Department Graduate Handbook

Information concerning the process of applying for admission to the graduate program in History may be found on the department’s website.

The department requires students to submit all application materials to the university’s Office of Graduate & Professional Admissions.

Application deadline for the PhD program (including the integrated MA/PhD program): December 1 for US applicants; November 30 for international applicants.

Application deadline for the stand-alone MA program: January 30 for all applicants. 

No late applications will be accepted, and our department does not re-open the application past the posted deadlines. 

Students may enter the graduate program only in the upcoming Autumn Semester. However, upon admission to the program, students may petition to begin their programs during the proceeding Summer Term.

Admissions Office

The following items should all be submitted electronically to the Office of Graduate & Professional Admissions:

1. A completed, signed, and dated OSU Graduate School admission application, along with the application fee.
2. Official transcripts for all previous undergraduate and graduate academic work. This includes transcripts from any study abroad institutions.
3. A brief (approximately three to five pages, double-spaced) intellectual autobiography and statement of purpose. Your essay should explain why you wish to pursue a graduate program in History and include your probable major field(s) of study (see “List of fields for the MA and PhD” on page 12 of this handbook). It should also include the historical questions that most interest you, your career goals, the reasons you are applying to Ohio State’s History program, and the faculty member(s) with whom you wish to study.
4. A one- to two-page curriculum vitae (CV), including your education, accomplishments, and qualifications for graduate study in the major field of choice. Your CV should indicate your training in foreign languages, noting your competence in speaking, reading, and writing.
5. Three letters of recommendation from persons acquainted with your scholarly ability.
6. A sample of your scholarly writing, such as an MA or Honors thesis (you may include one or two chapters if the thesis is lengthy), a research paper, or a historiographical essay. Your writing sample should be no longer than 50 double-spaced pages.
    

Steps to take following admission:

1. Formally accept your offer of admission in your Applicant Center. You should notify the Director of Graduate Studies, Graduate Studies Coordinator, and your faculty contact/advisor of your decision to accept. Fellowship awardees must accept their fellowship offer through the link included with their fellowship notification letter no later than April 15.
2. Inform the Graduate Studies Coordinator of any change in your status. If you need to defer your enrollment, please notify the Graduate Studies Coordinator immediately. Your application can be reactivated for two additional semesters without further fees.
3. Consult with your assigned advisor to discuss your proposed program of study and its requirements. Identify which courses you need to take and when they are available. Consider which Autumn Semester courses you will take.
4. Register for courses by the Registrar’s enrollment deadline. The Department of History is not responsible for any late enrollment fees incurred by lack of timely enrollment. If you have questions about registration logistics, contact the Graduate Studies Coordinator.
5. After arriving on campus, update your local address and telephone number in your Buckeyelink Student Center, and keep them current thereafter. After you establish your OSU email account, you must check it regularly.
6. During your first year of study, you should define your major field of concentration and at least one of your minor fields. Students should carefully consider the ways in which their minor fields will reinforce or supplement the major field and lay a foundation for their professional careers.
7. Be aware that intellectual interests mature and change during the course of study. A student may change advisors, provided another faculty member agrees to accept them as an advisee. Contact the Graduate Studies Coordinator to facilitate a change in advisor.
8. Keep a copy of this Graduate Handbook throughout your course of study here at OSU. It contains the rules under which you entered; rules change from time to time, but the rules in place when you enrolled will continue to apply to you. 

Orientation

New students should attend both the Graduate School’s welcome session and the department’s new student orientation. Both take place at the beginning of the Autumn Semester. For students entering the program as GTAs, there is a mandatory teaching workshop, sponsored by the Drake Institute for Teaching & Learning, during the week prior to the start of Autumn Semester classes. Faculty will ordinarily be available for advice about programs of study during the week prior to the start of the semester.

The Advisor/Advisee Relationship

The advisor/advisee relationship is one of the most widely recognized factors in a successful graduate experience. Some of the more important responsibilities include the following:

Advisors

• Maintain regular communication with their advisees even if the advisors are on leave;
• Are aware of the curricular choices of advisees each semester;
• Articulate and respect established deadlines;
• Check GPAs and other performance measures;
• Mentor advisees, share lessons learned through professional experience, and guide advisees into the profession.

Advisees

• Initiate regular communication with their advisors even if the advisees are not on campus;
• Inform their advisors, at the beginning of each semester, of the courses they are taking;
• Learn and respect established deadlines and Graduate School protocols;
• Arrange for letters of recommendation and signatures at least two weeks in advance of a given deadline;
• Actively explore professional opportunities that lead to achievement and growth.

