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Ph. D. in History (in English)

The History PhD at IHU

IHU’s PhD Program in History can be entered both after an MA degree in a relevant field, aswell as directly after a BA degree, in which case it is referred to as a (US-style) integratedPhD program (meaning a combination of the usual Turkish MA and PhD levels). As previously indicated, in both cases the History Department ambition is to put our best PhD graduates more or less on the same competitive level as their counterparts from Europe or the US. To that end, (i) we ask for a lot of course-work; (ii) we are especially strong on languagepreparation; and (iii) we try to provide meticulous and supportive thesis supervision for our candidates. In this regard, a special word has to be said about research languages. Crucial is an advanced ability to work with primary sources in Ottoman Turkish, interspersed with Arabic (and sometimes Persian) expressions, and written in various calligraphical styles changing over the centuries. Furthermore, in order to embark upon Ottoman Turkish, students have to have at least a basic level of fluency in Modern Turkish (and the more the better). Our 600-coded research seminars can only be taken if students have an initial reading knowledge of Ottoman documents. This means that for students just beginning on Ottoman Turkish, these 600-coded seminars can only be taken in their second year. Furthermore, international students coming in with neither Modern Turkish nor Ottoman Turkish are going to be at a further disadvantage. If they limit themselves to taking first TUR and then TLL courses only during regular term- time, they are likely to have to postpone their 600-coded research seminars to their third year. The solution is to make effective use of our Summer School, which offers excellent instruction in all the languages relevant to the History PhD. Particularly useful in this regrd are our double-intensive courses coded 507 and 508, which compress two normal semesters’ work into seven weeks at the rate of 20 hours per week. This idea has been built into the PhD tables below. We cannot require our new international students to do so, but we do strongly recommend that if admitted with a top scholarship, they should come in early in their pre- matriculation summer to start with TUR 507 if they don’t have any Modern Turkish, or TLL 507 if they have some Modern Turkish but no Ottoman Turkish. They should also make good use of the Summer School after their first regular year of course-work. All these options have been incorporated into the tables below. 

Head of the Department:

Prof. Halil Berktay

Purposes of the Program:

The History PhD (post-MA)

We ask for a minimum of 12 courses, but an expansion to 14 or 16 courses may also be recommended depending on individual students’ needs and requirements. All students have to take two semesters of World History (HIST 503-504) plus two semesters of Historiography (HIST 505-506). In addition, they have to take at least two 500-coded core courses, at least two 600-coded seminars, and at least two 700-coded tutorials. These add up to 10 courses, and they can fill up the rest (or go beyond the minimum) with any further courses they consider useful to their overall formation. Another rule to watch out for is that they can have only two language courses counted toward their overall 12-course requirement.

This, then, is what it looks like:

  • 12 academic courses in all

4 required courses, to be taken as 1+1 in the first, and 1+1 in the second year

HIST 503 HIST 504

HIST 505 HIST 506

2 core-elective courses from among 541, 551, 561 or 562

2 core-elective courses from among our 600-coded seminars

2 core-elective courses from among our 700-coded tutorials

2 departmental electives (including at most 2 language courses)

  • in addition, two YÖK-required seminars, also to be taken in the first year

HIST 600 HIST 601

  • taking and passing a set of PhD Comprehensive Exams, framed as HIST 697
  • submitting and receiving pproval for a Thesis Proposal, framed as HIST 698
  • researching and writing an original PhD Thesis, framed as HIST 699, over 4-6 semesters

The History PhD (post-BA)

Here, because of the absence of  previous History MA, we ask for a minimum of 20 courses. The distributionl rules are similar. Once more, all students have to take two semesters of World History (HIST 503-504) plus two semesters of Historiography (HIST 505-506). In addition, they have to take at least three 500-coded core courses, at least three 600-coded seminars, and at least three 700-coded tutorials. These add up to 13 courses, and they can fill up the rest (or go beyond the minimum) with any further courses they consider useful to their overall formation. Another rule to watch out for is that they can have only four language courses counted toward their overall 20-course requirement.

So this is what it looks like:

  • 20 academic courses in all

4 required courses, to be taken as 1+1 in the first, and 1+1 in the second year

HIST 503 HIST 504

HIST 505 HIST 506

3 core-elective courses from among 541, 551, 561 or 562

3 core-elective courses from among our 600-coded seminars

3 core-elective courses from among our 700-coded tutorials

7 departmental electives (including at most language courses

  • in addition, two YÖK-required seminars, also to be taken in the first year

HIST 600 HIST 601

  • taking and passing a set of PhD Comprehensive Exams, framed as HIST 697
  • submitting and receiving pproval for a Thesis Proposal, framed as HIST 698
  • researching and writing an original PhD Thesis, framed as HIST 699, over 5-6 semesters

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history@ihu.edu.tr