History
Program
Graduate students in the
History Program, RSSS, are full members of the Program and highly valued
colleagues. Their research and
publications contribute greatly to the productivity of the Program, and their
lively presence helps to create a vital intellectual environment. We recommend that all students consult the
Each student will have a primary supervisor who will be a staff member in the Program. In addition, they will choose (with the help of the supervisor) two to four additional advisors who may be drawn from anywhere in the university and even from outside it. This group will constitute the supervisory panel, and students are encouraged to draw on the expertise and help of all members of the panel and not only that of their supervisor.
Students will meet regularly with their supervisor and occasionally with other members of the panel. On at least two occasions, the whole panel will meet with the student and make a formal assessment of their progress. The first of these meetings is the Thesis Proposal Review, which takes place 6-9 months after the beginning of candidature. The second is the Mid-Term Review, which takes place after 18 months of candidature. In the History Program, these two meetings are regarded as important, formal events. They are occasions when the student can have the benefits of an intimate, focused workshop on their work. They are also moments when student progress is formally assessed. If the panel judges that the student will not successfully complete the degree, it can recommend the termination of scholarship and candidature.
The following people are devoted to helping graduate students in different ways. Students are encouraged to consult them.
a) Supervisor: the crucial person on all matters, academic and practical
b) Advisors: pick their brains, seek their advice and ask them to read your work
c) Head of Program: a useful support person on academic, social and political issues concerning the Program
d) Convenor, Graduate Program in History: a history academic on campus, probably from outside the Program, who can offer a broad view of graduate issues across the university and who may be called upon for neutral advice
e) Prescribed
Authority: this is the official title for the Deputy Director of RSSS who
oversees student matters across the whole
f) The History Program Administrator can advise on all practical and administrative matters, and is a crucial support person for all students.
g) Graduate Co-ordinator: this new position (see below) has been created to strengthen the academic mentoring and pastoral dimensions of our graduate teaching.
The History Program organises regular and irregular academic events and social occasions for the benefit of students and staff. Some of these are listed below:
a) Annual One-Day Conference: held in autumn or early winter, this brings together all staff and students in the History Program to discuss their research
b) Annual General Meeting: held in spring, this meeting of all staff and students enables discussion of practical and administrative matters concerning the Program as a whole, including a review of achievements
c) Allan Martin Lecture, Colloquium and Postgraduate Workshop: held in April or May each year, this suite of events honours the legacy of the historian Allan Martin by inviting a noted scholar to spend a week in the History Program.
d) Weekly seminars: Every Thursday throughout the year, from late February to late November (with a brief winter break), the History Program holds a weekly research seminar. Every staff member and student in the Program is expected to speak at this seminar once a year. For students this performance becomes an important part of the assessment of their progress. Thursdays are the most important day of the week for Program activities, and all members of the Program are expected to be present, whenever possible, on that day.
e) Morning and afternoon teas: Informal gatherings of Program members regularly take place in the Coombs tea room. The Head of Program occasionally calls a special morning or afternoon tea to welcome new visitors or to celebrate special events.
f) Reading and conversation groups: Some supervisors hold regular reading or conversation groups with their students. Students are encouraged to form such groups themselves and financial support is available from the Program to facilitate such meetings and events. Staff are very willing to participate in these activities, or to run workshops if students wish.
g) Conferences: The History Program frequently convenes and hosts conferences and workshops for academics, students and the general public. Graduate students are often involved in these as hosts, organisers and speakers.
h) Visitors: The
i) Footnotes: The History Program produces an occasional, informal newsletter entitled ‘Footnotes’. Students are encouraged to submit copy.
Students will be allocated a desk in a shared office with their own computer and an office phone.
The History Program Resource Room (opposite the Program Administrator’s office) has a photocopier, printer, stationery cupboard and water fountain for staff and student use. In addition, the Program Administrator can make available a fax machine and scanner. Students are entitled to an annual diary and wall planner, and each has a mailbox. A voicemail facility is available on the telephone in your office. Staff and students have 24 hour access to the building.
$5,500 will be available as a research allowance for each graduate student over the full period of their candidature. This money is for travel, fieldwork, photocopying and other expenses associated with doctoral research and writing. Expenditure should be with the approval of the supervisor and according to the accounting requirements of the Program Administrator.
The two following initiatives were made in 2005 to strengthen the Program’s care and support for students:
a) Graduate Co-ordinator: The new position of Graduate Co-ordinator has been created to assist new and continuing doctoral students in academic, social and administrative matters. The co-ordinator will be working with graduate students, organising library tours or introductions to staff, and helping with some of the key academic and social events mentioned above.
b) Meetings of supervisors: The History Program will hold one meeting of all Program supervisors each semester. This will be to evaluate individual student progress as well as to facilitate collegial support for all students.