Introduction to the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

History Department and its CID Work

The UIUC History Department seeks to improve the graduate program by asking the following background questions: What is the purpose of the Ph.D. in history? In what ways does our program attempt to fulfill that purpose? How well do we think we succeed? What information do we need to acquire about past and present practices to judge our success? How shall we acquire that information? Through an exploration of the future of the discipline, the training instituted for employment, and the timeline to dissertation research, we hope to redefine our mission and methods by which one attains a Ph.D. from our program.

UIUC History Department Homepage

Committee Members

CID Committee

Faculty

Clare Crowston, CID Chair

Peter Fritzsche, Department Chair

Vernon Burton

Shefali Chandra

Fred Hoxie

Clarence Lang

Student Representatives

Kristina Durocher

Sandra Henderson

Kerry Wynn

Graduate Studies Committee

Faculty

Max Edelson

Megan McLaughlin

Kathryn Oberdeck

Leslie Reagan

Charles Stewart

Student Representatives

Jason Tebbe, HGSA President

Ben Murphy, HGSA Vice-President

Karen Rodriguez'G, Women's Caucus

Goals

Our department will restructure the graduate program through discussion and debate in committee meetings and forums involving faculty, graduate students, and alumni. Through the exploration of programmatic, disciplinary, diversity, placement, morale, and procedural issues, the CID team will develop a clear set of skills and habits of mind to be instilled in Ph.D. recipients and then define the procedures by which they will be acquired.

Snapshots

Here is a list of innovations we have made as a part of our work with the CID:

First Year Course Sequence

First Year Evaluation

Adviser-Advisee Guidelines

Dissertation Writing Workshop

Proposal Writing Workshop

Financial Aid Criteria

Creating and Nurturing Robust Intellectual Communities

Documents, Presentations and Links

Commonalities PowerPoint

Key Ideas PowerPoint

Courses

Tour of the History Department

History Department Calendar

Ideal Ph.D. Recipient

Current Work

Admissions and Assessment: The evaluation of prospective student applications will be restructured, as well as the means by which a student's performance is assessed throughout the duration of the program and feedback delivered.

Program Requirements: The first year course sequence and methods requirements will be modified in order to immerse the student in research earlier as well as accelerate the process to ABD (All But Dissertation).

Time to ABD and Preliminary Exams: The number and types of courses required, identification of fields and advisor, and exam timeline may be streamlined in order to regularize and speed the rate at which students reach ABD.

Teaching, Archival Practice, and Information Technology: The role of technology in both archival research and teaching will be explored in the first year course sequence, as well as in pedagogy orientation or workshops.

Report on Requirements

Report on Time to ABD

Report on Teaching

Timeline

September 1: Meeting of former DGS's with CID, meeting of GSC, and creation of standing committee on prelims and intellectual community

September 15: Report on Graduate Education, Past, Present and Future

October 1: Vetting of report by CID and GSC

October 13: CID and GSC Meeting, Subcommittee Reports

October 20: CID and GSC Meeting, Subcommittee Reports continued

October 22: Alumni Forum

November 1: GSC and CID Meeting

November 17: GSC and CID Meeting

December 1: Graduate Student and Faculty Forum

Spring 2005: Proposals and voting on prelims

Graduate/Faculty Forum Report

Report on Graduate Education