during the first two years of study designated as research courses. The goal is to produce significant work based on primary sources and of a quality comparative to an article in a scholarly journal. An oral examination on the aforementioned three fields will be taken in the middle of the third year. A formal defense is conducted upon completion of the dissertation (3 credit hours).

Learning to be an effective instructor is a vital part of the program. During the fourth year, students work closely with a professor to plan and teach an individual course and also participate in a seminar offered by SMU's Commission on Teaching and Learning. Other opportunities for teaching may be possible during the final year of the program.



University Information:

Information from Department of Education
(Includes information on the size, location, and general characteristics of faculty and student body)

Information from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
(Includes rating of the institution's rating of the graduate instructional program and size and setting)

 

Faculty Information (Fall 2011):

Full-time Faculty: 22

Relative Size based on Number of Full-time Faculty: Medium [Explain]

 

Student Demographics (Fall 2011):

Number of Doctoral Students in Program: 15

New Doctoral Students Entering Program: 1

Proportion of Doctoral Students Receiving Financial Aid: 100%

Number of Graduate Students Enrolled: 28

Relative Size Based on Graduate Student Enrollment: Small [Explain]

 

Degree Information:

First PhD conferred: 2003

History PhDs conferred to Date: 21

Number of PhDs Conferred (2011–12): 3

Relative Size Based on PhDs Conferred: Medium [Explain]

Current Dissertations in Progress

PhDs Conferred by Department

 

 

Last Updated: October 19, 2012