Meetings

The program includes multiple opportunities to assess student progress and overall intellectual development. Advisors and advisees should consult regularly throughout the year, and graduate students are required to submit annual reports of their progress. It is expected that there will be at least three meetings per year between advisor and advisee. These three meetings would typically be:

1. Beginning of the Autumn Semester: e.g., to review summer progress; clarify plans and goals for the year; discuss upcoming teaching duties.
2. Beginning of the Spring Semester: e.g., to clarify plans and goals for the semester; discuss upcoming teaching duties; discuss possible classes to be taken the following year.
3. End of the Spring Semester: e.g., to review student progress during the year and complete the annual review; discussion of summer plans.

In addition, the following two landmark consultations should be scheduled as indicated:

1. During the second semester of study, the student should meet with their advisor to discuss progress to date and plans for the coming year. For students entering with a BA, this meeting typically includes specific discussion of the MA examination (or thesis, if chosen as the option).
2. During the second year, PhD students should meet with their advisor and other members of their PhD candidacy examination committee, and MA students with their advisor and MA committee, to discuss progress to date and plans for the coming year. 
    

In consultation with their advisors, students entering the PhD program with a BA will work with three successive committees at OSU: the MA committee, the candidacy committee, and the dissertation committee. Students entering the PhD program with an MA will work with the last two. Fields have varying expectations for completion times of the MA thesis and candidacy exam; students should consult their advisors to learn the expectations. Students entering the MA program with have only an MA committee.

Change of Advisor

Should a student wish to change advisors, the student should email the Graduate Studies Coordinator with the request, cc’ing the new advisor as indication of their acceptance of the change. The student should also notify the former advisor of this change.

Residency

All students should make every effort to obtain Ohio residency status, assuming they are eligible (normally after one year). This is especially important for unfunded students, for students who have run out of funding, and for those who wish to obtain a research position in an academic unit that requires in-state residency. Information on how to achieve residency may be found on the Registrar’s website.

5000-level Elective Courses
These courses introduce foundational coursework and research, being dual-career courses (offered both for graduate credit and undergraduate credit). To count for graduate credit, a 5000-level course must not be taught by a graduate student. It is the responsibility of the student to ensure that any 5000-level course in which they are enrolled is taught with appropriate instruction to count as graduate credit. NOTE: 4000-level courses may also be accepted for credit if they are non-History elective courses, with the permission of the advisor.

7000-level Reading Courses

These courses serve to acquaint students with the literature of the field. Such courses give students wide-ranging bibliographical knowledge and introduce them to the major interpretive issues and controversies that have characterized the development of scholarship in the field. History 7193 is a graduate-level independent study course that requires a contract between the student and the instructor. There are two versions of History 7193: 7193.01 (graded A-E, and therefore counted toward the GPA), and 7193.02 (graded S/U, not counted toward the GPA). Students should enroll in 7193.01 unless directed otherwise by the instructor, in consultation with their advisor(s).

8000-level Seminars

In these seminars, students conduct research in primary source materials, integrate the results of their research with pertinent secondary sources, and aim to produce papers of publishable quality. Students will submit their work to the constructive criticism of their peers as well as the instructor. History 8193 is a graduate-level independent research course that requires a contract between the student and the instructor. It is intended to allow students to study the kind of research topics that one would normally study in an 8000-level seminar before committing to a dissertation topic. It is graded A-E and may be taken for up to six credits per semester, and for up to 15 credits (maximum five iterations) in total.

Thesis and Dissertation Courses

6999 is the MA thesis writing course. The student must register for this course with a faculty member and should make sure that the faculty member is aware of the registration, so that a grade of S or U may be awarded at the end of the relevant semester.

8999 is the PhD dissertation writing course. All 8999 sections are scheduled with the Director of Graduate Studies as the instructor of record, though students will work with their individual advisor(s). The Director of Graduate Studies will email the faculty at the end of the semester for guidance on posting grades of S or U.

Grading Policy

Graduate students are graded in their coursework on a scale of A to E. Graduate students must maintain a GPA of at least 3.5 to continue as Graduate Associates, and all students must maintain a GPA of 3.2 to remain in the PhD program. Grades in graduate classes are awarded on the following basis:

Purpose
The purpose of the PhD program is to train superior students in the skills necessary to enable them to add substantially to public and scholarly understanding of history. Students will be expected to acquire competence in their chosen fields and to develop professional expertise in research and writing, making use of both traditional and newer methods of historical inquiry. To this end, students are required to master the basic tools of research in their respective fields, such as language, paleography, and quantitative skills.

To broaden their horizons as historians and to prepare them for careers other than teaching, students are encouraged to augment their training with the techniques of inquiry and analysis of other academic disciplines. The PhD program at OSU should not only qualify a person to perform successfully in the academic world, but should also be of considerable value for careers in business, government, and other areas where the historian’s knowledge and skills in research and communication are useful. Thus, students will have the opportunity to build into their programs correlative training outside the department.

A student may be admitted directly to the PhD program upon completion of a baccalaureate degree, with the favorable recommendation of the Graduate Studies Committee and upon consent of a faculty member to serve as the student's advisor.

