Admission and Financial Aid
Admissions
Each year the History Department admits a small cohort of graduate
students, with the goal of providing a collegial, intimate, and intellectually
vibrant learning environment. While most candidates are admitted for the Ph.D.
degree, Duke also accepts a few students to pursue an M.A. degree. No university
funding is provided towards the M.A. degree, and only those that can pay their
own tuition should apply. Duke also accepts a few students entering the Law
School for participation in a joint JD/MA degree. Duke does not admit new candidates
for the spring semester. See the Graduate School websites for procedures and
deadlines. We award fellowships to new students in mid-February, and invite
likely candidates to visit campus for a weekend at the end of February to meet
faculty and graduate students.
Funding:
All students accepted in the program have funding, either through
the department, a university fellowship, a fellowship from other academic units
at Duke, or outside funding sources.
University fellowships through the graduate school: The faculty members of the Graduate Committee nominate the most outstanding applicants for university fellowships available to entering students through the graduate school. (Note: There are other university-wide fellowship available to more advanced students; they are described below in section “The Doctoral Dissertation”). The university fellowships available to entering students include:
• The James B. Duke Fellowships
• The Dean's Graduate Fellowships
For more information on these university-wide fellowships, see the Graduate School website.
Fellowships in other academic units at Duke: The department also nominates qualified applicants for fellowships from U other Duke academic units.
Fellowships through sources outside the university : The History Department has been successful in obtaining such support and in recruiting outstanding applicants who have earned outside funding through national or international fellowships such as the Ford, Mellon, and Javits.
Departmental fellowships: Students accepted to the Ph.D. program in the History Department who are not funded by the university, another academic unit, or by outside sources are offered departmental fellowships. Each award is renewable annually, contingent upon satisfactory academic progress. Students may not hold another award (such as Mellon or Javits) or be engaged in full-time or part-time employment concurrently with this fellowship. (That is, although we are pleased when our students win such awards, they cannot be held in addition to a Department Fellowship.)
A Departmental Fellowship covers the following expenses for a five-year period, contingent on satisfactory academic progress in the program:
A stipend
for five years, plus
• Tuition
• Annual registration fee for five years;
• Annual health insurance
• Annual
health fee for five years
• Annual recreation fee for five years.
For the current academic year the stipend is $18,250. It is divided in two parts: the noncompensatory portion ($14,250 for the academic year 2007-2008) is granted without the requirement of labor; the compensatory portion ($4,000 for the academic year 2007-2008) is paid for labor as a teaching assistant, research assistant, or grader in the History Department or in another department or program, such as African and African American Studies, Women's Studies, or the University Writing Program. Over the past few years, the graduate school has been increasing the stipend amount each academic year, although there are no guarantees in this regard.
The department can promise no full stipend after the fifth year, but it does its best to provide support th rough teaching and/or partial fellowships to sixth-year students making satisfactory progress. Advanced graduate students without funding and with good teaching evaluations will be given preference for replacement teaching positions. Students interested in replacement teaching should communicate with the DGS and DUS early in their fifth year and stay in frequent contact about their availability to teach.
Each spring the DGS and the faculty members of the Graduate Committee will if possible award small stipends to all sixth-year graduate students who meet the following criteria: 1) making satisfactory academic progress; 2) lacks a full fellowship from another source; 3) expresses the need for funding in his/her annual report; and 4) has made a good-faith effort to secure external funding during previous years in the program. The department's guiding principle will not be to fund a few members of the rising sixth-year class in full, but to distribute the money available in order to enable as many members of the class as possible to finish their dissertations the subsequent academic year.
The department will pay tuition for all students in the sixth year who are making satisfactory progress. After a student beyond the sixth year in the program has successfully defended his/her dissertation, the Department will reimburse his/her fees for the final semester in which the defense took place.
While the Department Fellowship ensures five years of full support, we expect students to apply for institutional and external fellowships in their fields. Outside fellowships replace departmental funding for students in years one through five of the program. If the outside fellowship is less than what the student would receive through the departmental stipend, the department will bring the student up to that year's stipend rate (both the noncompensatory and compensatory portions), without requiring labor from the student. The department also will pay the student's registration fees, health fee, and recreation fees of students who win external fellowships that do not provide these fees. In accordance with graduate school regulations, students cannot receive automatic credit towards additional funding past the fifth year from the history department, even if they receive outside funding during their five years of funding from the department.
Health insurance is compulsory by University policy. You have the option to accept the graduate student health insurance or to provide it yourself. If you obtain health insurance through an outside provider, the graduate school does not reimburse you for that expense. The Graduate school's funding of health insurance was new in the academic year 2006-2007. There may well be changes in this benefit over the next few years.
Grading, Teaching, and Research Assistantships
As a condition of the Departmental Fellowship awards, each recipient
works for the department as either a grader or a research assistant (up to
9 hours per week throughout one semester, with assignment for two semesters
or a teaching assistant (up to 19.9 hours per week throughout one semester),
Students in their first year usually fulfill this obligation through two Graderships
or Research Assistantships. To enable each graduate student to obtain different
pedagogical experiences, the department hopes to assign holders of Departmental
Fellowships each of these roles during their years in the program. The DGS
and the DGSA do their best to provide diverse of work experiences to each graduate
student. But because this portion of the overall financial package depends
on funds allocated to meet the overall needs of the department and the university,
it is not always possible to assign individual graduate students to particular
jobs in particular semesters. Graduate students who have requests for specific
work assignments should communicate those requests to the DGSA at the end of
each Spring semester, as planning begins for the subsequent academic year.
Payment for service as a GA, TA, or RA is paid to students separately from
their graduate stipend. The department has established work rules that govern
the jobs that may be assigned to GAs, TAs, and RAs. These rules are included
in the section on "Teaching Opportunities" in this Handbook.
Continuation of Funding
Funding for five years is contingent on satisfactory progress
in the program. Students taking courses will receive written evaluations from
their professors after each course. These evaluations will be shared with the
DGS. After their first year in the program, the graduate school requires students
to file a written progress report with the DGS each spring. The DGS, in consultation
with the faculty members of the graduate committee, then reviews those reports
to assess students' progress. Should there be problems, the DGS and the faculty
members of the graduate committee will meet with the student to discuss the
issues and to formulate a plan to resolve them. Although our goal is to assure
every student's success in the program, there are instances where problems
prove intractable and students fail to progress in the program. In those instances,
the DGS and the faculty members of the graduate committee may decide to discontinue
funding and ask that a student withdraw from the program.
Work Study
Additionally, a portion of the Department's graduate funding
each year
can be allocated from "Work-Study" money for students whose financial
situation makes them eligible. To determine eligibility for "Work Study" aid,
students should complete and file a Graduate and Professional School Financial
Aid Statement [GAPSFAS] by January 1 of each year.