Hi, I am finishing up my Masters Degree in Humanities and am looking for a distance/no residency RA PhD program in either History or Humanities. My areas of interest are Western Civilization and European History if that makes a difference. Can anyone offer any advice on reputable universities? I've been searching the forum for the past hour or so and am not having too much luck. This is my first post here so if this question has already been asked I apologize. Thank you in advance! Sheryl
Here is an option - http://www.ciis.edu/academics/tlc_curric.html it does require some campus Distance Learning & Face-to-Face The Transformative Learning and Change curriculum is offered through two program formats: Weekend Residential or Distance Online. Each August, students and faculty in both program formats gather for a weeklong intensive seminar at a retreat setting in the San Francisco Bay Area. This is followed by a five-day spring intensive, usually held in late January or early February. In both program formats, students form learning communities and use the online Web-based "virtual campus"—an environment where students, faculty, and staff interact. Weekend Face-to-Face Format In addition to the two weeklong intensives, students in the Weekend Residential format meet face-to-face approximately one weekend every month. These gatherings are supported by individual and collaborative work in the virtual campus. Distance Online Format Except for the semiannual weeklong intensives in the San Francisco Bay Area, all core courses in the distance format are conducted online through a Web-based virtual campus. Students need to engage in coursework several times a week, but the virtual campus allows them to participate on days and at times that do not conflict with other obligations. Distance learning students are also encouraged to form virtual study and support groups that further enable collaborative learning. Transformative Learning and Change Doctoral Curriculum The Ph.D. concentration in Transformative Learning and Change consists of 48 semester units plus a dissertation. The interdisciplinary program is intended to help students develop the skills necessary to effect change within groups and organizations. It does this by cultivating a student's capacity to: • Apply systems and complexity theories to real-world situations; • Collaborate on building learning communities utilizing Web-based virtual classrooms and other modalities; • Conduct qualitative research within human systems; • Identify and develop multiple learning modalities; and • Understand the wider planetary context and its effect on individuals and organizations. For more detailed information about the Transformative Learning and Change curriculum, including course descriptions, please see CIIS's online catalog or call 415.575.6155. Ph.D. Course Requirements (48 units) Foundational Course (3 units) • Emerging Issues in the Humanities Core Courses (36 units) • Learning Community (4 semesters) • Introduction to Transformative Learning • Paradigms of Inquiry • Qualitative Research Methods • Transforming Systems • Advanced Seminar in Learning and Change • Critical Analysis of Literature • Dissertation Topics Development • Dissertation Proposal Writing Electives (9 units) Dissertation (0 units
Thank you both very much! Also, I have gone through the forum and found another one called Charles Stuart in Australia so I will look into this one as well. I'm still reading through old messages here, but am wondering if anyone can recommend reputable European Universities that offer distance in my field? Thanks again
If your field isn't business administration or psychology, then there aren't many distance learning options at the doctoral level. The University of Florida has a Ph.D. in Classics that's apparently only open to those already teaching. I got the impression that this program is more literary than historical, but you might be able to do some kind of historical dissertation topic with them that concerns Greco-Roman antiquity. The University of Leicester in England has a Ph.D. program in Archaeology that they say is doable by DL. Their DL masters emphasizes historical preservation more than history per se. I don't know if those emphases carry over to the doctoral program (which is one of those "by research" things). And UNISA in South Africa has DL doctoral programs in history, I believe, but I know nothing about them. I believe that all three of these will require a few visits.
I believe there are Humanities doctoral programs at the U of Melbourne and Central Queensland U as well. Many of the Australian universities have doctoral programs in History. I'd start with Charles Sturt U as they state explicitly that their programs can be 100% non-residential (IIRC). Jack
DL PhD in History? Dear Sheryl: The person who told you "not in the US" was wrong. While it is true that the degree title would be PhD in Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, one can still put together a PhD in History through the Union Institute (http://www.tui.edu). In the United Kingdom, one can certainly do a dissertation-only PhD in History at the University of Luton (http://www.luton.ac.uk), the University of Teesside (http://www.tees.ac.uk), and probably the University of London (http://www.lon.ac.uk) and the University of Wales (http://www.lamp.ac.uk). In the Land Down Under, one can get a good dissertation-only PhD in History from the University of Melbourne (http://www.unimelb.edu.au) and the University of New England (http://www.une.edu). Also, let us not forget the University of South Africa (http://www.unisa.ac.za). And, of course, India also has a dissertation-only PhD in History through Madurai-Kamaraj University (http://www.mkuniversity.org). Forgive me if I've missed anyone. Hope this helps!
Re: DL PhD in History? Hi Ted - I think you certainly have hit all the programs I've ever heard about. As for the Indian program (above), the last I looked, the programs from this school were not open to non-Indian citizens living outside of India. If this has changed I believe there could be some considerable interest because, like UNISA, they offer multi-level programs across a broad range of disciplines. Let us know, if you can. Jack
Just wanted to thank you for the information. After doing some research and talking to a few professors I was warned repeatedly - under no circumstances - to enter a PhD program that is not fully funded. The more I compare traditional degree programs that offer at least a minimal amount of funding versus the amount a non-traditional PhD would cost, the more I am realizing the tremendous validity in what I have been told. Originally, my appeal to a distance program was that it would allow me to remain in my hometown and pursue one of my passions in life. Now a 200-mile roundtrip daily commute to a traditional university is looking a lot better than winding up struggling under a massive pile of debt from a D/L program. Are the majority of non-traditional PhD degrees self-funded?