Credit Hours
At least 50 credit hours beyond the MA degree, of which no more than 30 hours may be devoted to research and writing the dissertation (History 8999). For students who enter with a BA, 80 total credit hours are required.

Graduate School Fellowships

The Department of History nominates students to the Graduate School for fellowship funding, including University Fellowships and Graduate Access Fellowships. Students do not apply for these fellowships. Fellows are appointed by the Graduate School for 12-, 24-, or 36-month terms. They must enroll for 12 graduate credit hours each semester of their fellowship tenure, except after candidacy when they must enroll for three graduate credit hours.

The major fellowships awarded by the Graduate School to incoming students include:

Dean’s Distinguished University Fellowship (DDUF)

Distinguished University Fellowship (DUF) 

University Fellowship (UF)

Graduate Access Fellowship (GAF)

Patrick S. Osmer Summer Research Opportunity Program (SROP) Fellowship

ENGIE-Axium Fellowship

All of the above fellowships are for entering students only. Students admitted into the stand-alone MA in History are not eligible for the fellowships listed above, but they might receive internal funding up through two years of study with Graduate Associateships if highly ranked by the Graduate Admissions Committee and the budget allows. 

Application Procedure
Applicants to the program need only check the appointment box on the Graduate & Professional Admissions application form to be considered for fellowship nomination. All materials must be received no later than December 1 for US applicants and November 30 for international applicants for the upcoming academic year. The History Department’s Graduate Studies Committee nominates students to the Graduate School for fellowships based on the recommendations of faculty members in the History Department’s various subject fields. The Graduate School’s selection committees make the final determination concerning fellowship awards. 

Graduate Associateships

Holders of Graduate Associateships fall into two categories: Graduate Teaching Associates (GTAs) and Graduate Research Associates (GRAs).

Graduate Teaching Associates
There are three types of GTAs:

1. Graders, who grade papers in high-enrollment courses (45+ students);
2. Discussion Section Leaders (DSLs), who lead discussion sections and grade students in introductory and/or online courses taught by a faculty member or lecturer;
3. Small-Section Leaders (SSLs), who teach independent sections with full responsibility for the classes. SSL assignments are restricted to students who have passed the Candidacy Examination. SSLs may only teach 1000- or 2000-level classes, and appointments depend on departmental need and the recommendation of the Chairs of the Graduate Studies and Undergraduate Studies Committees. SSLs should follow the guidelines for “Instructors” below.

Graduate Research Associates
GRAs work either in the Goldberg Center or with individual faculty members. Only a few are appointed each year.

Application Procedure
Applicants to the program need only check the appropriate box on the Graduate & Professional Admissions application form to be considered for a GA position. All materials must be received no later than December 1 for US applicants and November 30 for international applicants for the PhD and integrated MA/PhD program, and no later January 30 for the stand-alone MA program, for the upcoming academic year.

Selection Process for GAs
After December 1, the Graduate Studies Committee evaluates all GA applications and recommends a ranked list to the faculty and Department Chair for approval. Applicants are notified via email in mid-February. The deadline for acceptance or rejection of an associateship offer is April 15.

The number of GAs the department may appoint varies from year to year; in recent years, less than five appointments are made to students each year, as most are awarded first-year fellowships. Applicants are evaluated on the basis of their undergraduate and graduate GPAs, preparation in necessary languages, statements of purpose, letters of recommendation, writing sample quality, and their fit with the faculty in their field of application. 

Individuals who have been accepted as unfunded students but who wish to be considered for a GA position may submit a formal application to the Graduate Studies Committee by December 1. Their field’s faculty are to consider their applications when they rank their students for consideration. Such requests are not guaranteed.

Eligibility for GA Appointment
Applicants for graduate associateships must meet the following eligibility criteria:

1. Maximum semesters of eligibility:
   1. Students who enter the graduate program in Autumn 2024 or later with the BA degree are eligible for a total of twelve (12) semesters of support. Note: Summer Term appointments are not counted toward the 12-semester total.
   2. Students who enter the graduate program in Autumn 2024 or later with the MA degree are eligible for a total of ten (10) semesters of support. Note: Summer Term appointments are not counted toward the 10-semester total.
   3. Exceptions to these eligibility limits include graduate associateships granted to holders of multi-year Graduate School fellowships (DDUF, DUF, etc.). Other exceptions may be granted under unusual circumstances upon petition to the Graduate Studies Committee.
2. Graduate associates who have reached the limit of eligibility for regular GA appointments will not be eligible for a subsequent Summer Term appointment. However, the Graduate Studies Coordinator may determine that the teaching needs of the department warrant waiving this provision.
3. GAs are normally not appointed to Summer Term positions more than twice. Should the Graduate Studies Coordinator determine that this provision hinders the scheduling of an adequate number of small-section lecture survey courses (staffed by post-candidacy GAs as SSLs), the Graduate Studies Coordinator may waive this provision to ensure adequate scheduling of survey sections for the Summer Term.
4. Time spent on an externally-awarded fellowship or a language training fellowship does not reduce the semesters of eligibility.
5. Graduate associates may not accept more than incidental additional employment outside of their usual responsibilities for the department.

