Admissions - General Information

---

Administration

The Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) oversees all aspects of the graduate program, including admission, financial support, and students' progress towards the degree. Students may direct general questions about the program to Director of Graduate Studies, Professor Thongchai Winichakul, twinicha@wisc.edu (608)263-8931.

Questions about the individual programs of study are best directed to the faculty in those programs.  Each graduate student has a faculty advisor (also called “major professor”) to guide her/him through the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees. The Department also has a Graduate Program Advisor to assist graduate students through the program with questions about degree requirements.  For additional details on degree requirements , contact Leslie Adadie, Graduate Program Advisor, abadie@wisc.edu   (608)263-1961.

For information and guidance on admissions, and questions regarding financial aid should be directed to Graduate Admissions and Funding Coordinator, Jane Williams, jrwillia@wisc.edu,
(608)263-1962.

Milestones

The sequence of milestones that mark students’ progress through our program is shown in the box above.   Work is ordinarily done simultaneously on the Master’s degree, the Ph.D. language requirements, and the minor field.  The Master’s degree and language requirements must be completed before the preliminary examination. Whether the minor must be completed before prelims varies by program, but, in any event, only after both prelims and the minor have been completed may a student be admitted to candidacy for the doctorate.  From that point on “dissertators” focus their energies on the dissertation.

For more detailed information on reaching the milestones, please see the Graduate Handbook (pdf).

Credits Required

To be eligible for the master’s degree, the Graduate School requires students to complete a minimum of 16 graduate-level credits at UW-Madison. In some programs in the History Department, however, requirements range up to 27 credits for the M.A.  Students may be able to use prior graduate work to meet program requirements but not the Graduate School’s minimum credit requirement.

To be eligible for the Ph.D., students must take a total of 32 graduate-level credits at UW-Madison (including those taken for the M.A.).

Each semester, students must register for a minimum number of credits.  Pre-dissertators - those who have not yet completed the M.A., the Ph.D. language requirements, and the preliminary examination - register for a minimum of 9 credits each semester.  Dissertators register for 3 credits per semester. In exceptional circumstances and for limited periods, students may be permitted to enroll part-time (although program deadlines will still apply).

Study Programs

When prospective students apply to our graduate program, they must choose a specific study program as their major area of specialization.  This is an important choice.  Graduate students are admitted to specific programs of study in the History Department. Degree requirements vary somewhat from program to program, and changing to a different study program after admission requires a formal application to the new program during the regular admissions process. 

So please choose carefully -- your graduate work will be in the study program to which you are admitted.  The study programs in the History Department are shown in the box above.

Within a given study program, a graduate student may transfer from one field (sub-area of specialization) to another with the approval of the new major professor and the Graduate Council. Click to view study Programs...

Bridge Program

The Bridge Program is an academic partnership between the Department of Afro-American Studies (AAS) and the Department of History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. It is designed to allow students to complete the M.A. in AAS and the Ph.D. in History and to create a stimulating, intellectual environment that builds on the strengths of the University’s premier Afro-American Studies program and distinguished History department. Students gain interdisciplinary training in Afro-American Studies with a concentration in history, take some of their courses in the History department, and recruit a member of the History department faculty to serve their M.A. committee. Once they have successfully completed the M.A., students cross the bridge to the History Ph.D. program to continue their studies in a range of fields, including African history, East Asian history, European history, Latin American and Caribbean history, Middle Eastern and North African history, South Asian history, Southeast Asian history, Gender and Women’s history and United States history. Click for more information on the Bridge Program...

Search | Site Index | Contact Us | Get Adobe Reader | Employment Opportunities