Doctoral Dissertation

Writing a great dissertation is the goal of every student’s doctoral training. After passing their comprehensive exams, students form a dissertation committee, write a dissertation proposal, and move forward on their research. Ideally, students spend their fourth year doing archival research and their fifth year writing their dissertations. The doctoral students have a standing writing workshop for dissertators to share and critique each other’s work in progress. Our students have won prestigious external fellowships to fund their research and writing, including the ACLS and ACLS/Mellon, Newcombe, Ford Foundation, Fulbright and Fulbright-Hays, among many others. Click here for a list of completed dissertations and dissertations in progress.