Graduate School from Start to Finish

Contents

Admissions & Acceptance

Application and Decision Process

Navigating the Graduate Admissions Process by Michael H. Creswell (December 2009)

Course Work

Coursework (PDF), prepared by the Committee for Graduate Students

Foreign Language Study

Guide to Foreign Language Study for Graduate Students, prepared by Erica Heinsen-Roach for the Graduate and Early Career Committee in February 2017

Master's Degree

Retrieving the Master’s Degree from the Dustbin of History, prepared by Philip M. Katz for the AHA's Committee on Committee on the Master’s Degree in History.

Issues in Graduate Education: Forum on the Master's Degree

Preparing for Comprehensive Exams: Oral and Written

Preparation Tips for Comprehensive Exams (PDF), prepared by the Committee for Graduate Students (June 2007)

Tips for Oral Qualifying Exams (PDF) by Margaret Mih Tillman (August 2018)

Funding/Grant Writing

Guide to Preparing Fellowship Applications by Aaron Hale-Dorrell and Jennifer Schaefer; approved by GECC September 21, 2016

Calendar - Opportunities for Research Grants and Fellowships

AHA Research Grants

Conceptualizing a Dissertation

Searchable database of Doctoral History Dissertations at Canadian and U.S. History Programs

Dissertation Proposal Stages(PDF), prepared by the Committee for Graduate Students (June 2007)

Conducting Research

AHA Guide to Archival Research: approved by GECC September 21, 2016; adapted by Elizabeth Lundeen and Adam J. Pratt from:

Taking a Byte Out of the Archives: Making Technology Work for You by Kirklin Bateman, Sheila Brennan, Douglas Mudd, and Paula Petrik (Perspectives, Jan. 2005)

ArchivesWiki, a clearinghouse of information about archival resources throughout the world

Zotero: Social and Semantic Computing for Historical Scholarship by Daniel J. Cohen

Center for New Media: Research and Tools

Organizing and Writing a Dissertation

From Concept to Completion: A Dissertation-Writing Guide for History Students by the AHA Graduate and Early Career Committee

Practical Advice for Writing Your Dissertation, Book, or Article by Liena Vayzman (Perspectives, Dec. 2006)

Dissertation writing blog: "Ask the Dissertation Diva"

From Notes to Narrative: The Art of Crafting a Dissertation or Monograph

Statement on Electronic Publication of Theses and Dissertations (2012)

Statement on Policies Regarding the Option to Embargo Completed History PhD Dissertations (2013)

Guidelines for the Dissertation Process (2016)

Networking

AHA Annual Meeting

H-Grad

Planning a Graduate Student Conference by Andrew L. Johns and Kenneth A Osgood (Perspectives, March 1999)

Guide to Getting the Most Out of Conferences and Professional Meetings (PDF)

Conference Rules by Linda Kerber

      • Conference Rules, 1: Everything You Need to Know about Presenting a Scholarly Paper in Public
      • Conference Rules, 2: Everything you need to know about introducing speakers and running a panel discussion
      • Conference Rules, 3: Everything you need to know about your role as a commentator or member of the audience

Teaching

Syllabus Finder from George Mason University's Center for History and New Media

"'We Shall Teach'": Preparing History Graduate Students for the Classroom by Terry Seip

Teaching History at a Community College by Emily Sohmer Tai (Perspectives, Feb. 2004)

Getting Started by Terry Seip

A Recipe for a Successful Lecture by Peter Filene

Teaching in High-Intensity Mode by Rudolph M. Bell

Publishing

Publishing History (Perspectives, May 2002)

Directory of History Journals, links to English-language journals that publish in various fields of history

Mentoring

Advisory Committee on Disability Mentoring Program

Forum on Mentoring