Terms of Appointment
The normal GA appointment is 50% FTE, or 20 hours per week (a total of 240 hours over the course of a semester). Occasionally there may be an appointment of more than 50% FTE for a particular semester; these supplemental appointments are made by the Graduate Studies Coordinator with the consent of the GA involved. Supplemental appointments are compensated by a pro rata increase in the stipend (e.g., a 75% appointment would be compensated at 125% of the stipend). 

GAs must be enrolled at the full-time equivalent for their student status.

Retaining Appointments
GAs are expected to meet certain minimum standards in order to retain their appointments. These are:

1. Maintain a GPA of 3.2 and satisfactory performance in courses that are graded satisfactory/unsatisfactory (History 6999, 7193.02, and 8999) for the first 18 months; maintain a GPA of 3.5 and satisfactory performance in courses that are graded satisfactory/unsatisfactory in subsequent years.
2. Perform GA duties in a satisfactory manner, as determined by faculty supervisors and the Graduate Studies Coordinator. For information on the standards used to evaluate GTAs, see the section titled “Responsibilities of Faculty and Graduate Teaching Associates,” which outlines the duties and responsibilities of both faculty supervisors and GTAs.
3. Maintain adequate progress in pursuing a graduate degree. Adequate progress is defined as:
   1. Completing annual review forms;
   2. Completing the MA by the end of the 9^th semester in the program.
   3. Passing the Candidacy Examination by the end of the 15^th semester in the program with the BA, or the 9^th semesters with the MA degree.
   4. Filing a dissertation prospectus with the Candidacy Examination Committee as part of the student’s candidacy exam portfolio.
   5. Completing the doctoral dissertation within 12 semesters of passing the Candidacy Examination.

Please note that summers or other semesters in which a student is not taking classes do not count toward the totals mentioned above.

If, in a truly exceptional case, it appears that a GA will exceed these time allotments, the student and the advisor may petition the Graduate Studies Committee for an additional year’s appointment. If the advisor and the Committee are satisfied that normal progress is being made in light of circumstances, the GA appointment may be continued. Examples of such circumstances include the absence of the advisor, unusual foreign language requirements, or sources suddenly becoming unavailable.

Should a GA not fulfill all of the above requirements, the Graduate Studies Committee will investigate the circumstances. In cases of unsatisfactory performance or misconduct, the Committee may terminate a GA’s appointment. Being found guilty of academic misconduct is grounds for immediate termination. Such terminations may be made with two weeks’ advance notice or may become effective the following semester or academic year. In the case of more serious infractions (and in the case of arrest and conviction), immediate termination may result, pursuant to The Ohio State University’s Code of Student Conduct and/or Self-Disclosure of Criminal Convictions Policy (4.17).

Duration of Funding
New GAs and fellows who enter the integrated MA/PhD program (i.e., enter the program with a BA) in Autumn 2024 or later can expect, under normal circumstances, to receive funding for a total of six academic years (12 semesters) if they meet the standards for retaining their appointments.

New GAs and fellows who enter the PhD program (i.e., enter with an MA) in Autumn 2024 or later can expect, under normal circumstances, to receive funding for a total of five academic years (10 semesters) if they meet the standards for retaining their GA appointments.

Multi-year fellowship awardees (e.g., DDUF, DUF, or a combination of fellowships) who enter the combined MA/PhD or PhD program in Autumn 2024 or later can expect, under normal circumstances, to receive funding for a total of six academic years (12 semesters), including fellowship years, if they meet the standards for retaining their GA appointments.

Extended GA Funding
Pending budgetary constraints and the department’s teaching requirements, GAs and fellows will be eligible to apply for an additional semester or year of GA funding if they have exhausted their guaranteed funding package but are not yet prepared to graduate. In recent years, very few of these funding opportunities have been available.

Summer Term Appointments

The department normally appoints a limited number of Graduate Associates for summer term appointments. These appointments are open only to current GAs. A preliminary announcement of openings will be released in the preceding Spring Semester. Those interested must fill out an online application form distributed by the Graduate Studies Coordinator, and applicants will then be ranked for these positions by the Graduate Studies Committee. The positions will be determined by available funds in conjunction with the needs of the department.

Summer Term Tuition and Fee Waiver
Graduate Associates who have held appointments for consecutive Autumn and Spring semesters of an academic year are eligible for a waiver of tuition and fees for the Summer Term that immediately follows. For the semester fee waiver to take effect, pre-candidacy students must register for at least four credit hours during the Summer Term, while post-candidacy students must register for at least three credit hours.

Assignment of Graduate Teaching Associates
Each semester, the Graduate Studies Coordinator asks GTAs to indicate their assignment preferences, both for the type of assignment (DSL or Grader) and for specific courses. The Graduate Studies Coordinator then assigns GTAs to courses. Although department need comes first, every effort is made to assign GTAs to one of their preferred courses.

