Education of Historians for the Twenty-first Century

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Committee and Board of Advisors

Part 1: Report and Recommendations

Chapter I: We Historians

Defining Who We Are. The Golden Age Legacy. Historical Perspective. The Future of the Discipline. Education for the Future. Generational Succession in the Academy. Public and Private Universities. The Challenge

Chapter II: Necessary Discussions

Departmental Culture. Departmental Mission and Program Requirements. Field Examinations. Fields. Language Study. Introductory Course. Interdisciplinarity and Theory. World History. Undergraduate Education and the Education of Teachers. Common Education, Plural Careers. Directors of Graduate Studies and Graduate Administrators. Professionalism and Premature Professionalization. Program Size, Funding, and Diversity. Graduate Assistants and Unions. Foreign Area Studies. New Technologies. Centers for Teaching Excellence/Preparing Future Faculty. Publication and Tenure. The Matrix of Responsibilities. The American Historical Association

Chapter III: Recommendations

Admissions and Funding. Program Size. Program Information and Recruitment. Funding. Masters Degree and Doctoral Education. Institutional Culture and Administration. Director of Graduate Studies, Placement Officer, and Staff Support. Mentoring. Annual Review. Retention and Attrition. Grievance Procedures. A Space of Their Own. Placement. Curriculum and Professional Ethos. Intellectual Community. Dissertation Seminars. Preparation for Teaching. Internships. Professional Ethics and Practices. Citizenship. American Historical Association.

Figures and Tables for Part 1.

 

Part 2: Foundations

Chapter IV: The National Shape of Doctoral Education: A Survey of Graduate Programs

A Preliminary Sounding. Concern. Complexity. Change. Careers in transition. Complacency. (Mis)communication between faculty and graduate students. Conclusion

Appendix A: Consultations with the Discipline

Appendix B : List of Respondents to the Graduate Program Survey

Appendix C: Survey Instrument and Numerical Results, AHA Survey of Doctoral Programs in History (Spring 2001)

Selected Bibliography on Graduate Training and Historians

Index


Figures and Tables

Part 1

Figure 1 : Employment Sector of History Ph.D.'s with Jobs in 1995

Figure 2 : Number of Ph.D.-Granting History Programs Compared to All Four-Year Programs in Social Science and History, 1900–2000

Figure 3 : Production of History Ph.D.'s by Region, 1873–present

Figure 4 : Average Number of Publications Produced by Humanities Ph.D.'s between April 1993 and April 1995, by Discipline

Figure 5 : Differences in Specializations between Senior and Recent History Faculty, Fall 2000

Figure 6 : New History Ph.D.'s with Definite Employment at Time of Degree, 1969–2000

Figure 7 : Percentage of Full-Time and Part-Time History Faculty by Tenure Status, 1979–80 and 1999–2000

Figure 8 : History Degrees Conferred, 1950 to 2000 Academic Years (Even Years)

Figure 9 : Trend in Ph.D. Production and Job Openings, 1970–71 to 2000–01

Figure 10 : Production of History Ph.D.'s Compared to other Social Science Fields, 1949–50 to 1999–2000 Academic Years (Even Years)

Figure 11 : Admission of New Graduate Students in History Ph.D. Programs by Size of Enrollment, 1975–76 to 2001–02

Figure 12 : Number of Graduate Students in Ph.D. Programs by 1993 NRC Ranking, 1985–86 to 1999–2000 (Even Years)

Figure 13 : Percentages of Underrepresented Groups Receiving History Ph.D.'s, 1979–2000

Figure 14 : Proportion of Women among New Ph.D.'s in Select Disciplines, 1979–2000

Figure 15 : Proportion of New Ph.D.'s Identified as Racial/Ethnic Minorities in Select Disciplines, 1979–2000

Figure 16 : Education Levels of the Fathers of History PhDs Compared to the General Population, 1960–2000

Figure 17 : Number of Graduate Students in Ph.D. Programs by Institutional Control, 1985–86 to 1999–2000 (Even Years)

Figure 18 : New History Ph.D.'s by Insitutional Control, 1873–2000

Figure 19 : Programs Where New History Ph.D.'s Received Their Undergraduate Degrees, by Carnegie Classification, 1998–2001

Figure 20 : Median Age of New PhDs at Doctorate in Select Disciplines, 1965–2000

Part 2

Table 1 : Tuition costs for entering doctoral students in history, AY 2001

Table 2 : “Typical” financial aid package for entering doctoral students in history, AY 2001

Table 3 : Graduate Course Offerings in AY 2000

Table 4 : Graduate student placements in AY 2000–01 (based on ninety-two responses)

Table 5 : Training Priorities of History Doctoral Programs

Table 6 : Perceived Sources of Information for Graduate Students

Table 7 : Perceived causes of student attrition

 

Last Updated: May 9, 2007