Proposing & Registering for HIST 804

Students will prepare for HIST 804: Doctoral Readings for Minor Field  by generating and circulating a proposal in the semester before they intend to complete their minor field.

The Minor Field Proposal

Putting together a minor field proposal is a rigorous intellectual exercise that compels the student to come terms with what they have read and what they need to read, in order to establish themselves as an authority in their minor field. Students should allow plenty of time to generate this proposal, especially the reading list, and they should anticipate needing to make changes in light of faculty input.

Minor Field Proposal Elements

Proposal statement: The proposal consists of a concise statement (2-3 paragraphs) that defines the scope of the field and introduces the readings the student selected.

One of the intellectual challenges in putting together this proposal is developing the readings, and organizing them into categories, and defending those choices. Students typically sort readings into roughly 7 subfields, which helps to organize the semester for HIST 804. The proposal narrative should explain the student’s thinking behind these choices.

Reading list: The minor field reading list will consist of roughly 50 books total that the student will be examined on. About half are books the student read previously for the two graduate courses that comprise the minor field, and the other half are books that are new to the student. The HIST 804 meetings will be devoted to discussing these additional books and placing them in dialogue with what the student read previously.

The proposal bibliography should denote books the student has already read with an asterisk. It may also be helpful to provide the minor field advisor with the syllabi for the two courses that are counting towards the minor field.

Submitting the Proposal

Circulating the Proposal

The minor field proposal forecasts a tremendous investment of student and faculty time, so it is carefully scrutinized. Students first share the proposal with the minor field advisor. Once the minor field advisor has signed off, the student shares it with the second reader to give them an opportunity to shape the readings.

Submission & Registration

After both the minor field advisor (who serves as first reader on the exam) and the second reader have approved the proposal, the student submits it alongside the Minor Field Proposal Approval Form to the Graduate Committee by way of the Graduate Coordinator. The committee may also request revisions to the proposal. 

Once the proposal is approved, the Graduate Coordinator will email the student registration instructions for HIST 804. Visit “How to Register for Courses” for guidance on registering for individualized section courses like HIST 804.