No GTA should be responsible for grading the work of more than 60 students unless they are assigned as a Discussion Section Leader (DSL) to in-person recitation sections, in which case the limit is 75 students with reduced grading responsibilities.

A post-candidacy GTA may be assigned to teach an independent (SSL) section of a 1000- or 2000-level course. To be assigned such a section, a graduate student must have passed the Candidacy Examination and have demonstrated teaching ability as a DSL for the course. The department’s policy is that each GA should teach at least one SSL course as final preparation for teaching elsewhere.

Responsibilities of Faculty and Graduate Teaching Associates
Faculty members in the Department of History recognize the importance of training graduate students to teach at the university level. One of the methods the department employs involves assigning Graduate Teaching Associates (GTAs) to work with faculty instructors in survey and upper-level lecture courses. It is the purpose of the following guidelines, which have been developed through discussions between faculty and graduate students, to clarify the responsibilities of both the faculty instructor and the GTA, who may serve as either a Discussion Section Leader (DSL) or Grader. As a general principle, faculty instructors should always be committed to helping GTAs learn the skills of pedagogy and fulfill their potential as teachers. Moreover, the relationship between instructor and GTA should always be one of cooperation, partnership, and mutual respect. It is essential that faculty instructors be at all times alert and sensitive to issues of diversity, inclusivity, harassment, discrimination, and mental well-being. See the department’s stated commitment to building a diverse, inclusive, and healthy environment. 

Responsibilities of Instructors

1. The instructor is responsible for designing the course, including preparing the syllabus and course requirements, establishing the structure and content of discussion sections, setting grading policies, and ordering desk copies of the assigned books for the GTA.
2. After GTA assignments are announced for the forthcoming semester, the instructor should, as soon as possible before the first day of class, discuss with the GTA the design of the course and the expectations of the GTA.
3. To ensure that course objectives are being met, the instructor should schedule meetings with the GTA at regular intervals, normally once per week, throughout the semester to discuss various aspects of the course, including the assigned readings, advising of students, grading of assignments, and, for DSLs, the topics and readings to be discussed in each discussion section. The instructor should hold a final meeting at the end of the semester to furnish an opportunity for both the instructor and the GTA to provide feedback on their experience in the course.
4. The instructor may ask the GTA to submit graded examinations and papers (or samples thereof) and grade distributions to the instructor for approval. It is understood that, although the GTA may be assigning grades to his or her students, it is the instructor who bears final responsibility for the course and for grades assigned in the course. The instructor will act as the source of appeal for a student who is not satisfied with the GTA’s explanation of a grade, but the instructor should consult with the GTA about the final determination of the appeal.
5. The instructor is responsible for evaluating the GTA’s work. For a DSL with less than three semesters of experience, the instructor should visit a discussion section at least twice during the semester: once during the first three weeks, and once after the sixth week. The instructor and the DSL may arrange additional visits. For a DSL who has served as a discussion section leader for at least three semesters, the instructor need only attend one discussion section during the first three weeks of the semester. Soon after each visit, the instructor and the DSL should discuss the observations made. 
6. When working with multiple GTAs, the instructor should do everything possible to ensure an equitable distribution of workload among them. There should be no “head Grader/DSL.” 
7. The instructor must ensure that a GTA never performs more than 20 hours of work per week on average, for any course.
8. Since GTAs should not be responsible for grading the work of more than 60 students for any given assignment, the instructor should automatically take on responsibility for grading whatever assignments GTAs cannot grade themselves.
9. The instructor should never ask GTAs to perform tasks that lie outside their normal pedagogical duties, e.g., “soda runs.”
10. If the instructor is unhappy with the pedagogical performance of a GTA, all effort should be made to resolve the issue by thoughtful, considerate discussion between the two. If the problem nevertheless persists, the faculty instructor should refer the matter to the Director of Graduate Studies.

Responsibilities of the GTA

1. GTAs are normally responsible for all grading and course-related advising of students assigned to them. The GTA is expected to attend and take notes on all lectures, complete all readings assigned in a timely fashion, hold a minimum of two regularly scheduled office hours per week in their office (more if needed after the return of examinations and papers), be available to students by appointment, and complete grading assignments according to the standards established by the instructor, and by the date assigned by the instructor. If requested by the instructor, the GTA may participate in the crafting of examinations and other written assignments.
2. GTAs will not be expected to complete outside readings beyond those required of students in the course, except in circumstances where a GTA is assigned as a DSL in a course for which they lack preparation; in these cases, the instructor may provide additional readings as necessary.
3. If there are problems between the instructor and the GTA that the GTA does not think can be brought directly to the instructor, the GTA should contact the Director of Graduate Studies, who will consult with the Graduate Studies Coordinator, and, when necessary, the Department Chair.
4. DSLs will be assigned as discussion leaders to appropriate lower-level courses, or any online course, as needed by the department. Although DSLs will ordinarily be assigned to courses related to one of their fields of study, it may occasionally be necessary to assign a DSL to a course for which they have little or no graduate-level preparation.
5. Without prior approval of the instructor, the DSL will not present formal lectures in their own sections. The DSL will follow the structure and content of discussion sections as outlined by the instructor. The DSL is encouraged to employ a variety of teaching techniques that they have learned from other courses and teaching experiences.
6. Following University rules, the DSL must use the Student Evaluation of Instruction form at the end of the semester. The DSL is strongly encouraged to use an additional evaluation form for qualitative feedback.
7. Any grade disputes over assignments should be immediately referred to the instructor.