Just wanted to thank you for the information. After doing some research and talking to a few professors I was warned repeatedly - under no circumstances - to enter a PhD program that is not fully funded. The more I compare traditional degree programs that offer at least a minimal amount of funding versus the amount a non-traditional PhD would cost, the more I am realizing the tremendous validity in what I have been told. Originally, my appeal to a distance program was that it would allow me to remain in my hometown and pursue one of my passions in life. Now a 200-mile roundtrip daily commute to a traditional university is looking a lot better than winding up struggling under a massive pile of debt from a D/L program. Are the majority of non-traditional PhD degrees self-funded?
Just wanted to thank you for the information. After doing some research and talking to a few professors I was warned repeatedly - under no circumstances - to enter a PhD program that is not fully funded. The more I compare traditional degree programs that offer at least a minimal amount of funding versus the amount a non-traditional PhD would cost, the more I am realizing the tremendous validity in what I have been told. Originally, my appeal to a distance program was that it would allow me to remain in my hometown and pursue one of my passions in life. Now a 200-mile roundtrip daily commute to a traditional university is looking a lot better than winding up struggling under a massive pile of debt from a D/L program. Are the majority of non-traditional PhD degrees self-funded?
Mr Heiks, What Anthonym was explaining is that in the United States( Schools with PhD programs in History inside the United States) there are no history programs without residencies. I know, I tried. The list is long and varied. From Alabama to Texas Tech, all of them told me by email that you HAVE to have residencies. According to one history chair, the one to one teaching is what each program has and will continue to have. It was stated to me that no program worth their salt would ever have non-residencies. I dont agree with this, but I am afraid it will not change in my lifetime. So there is the clarification. Programs that are in the United States, not outside. Union is different. Union DOES require residency. I dont know enough on Union to adequately speak on their programs, Rich Douglas and Steve Levicoff are. Thanks for my 14 cents
Mr Heiks, What Anthonym was explaining is that in the United States( Schools with PhD programs in History inside the United States) there are no history programs without residencies. I know, I tried. The list is long and varied. From Alabama to Texas Tech, all of them told me by email that you HAVE to have residencies. According to one history chair, the one to one teaching is what each program has and will continue to have. It was stated to me that no program worth their salt would ever have non-residencies. I dont agree with this, but I am afraid it will not change in my lifetime. So there is the clarification. Programs that are in the United States, not outside. Union is different. Union DOES require residency. I dont know enough on Union to adequately speak on their programs, Rich Douglas and Steve Levicoff are. Thanks for my 14 cents
Funding Funding a research process can be expensive so looking at the tuition w/o taking into account your research costs can be very misleading. I am attending the Durban Institute of Technology because the tuition is within my personal budget. However, the research costs have already gone over the cost of the past 2 year's tuition . I would think a history program's research costs would run even more than those of a business program. I figure at the end of the process of obtaining my degree from DIT, that I will have spent AT LEAST $8000 total. Of that, only $2000 was tuition. If you have the funds to spare, I would imagine you could find some good distance programs in Europe with minimal residency. However, tuition alone could run you $20,000 at the current exchange rates.
Over here on the European side of things, we make no differentiation between traditional and non-traditional. What is the case is that anything that isn't full time is funded by the student. However, our fees for part-time or DL currently run at about $3000 a year, so they're affordable out of pocket. On the other hand, we charge students fron outwith the EU through the nose, so with the decline of the dollar as well, even a part-time programme is now of the order of $8,000 a year up front. However, if you're based in the States and your interests are in European History, you also really have to think about the funding of research and library trips. Compared the couple of hundred dollars plus hotel bills it would cost me to go to Rome and look at something in the Vatican library, it would cost you several hundred dollars in air fare alone. If you have to add that kind of expenditure on top of course fees as well, you're looking at a major bill. However, if you're in an established programme, there will be travel budgets and reciprocal library agreements that will make your life much easier. Angela
"Self-funded" v. "fully-funded" these are terms whose definitions I can guess at but I confess I'm uncertain what you mean when you use them. In most traditional PhD programs, students can get tuition waived and can get Teaching Assistant positions or Research Assistant positions that pay them enough to be able to keep a roof over their heads and eat an occasional meal. Is this what you mean by "Fully-funded?" In virtually all DL PhD programs, the school sends the bill and you pay it. Is this "self-funded?" How you do that is up to you. Most people go the DL route because they have family, jobs, etc. and they have no choice. If I were in your position (not having those other financial obligations) I would probably also avoid the debt and make the long commute to campus. In any case, it's most likely that you won't have to do it everyday. Good luck, Jack
In my B&M experience, "fully-funded" would mean either: 1. Tuition + stipend (no departmental employment required). Different schools term them differently: fellowships, scholarships. 2. Tuition + departmental employment, which usually means less money and less time to study. Usually termed assistantship or readership. #1 is clearly the best deal, but naturally the hardest to get. I have never run across a PhD program in the humanities that gave significant money to part-time students. My guess is that it is virtually unheard of in probably all academic fields. Departments use money to draw the best full-time students they can get. There's usually nothing left over for part-timers. It's out-of-pocket or loans for part-timers, I'm afraid, B&M or DL. BTW, if you find a humanities PhD that gives tuition + stipend to p/t students, sign me up. marilynd
