For the past few years I have been fascinated with the First World War, particularly American military involvement. As stated elsewhere on this site, my proposed dissertation topic would have me analyzing the history and role of the Coast Artillery Corps on the Western Front in battles such as the Meuse-Argonne. Considering the level of scholarship already present, my research would explore a neglected branch of the Army while better understanding the contributions of the Corps as a land force. Although a brief summary, obviously the topic requires further development, that is the starting point for my research. Discussing my interest in that subject, however, is not the focus of this post. Instead I would like to express my other interest and how it may, or may not, affect my academic future.
This semester I am taking a course solely on the Vietnam War. Incidentally, this is my first true post-Second World War American history course. Needless to say my understanding of the Cold War era leaves a lot to be desired. All of that aside, my escalating interest in Vietnam might cause me to shift my Civil War to Second World War focus to one that encompasses America’s more modern conflicts. The World Wars onwards might be a better focus simply because of the amount of literature that needs to be written. That realization has started to make me wonder what would happen if my interest in the Vietnam war led to changing my dissertation topic to one that dealt with some aspect of America’s turbulent foray into Southeast Asia. At present the idea of centering on 20th Century warfare seems far less drastic and would allow for my Great War topic.
Granted I have comps to worry about first, I still find it prudent to ponder these questions before I start asking certain professors to join my committee. For instance, if I shift to a more modern topic it would help to have professors whose strengths lie in Cold War-era topics. Alternatively, perhaps I just worry too much! Any outside thoughts and suggestions are welcome.
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My first two weeks… « Thoughts on Military History 22 January 2010 at 6:18 pm
[...] Not so for me. Doing a History PhD in the UK, compared with those in the US (See Robert’s topic on the course he is doing in his first year), is very loose and structured by yourself. I have no [...]
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From One War to Another - Thompson-Werk 3 April 2010 at 12:13 pm
[...] in January, I discussed my growing fascination with the Vietnam War. Last week I officially changed my [...]
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Synopsis
The purpose of Thompson Werk is to present the musings of a US War and Society doctoral student. Discussion topics principally center around the World Wars and Vietnam.
The opinions expressed on this site are not be confused with those of my colleagues, employers, friends, family, and/or anyone else associated with me.
Contact me with any comments, complaints, and/or questions.
Responses
- Robert: Everyone needs to see Vietnam,
- Ross Mahoney: Sounds like it is another
- Robert: My original post omitted the
- Robert: Hey Ross, Vietnam is a
- Ross Mahoney: Robert it looks like a
Robert I am sure we have discussed this before but is this Vietnam course a taught module on your PhD? Is this normal in the states?
Hey Ross, most, if not all, US PhD. programs require a certain number of course credit hours prior to taking comps and moving on to independent research. In my case, the Vietnam course gives me credit towards meeting the credit hour requirement. I hope that makes sense.
Yeah I think so. Just different from here. Why do they require this? I have no taught element. I have a voluntary seminar that I attend with other PhD students but it is not a requisite of the course.
The courses are meant to introduce students to a wide variety of historiography and methodological approaches. Since I am majoring in American history, I have to take a number of historiography classes on various time periods in US history. Many of the books covered in these classes are also on our reading lists, which in turn helps us prepare for comprehensive exams. I imagine you have a lot more freedom in your program.
Yeah quite a lot. I could take research/historiography/metholodgy modules from the departments MA/MPhil courses if I felt I needed them but having done an MPhil, a research degree, already I have chosen not to as they do not hold much relevance to me.
What do you mean by comprehensive exams? Is this you Viva at the end of you PhD once you have submitted or something extra?
I envy your program!
For me comprehensive exams cover my major field and two minor fields. Over a period of four days, I will need to answer questions related to literature associated with my fields. After the written portion is complete, I will have a meeting with my committee to verbally demonstrate my mastery of the scholarship. All of this has to be done before being permitted to submit a dissertation topic.
Ah I understand. That is your version of an MPhil to PhD upgrade here in the UK. Most students register for an MPhil and at the end of the first year they submit some work, usually a lit review, to see if they upgrade to a PhD. Even though I have registered straight onto a PhD I still have to submit a lit review but this is as it is all linked to quality check by the department. For me this should be just a formality, hopefully.
Two ways of attacking the same problem I suspect.
Interesting. Over here both MA and PhD students need to do coursework prior to writing a thesis. My case might not be the norm since I did my MA elsewhere. If I had stayed at the same university, more of my MA classes would meet the PhD course requirements.
Over here MA students do too. I am an oddity as I did a research MPhil, due to distance.
Normally students do an MA then start the MPhil/PhD process. When I graduated in December I was one of two MPhil graduands. It is not very common and at Birmingham there are even two forms of MPhil, a taught version with a smaller thesis and a straight research degree; the one I did. The taught one concentrates on research and historiography.
I suspect that if they do the research training that is offered, our uni does a Training Needs Analysis for each new students, then they do submit work though this usually forms the basis of their lit review and then part of the introduction to their thesis. It seems a bit more flexible over here but it is being tightened up as there is more pressure to ensure that students complete PhD’s as the funding bodies need to see that there money is well spent.
I see, well that certainly makes sense. My MA program in Canada was similar in that we could chose between three program tracks. We could take all courses, courses and major research paper (two semesters of coursework prior to research), and courses and thesis (like the previous option but a year longer in length).
Got to love the issues with funding no matter where you go.
In the UK you tend to specialise rather earlier than in the US, so a UK taught masters is similar to the pre-comps phase of a US PhD, with the addition of a 15-20 Kword dissertation. Both systems have their advantages, but like the common language, the differences can confuse…
Jakob I think you used the right word there ‘confuse’! It is interesting to see the two systems in action though.
Robert how long is your course?
Hi Jakob, that makes a lot sense. I agree with both you and Ross, the slight differences are the confusing bit.
Ross, well I have only completed one week of my second semester. However, all of my courses seem interesting. Besides the Vietnam War course, I am taking a standard War & Society class and the second half of American historiography. Typically most courses meet for about three hours once a week and last for fourteen weeks.
I actually meant overall. Is it 3 years like over here, though we can go to 4 for writing up purposes, though that is getting frowned upon by the research boards, or 4? Have you started research your thesis or do you leave that until after your exams? I am jsut wondering because if you are only doing it for 3 years then 2 years to do your thesis seems like a challenge. What is the word limit on the thesis?
Ah, I apologize for the misunderstanding. Typically PhD course work lasts for about two years, averaging three courses per semester. It is a challenge for sure. I am not sure what the length requirement is, but I think it is around five chapters. To be honest, I have not begun to worry that far a head, yet.