Faculty Observation of DSLs and SSLs

As general guidelines:

1. It is expected that faculty instructors will visit each of their courses’ discussion sections to observe the performance of every DSL at least twice each semester.
2. It is expected that PhD advisors will visit and observe each class taught by their advisees as SSLs at least once.
3. At any time, any GTA may contact the Director of Graduate Studies to request a classroom observation from a faculty member of the Graduate Studies Committee. GTAs will also have the option of requesting a formal report of the visit.

Teaching Resources for GTAs

• For helpful links, useful tools, and further guidance on effective classroom performance, please go to the Teaching Resources page on the departmental website.
• For resources and advice that specifically concerns online teaching, please see the Online Teaching Tools and Resources section of the departmental website. 
• GTAs are highly encouraged to utilize the teaching resources offering by the Drake Institute for Teaching & Learning.

Title IX Training for Instructors (including SSLs)
The department and university are committed to creating a working environment where all students, staff, and faculty feel fundamentally safe, respected, and included. As part of this commitment, the university requires all instructors to undertake Title IX training every year. For more information on the online training, please visit OSU’s Title IX website.

Additional Funding for Graduate Students 

Internal Fellowships for Dissertation Research 
Each Autumn Semester, the department calls for nominations from the faculty for two competitive dissertation fellowships: 

Presidential Fellowship
Once a year the Graduate School receives nominations selected from each department the Presidential Fellowship, which supports research and writing in the final year of the dissertation. Currently, the Presidential Fellowship provides a monthly stipend along with a tuition and fee waiver and other benefits. Students who have received multi-year University and Graduate Enrichment Fellowships (DDUF, DUF, DDGE, and DGE) are not eligible to be nominated for a Presidential Fellowship. 

Richard R. Duncan Fellowship
The Duncan Fellowship is awarded annually to a post-candidacy graduate student in the Department of History whose dissertation research falls within the period between the 1860s and 1950s. Geographical region is open. Graduate students writing dissertations that begin before the 1860s and/or extend beyond the 1950s are eligible for the Duncan Fellowship if their dissertations engage historical events within those parameters in a significant and meaningful way. The nine-month (academic year) fellowship provides tuition, fees, and a stipend equivalent to the current GTA stipend.

Internal Funding for Research and Travel 

There are a variety of sources within the university for research and travel funds. Most useful in this regard is the Arts & Humanities Research and Small Grant program, which funds travel to research collections and travel to present papers at conferences. The College provides up to $700 in support; the Department of History will match whatever funds the College grants, subject to availability and student eligibility. 

The Council of Graduate Students (CGS) has numerous grants and awards to support research, travel, and career development. Visit their Funding & Awards website for more information.

The Department of History has limited funds to support travel to conferences. Priority is given to students who are presenting papers, but since the department feels that attending academic conferences is an important part of learning to be a professional historian, it makes some funds available to students to attend conferences even if they are not presenting papers. Students presenting at conferences may receive a maximum of $700 for travel and conference costs. Students attending a conference but not presenting a paper may receive a maximum of $350 for travel and conference costs. It is department policy that students will receive travel and conference support a maximum of once per semester, and, subject to availability of funds, once per academic year. The student should apply to the Director of Graduate Studies well in advance of the conference. The application should include a copy of the conference program, a description of the conference topic (with an explanation of its relevance to the student’s graduate program), and a budget. If the application is successful, the student must obtain a Spend Authorization (SA) from the department’s Fiscal Associate prior to departure. If the SA is not assigned prior to travel, university regulations make it impossible to reimburse travel expenses.

Big Ten Academic Alliance Traveling Scholar Program 
The BTAA Traveling Scholar program enables a graduate student to take advantage of special resources, such as unusual courses and library collections, available at participating BTAA universities and the University of Chicago that are not available on the OSU campus. The program is administered by the Graduate School, and graduate students in the Department of History may participate in it if they meet the requirements. More information may be found on the Big Ten Academic Alliance website  and in the Graduate School’s handbook.

Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowships in critical languages are available through the Center for Latin American Studies, the Center for Slavic and East European Studies, the East Asian Studies Center, and the Middle East Studies Center, all of which are overseen by the Office of International Affairs. 

