PhD Program by Year

Year 1

• Regular PhD program (admitted with an MA degree):
  • ​Complete four half-year courses.
• Direct-entry PhD students:
  • Complete five half-year courses.
• All PhD students:
  
  • Beginning of year: Meet with your supervisor and the Associate Chair, Graduate to determine your courses; options for completion of your language requirement; and the requirements for your collaborative specialization (if you have enrolled or are planning to enroll in one).
  • Make sure that you are enrolled in the appropriate courses that fulfill your course requirements. Communicate with the graduate office if you wish to make changes to your coursework plans. 
  • Begin working on fulfilling your language requirements. You have up to 12 months after you complete your comprehensive exam to fulfill your language requirement but we strongly encourage you to complete it this year if you can.
  • Start of second semester: Meet with your supervisor to discuss potential comprehensive fields and begin reaching out to faculty who could supervise those fields. 
  • By April: Your fields and comp committees should be set.
  • May 31: By this deadline you should have met with your full comprehensive exams committee and agreed on the reacing list for each of your fields. These lists must be submitted for approval to the Associate Chair, Graduate by the deadline. 

Year 2

• Direct-entry PhD students:
  • Complete four additional half-year courses.
• All PhD students:
  
  • Regular comprehensive field meetings with your field supervisors should take place throught the summer, fall, and winter. These meetings should give you the opportunity to discuss your full reading list for that field in preparation for your comprehensive exam. 
  • Continue working on fulfilling your language requirements. You have up to 12 months after you complete your comprehensive exam to fulfill your language requirement but we strongly encourage you to complete it this year if you can. 
  • October/November: You should initiate a meeting of your full comprehensive exams committee. At this meeting you and your committee should discuss the following issues:

    • How are you progressing in all of your fields? Will you be ready to take the exam by April? Will you perhaps need to delay until September of year 4? Do you have a clear idea of what the actual comps written and oral exams will look like? Are you on track to complete their language requirement by the end of year 3? Is everything going as it should in all of the fields or is a course-correction of some kind perhaps necessary?  

  • April (normally): Write comprehensive exams. (They are also held in October and January.) Once you have passed your comprehensive exams regular meetings with your disseration supervisor should begin. 
  • Six weeks after your comprehensive exams: Draft of your thesis proposal is due to your dissertation committee.

Year 3

• October 31: This is the deadline for you to have initiated your first annual meeting of your dissertation committee. You should prepare a progress report and an updated version of your dissertation proposal. After the meeting a signed and completed Annual Supervisory Committee Report must be submitted to the graduate office. 
• By end of year (normally): You should have completed your language requirements.
• Conduct research. (See: Safety Abroad policies, Research Ethics, Centre for International Experience)

Year 4 & Year 5 

• October 31: This is the deadline for you to have initiated your annual meeting of your dissertation committee. You should prepare a progress report and an updated version of your dissertation proposal. After the meeting a signed and completed Annual Supervisory Committee Report must be submitted to the graduate office.

Year 6 & Beyond 

• October 31: This is the deadline for you to have initiated your annual meeting of your dissertation committee. You should prepare a progress report and an updated version of your dissertation proposal. After the meeting a signed and completed Annual Supervisory Committee Report must be submitted to the graduate office.
• Regular PhD program (admitted with an MA degree):
  • ​After six years, you will have to apply for an extension from our department.
• Direct-entry PhD students:
  • ​After seven years, you will have to apply for an extension from our department.
• Apply for doctoral completion funding

Before Your Thesis Defence

• As you near completion of your dissertation please consult School of Graduate Studies Final Oral Examinations (FOE) Guidelines. 
• Eight (8) weeks before examination date:
  
  • Submit a final copy of your thesis to each member of your committee
  • Submit an abstract (max. 350 words) to the graduate office

After Your Successful Thesis Defence

• Submit:
  • One digital copy of your thesis to the School of Graduate Studies (See: the School of Graduate Studies’ guide to producing your thesis.)
  • An abstract of your thesis (maximum 350 words) to the Department of History’s graduate office. 

The School of Graduate Studies includes general instructions for the Electronic Thesis Submission process.