Upcoming Events

  • Island and Empire: How Civil War in Crete Mobilized the Ottoman World by Uğur Zekeriya Peçe, Lehigh University December 12, 2024 at 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm A-130
  • Bilkent History Graduate Symposium Call for Paper Deadline February 14, 2025 For more information please refer to: history.bilkent.edu.tr/bilkent-history-graduate-symposium-2025
  • Bilkent History Graduate Symposium 2025 Accepted Abstracts Announcement March 1, 2025 via e-mail.

 

 

There are three tracks within the Programs for Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy in History: Ottoman History, European History and American History.

FACULTY OF ECONOMICS, ADMINISTRATIVE AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY
PROGRAM FOR DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 1

 

 

Number of courses

Total Credits

Compulsory courses

0

0

Compulsory thesis-related courses

3

0

Electives

8

24

Total

11

24

 

Compulsory Courses:

Course Code

Course Name

Credit

GE 690

Academic Practices

0

HIST 693

Pre-Thesis Seminar 2

0

HIST 699

Ph.D. Dissertation

0

Total

0

 

Restricted Elective Courses: (Seven of the following)

All HIST 5XX or higher level courses with at least 3 credits.

 

Elective Course: (One of the following)

All 5XX or higher level courses with at least 3 credits.

 

1. There are three tracks within the Program for Doctor of Philosophy in History: Ottoman History, European History and American History.

2. To satisfy the requirements of the Pre-Thesis Seminar, additional thesis-related courses, including language courses, may be specified by the student’s Academic Advisor and the Department.

 

What does this mean in practice?

HIST 693 Pre-Thesis Seminar is a non-credit course, directed by the student’s academic advisor, which runs in each of the semesters of the PhD Program until the student’s comprehensive exams, designed to ensure that the student is doing, or has done, the necessary relevant courses for his or her thesis and degree, both within the credits specified above, and sometimes in addition to them, and that the student is otherwise prepared to graduate as Doctor of Philosophy in History.

In the case of each track in the Doctor of Philosophy Program, there are normally required courses. There may be exceptions made to the requirements below, but all exceptions need to be approved by both the student’s academic advisor and the department.

 

For all PhD Students

All students admitted directly into the PhD program without having done our MA program are required (unless specifically exempted by the Department because they have done the equivalent in other institutions) to have completed additionally the following courses, either during a Preparatory Year for PhD or during the first four semesters of the PhD Program, in addition to the courses and credits specified above:

HIST 507 Methodology in History I
HIST 508 Methodology in History II

Students should also be aware that the Department requires all PhD students to demonstrate some proficiency in two Modern Foreign Languages other than English or Turkish by the time of graduation from the PhD Program and should take additional language courses if this requirement has not already been satisfied or waived because of an existing proficiency in such languages.

Note that the following course should be taken every semester until graduation:

GE 690            Academic Practices

Note that following course should be taken every semester until the student’s comprehensive exams:

HIST 693         Pre-Thesis Seminar

Note that the following course should be taken every semester after the student’s comprehensive exams and until graduation:

HIST 699         Master’s Thesis

 

 

 

 

PhD Program (American History Track) — Courses Normally Required

Among the 7 required Restrictive Elective Courses should be any offered courses, not already completed, that are designated by the Department as American History courses. In most cases this designation should be obvious. If in doubt, ask. Note that some courses with a transatlantic reach may be designated as both American and European History courses. Any remaining Restrictive Elective Courses, and the single unrestricted Elective Course should be chosen in consultation with the student’s academic adviser.

 

PhD Program (European History Track) — Courses Normally Required

Among the 7 required Restrictive Elective Courses should be any offered courses, not already completed, that are designated by the Department as European History courses. In most cases this designation should be obvious. If in doubt, ask. Note that some courses with a transatlantic reach may be designated as both American and European History courses. Any remaining Restrictive Elective Courses, and the single unrestricted Elective Course, should be chosen in consultation with the student’s academic adviser.

All European History students admitted directly to the PhD without having done our MA program are required, if deemed appropriate by the Department to their field of study within European History, to complete the following courses, if and when offered, either during a Preparatory Year for PhD or during the first four semesters of the PhD Program, in addition to the credits and courses specified above:

HIST 416     Medieval British History
HIST 481     Latin for Medieval and Early Modern History I
 HIST 482     Latin for Medieval and Early Modern History II

 

PhD Program (Ottoman History Track) — Courses Normally Required

Among the 7 required Restrictive Elective Courses should be any offered courses, not already completed, that are designated by the Department as Ottoman History courses. In most cases this designation should be obvious. If in doubt, ask. Any remaining Restrictive Elective Courses, and the single unrestricted Elective Course, should be chosen in consultation with the student’s academic adviser.

All Ottoman History students admitted directly to the PhD program without having done our MA program are required (unless specifically exempted from these by the Department because they have done the equivalent in other institutions) to complete the following courses, either during a Preparatory Year for PhD or during the first four semesters of the PhD Programme, in addition to the courses and credits specified above:

HIST 401      Ottoman Turkish and Paleography I
HIST 402      Ottoman Turkish and Paleography II
HIST 501      Ottoman Paleography I
HIST 502      Ottoman Paleography II