The Melton Center for Jewish Studies offers two year-long fellowships, as well as travel grants for research and conferences and an essay prize, for graduate students whose research includes a Jewish Studies component. 

External Funding

The American Historical Association has a guide to grants for historians. In order to access the database, one has to be an AHA member. Please consult the Director of Graduate Studies if you are not an AHA member but are interested in accessing this information.

Graduate Student Awards and Prizes from the Department of History

Department of History graduate students may apply for the following research awards. The Awards & Prizes committee will announce when applications are open, typically in February of each academic year. More information may be found on the department’s graduate student funding and awards website.

General Awards

Mansel Blackford Student Travel Award
The award supports travel for research in any field of history. One or two awards of up to $4,000.

Ruth Higgins Award
The award supports dissertation or thesis research in any field of history. One or two awards of up to $2,000.

Retrieving The American Past (RTAP) Award
The award provides summer support to a graduate student in any field of history for work on dissertations or theses in Columbus or elsewhere. Several awards of up to $5,000.

History Faculty Scholarship
Established November 8, 2013, with gifts from faculty and friends of the Department of History, this scholarship supports graduate student research for students enrolled in the College of Arts and Sciences who are studying history. One or two awards of up to $2,000.

Field-Specific Awards

Robert Bremner Award
The award supports graduate student education in U.S. history. One or two awards of up to $1,000.

Andreas Dorpalen Award
The award supports a graduate student working on a dissertation in the area of nineteenth-or-twentieth century German history. One award of up to $1,000.

Foster Rhea Dulles Award
The award supports a graduate student working on a dissertation or thesis in U.S. history, particularly 20th century. One or two awards of up to $3,000. 

Sydney Fisher Memorial Award (Faculty Nomination Required)
The award supports research and study of Ottoman and Turkish Studies. One or two awards of up to $4,000.

Genevieve Brown Gist Dissertation Research Award in Women’s History
The award supports a master's or doctoral student who is studying history. Preference is given to females based on scholastic ability and need. One or two awards of up to $4,000.

The Lieutenant Colonel Sean M. Judge Award
Established in memory of Sean M. Judge by his friends, for those who study military history, with a preference for graduate students in the Department of History. One or two awards of up to $2,000.

Helen and Harold Kapiloff Research Award
The award supports doctoral research for student in diplomatic/international history, with preference given to those working in libraries and archives outside the U.S. One award of up to $2,000.

Bradley R. Kastan Award
The award supports a graduate student in the field of business history. One or two awards of up to $500.

Kauffman Family Summer Research Award
The award provides summer research support for graduate students in American history. Several awards of up to $15,000.

Joseph H. Lynch Award
The award is given to students studying medieval history or the history of Christianity. One or two awards of up to $2,500.

Philip Poirier Awards
The award supports dissertation research abroad on any area of British history. One or two awards of up to $3,000. 

Elaine S. And John C. Rule Award
The award supports travel and/or study abroad in Western Europe (France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Spain, and Portugal), with preference first for doctoral students in the field of early modern Europe (1450-1789) and then for doctoral students in modern Europe (1789-present). Several awards of up to $10,000. 

Henry H. Simms Award
The award supports dissertation research and writing on some aspect of one of the following areas of study: the colonial and ante-bellum South, the slavery controversy, the Civil War, and the Reconstruction period. One or two awards of up to $3,000.

Allan and Helen Wildman Memorial Award
The award supports students working in the area of Russian or East European history. One award of up to $1,000. 

Tien-Yi Li Prize (Faculty Nomination Required)
The award is given to an outstanding graduate student in the field of Chinese history and culture. One award of up to $850.

Academic Misconduct

View information on the university’s academic misconduct policies. The university's Code of Student Conduct defines academic misconduct as "any activity that tends to compromise the academic integrity of the University, or subvert the educational process." While many people associate academic misconduct with "cheating," the term encompasses a wider scope of student behaviors which include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Violation of course rules
• Violation of program regulations
• Knowingly providing or receiving information during a course exam or program assignment
• Possession and/or use of unauthorized materials during a course exam or program assignment
• Knowingly providing or using assistance in the laboratory, on field work, or on a course assignment, unless such assistance has been authorized specifically by the course instructor or, where appropriate, a project/research supervisor
• Submission of work not performed in a course: This includes (but is not limited to) instances where a student fabricates and/or falsifies data or information for a laboratory experiment (i.e., a "dry lab") or other academic assignment. It also includes instances where a student submits data or information (such as a lab report or term paper) from one course to satisfy the requirements of another course, unless submission of such work is permitted by the instructor of the course or supervisor of the research for which the work is being submitted
• Submitting plagiarized work for a course/program assignment
• Falsification, fabrication, or dishonesty in conducting or reporting laboratory (research) results
• Serving as or asking another student to serve as a substitute (a "ringer") while taking an exam
• Alteration of grades in an effort to change earned credit or a grade
• Alteration and/or unauthorized use of university forms or records

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the act of stealing the ideas and/or the expression of another and representing them as your own. It is a form of cheating and a kind of academic misconduct that can incur severe penalties. It is important, therefore, that you understand what it consists of, so that you will not unwittingly jeopardize your graduate career.

