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University of New Brunswick

Dept. of History
PO Box 4400
Fredericton, NB E3B 5A3
Canada

Phone 506.453.4621
Fax 506.453.5068
E-mail: history@unb.ca

Department Web Site

Areas of Specialization:

Atlantic Canada, International and Military History, and Women's and Gender History

Program Description

The PhD program is an extremely flexible one, tailor made for each candidate and only a limited number of clearly excellent students are admitted. Each applicant must have research interests compatible with those of members of the Department and must demonstrate a high level of academic achievement, maturity of judgement, and the quality of their research. The Department can support PhD research in the following major fields: Canadian History, with particular emphasis on regional history and the history of Atlantic Canada; Military and International History, with a focus on 20th-century conflicts; Women's and Gender History, focusing on theoretical and historical perspectives which can be combined with existing graduate fields or stand alone; and Early Modern History, with particular emphasis on Western Europe or Britain. Minor fields can be in other subjects where there are supervisors, and as appropriate for the PhD program.

Special Programs or Resources

The Department offers PhD students an opportunity to participate in a teaching apprenticeship, which involves working with a member of the faculty in designing and executing an undergraduate course. Students on assistantship are usually assigned to teach a tutorial section in one of the Department's introductory undergraduate courses.

The Henry Harvey Stuart Research Fund provides assistance for PhD candidates in the Canadian field to help defray travel and research expenses. Other travel and research support is available through the Graduate School, the History Graduate Student Society and the Department. Students in Military and International history may apply to the UNB's Milton Gregg Centre for the Study of War and Society for research support. Every year, the graduate students of UNB and the University of Maine organize a Graduate Student History Conference.

The New Brunswick Archives are located on the UNB campus, and the UNB Library possesses very rich collections of primary and secondary material. The History Department is home to Acadiensis: Journal of the History of the Atlantic Region, the premier journal in its field. Students in the International/Military History field benefit from the Milton Gregg Centre for the Study of War and Society, which also houses the Journal of Conflict Studies. The broader community supports historical work in such enterprises as the King's Landing Historical Settlement, the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, the New Brunswick Museum, and the York-Sunbury Museum.

Financial Aid

PhD students are eligible for up to four years of funding through an Arts Faculty Graduate Assistantship, currently valued at $16, 927.52; top-ranked applicants can also receive a School of Graduate Studies Doctoral Tuition Award. All applicants are automatically considered for these Arts Faculty Assistantships. The University also possesses a variety of other Merit Awards and special fellowships that can be added to the assistantships; most of these range from $2,500 to $5,000 for the first year. The History Department similarly controls several named "top-up" awards, including the Hugh John Flemming Scholarship, normally worth $12,000, and normally awarded to either an unfunded PhD student in the fifth year working on Atlantic Provinces History or to an entering MA student in the same field. All applicants to the PhD program are encouraged to apply for SSHRCC Doctoral Fellowships and other external funding; most Merit and other top-up awards can be held along with the SSHRCC. Funded international students now also receive an additional sum to offset the university's international student differential fee.

Degree Requirements

The PhD program is constructed to meet the candidate's individual needs and interests, hence it has few fixed regulations. Once a student is accepted, a Supervisory Committee consisting of the Supervisor and two other members of the Department is established. In consultation with the student, the committee determines the nature of the student's program, including the number and nature of the field requirements which the student must complete. The composition of historiographical and research papers or of course syllabi are the most common format for these fields. Preparation may or may not include formal courses; it will involve working with several members of the Department. It is expected that PhD candidates will complete their field requirements in about a year, leaving the remainder of their time in the program to the completion of a dissertation that is expected to make a significant impact on the scholarship in their field.



Current Dissertations in Progress

PhDs Conferred by Department

 

 

Last Updated: October 19, 2012