Plagiarism can take many forms. The most obvious form is a word-for-word copying of someone else’s work, in whole or in part, without acknowledgment, whether that work be a magazine article, a portion of a book, a newspaper piece, another student’s essay, or any other composition that is not your own. Any such verbatim use of another’s work must be acknowledged by (1) enclosing all such copied portions in quotation marks, and by (2) giving the original source either in the body of your essay, in a footnote, or in another appropriate form of scholarly citation.

A second form of plagiarism is the unacknowledged paraphrasing of the structure and language of another person’s work. Changing a few words of another’s composition, omitting a few sentences, or changing their order, does not constitute original composition and therefore can be given no credit. If such borrowing or paraphrasing is ever necessary, the source must be scrupulously indicated by footnotes or other appropriate forms of scholarly citation.

Still another form of plagiarism is difficult to define. It consists of writing a paper based solely on the ideas of another. Even though the language is not the same, if the thinking is clearly not your own, then you have committed plagiarism. If, for example, in writing a paper you reproduce the structure and progression of ideas in an essay you have read or a speech you have heard, you are not engaging your own mind and experience enough to claim credit for it.

Reporting Academic Misconduct

Instructors and GTAs should not penalize students for academic misconduct. All cases of suspected academic misconduct should be reported to the Committee on Academic Misconduct (COAM), which will decide them. GTAs should report cases to the instructor, who will then pass them on to COAM. View more information about the COAM process.

For further information on ethical standards for historians, consult the American Historical Association’s “Statement of Standards of Professional Conduct.” 

Research Involving Human Subjects

Students whose MA or PhD research involves interviewing must get approval from the University’s Human Subjects Review Committee. Consult the website of the Office for Responsible Research Practices, Office of Research, for details. Since the approval process is a lengthy one, students are advised to begin the application procedures well in advance of the research proposed.

Sexual Harassment

Graduate students, in their dealings with all members of the university community, are subject to university regulations governing sexual harassment. These regulations may be found in OSU’s Non-Discrimination, Harassment, and Sexual Misconduct policy. It is the responsibility of the student to be aware of these regulations.

Hate- and Bias-Related Harassment

Graduate students are subject to university regulations concerning hate- and bias-related actions. University regulations may be found in in OSU’s Non-Discrimination, Harassment, and Sexual Misconduct policy. It is the responsibility of the student to be aware of these regulations. 

Grievance Procedures

Graduate students with grievances may seek advice from either the Director of Graduate Studies or from the Graduate and Professional Student Ombudsman in the Office of Academic Affairs. They may also seek advice from the Department Chair at any time.

The Graduate School is specifically authorized by the Graduate Council to review grievances related to graduate examinations and Graduate Associate appointments. Further information concerning the Graduate School’s grievance process and Grievance Committee may be found in Appendix D of the Graduate School’s Handbook.  

Graduate student grievances involving grades and academic misconduct are handled in accordance with existing university policies.

Graduate student grievances involving hate and bias incidents are handled by the Office of Institutional Equity.  Students may also consult the College of Arts & Sciences Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

The remainder of this section outlines the procedures for handling grievances within the department that are not governed by existing, formalized university procedures. Such grievances might be related to the structure of classes, GTA or GRA appointments, disputes between graduate students and faculty, or conflicts between graduate students. In such cases, the following procedures should be followed: 

1. Informal mediation
   1. The student should first discuss the complaint informally with the individual or individuals who are the basis of the grievance.
   2. If this does not result in a satisfactory resolution, then the student should take the complaint to the Vice Chair, who will try to work out a satisfactory resolution. If the Vice Chair is the target of the grievance, the student should take the complaint to the Department Chair.
2. Formal complaint

If efforts in step 1 fail, the student should submit a written complaint to the Department Chair, with copies to the individual or individuals against whom the complaint has been made. If the Department Chair is the target of the complaint, the Department Chair should immediately designate the Director of Graduate Studies or the Vice Chair to handle the formal complaint. The individual or individuals named in the grievance must submit a written response to the Department Chair or designee within thirty working days. The Department Chair or designee will provide the student with a copy of this response and make one final attempt to resolve the situation.

3. Response to formal complaint
   Following step 2, if the grievance has not been resolved, the Department Chair or designee will provide the student with a written summary of the efforts taken to resolve the dispute and a description of the solution reached, or a summary of the unresolved issues. In the event that no solution is reached, the Department Chair or designee will provide advice on the procedures for petitioning the College of Arts & Sciences or the Graduate School, whichever is appropriate, for a formal hearing or other appropriate avenue of appeal.