Liberty's Ph.D. in History + more!

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by chrisjm18, Apr 29, 2019.

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  1. chrisjm18

    chrisjm18 Well-Known Member

    Depends. Do you have a related master's already? The admissions requirement is a master's in history or a related field. If you have a master's in a related field, don't waste your time going for another, just go straight to the Ph.D.
     
  2. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    If you get theirs you'll know everything transfers. But LU is pretty good about doctoral level transfer credit. Is there a different school that's cheaper or more in your area of interest that you'd prefer to them for an MA, even if your end goal is their PhD?
     
  3. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

    Well, I have a bachelor's in history and two MBAs.
     
  4. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    You may as well ask them whether you could get an elective or two out of that, but I suppose I wouldn't expect it.
     
  5. chrisjm18

    chrisjm18 Well-Known Member

    I'd apply and see what they say. If they don't accept you, then you could prob do the MA in History.
     
  6. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

     
  7. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

    the University of Florida?
     
  8. Tireman 44444

    Tireman 44444 Well-Known Member

     
  9. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

  10. Steve Levicoff

    Steve Levicoff Well-Known Member

    Um, people, we’re not just talking about anyone here, we’re talking about Theo the Educated Derelict.

    I suggest that the key question to ask is: How would you be paying for the program? Students who pay cash tuition often have more leeway than students who are going for mucho financial aid. Colleges love cash customers.

    Moreover, as John Bear has pointed out many times over the years, schools are often willing to make exceptions in terms of entrance requirements (getting a master’s without a bachelor’s, etc.).

    We already have evidence of Ted’s knowledge of history: the thread https://www.degreeinfo.com/index.php?threads/so-what-are-you-reading.42566, started by Ted in July 2013, now 63 pages long (as of this writing), with most of the posts by Ted. I suggest that if you counted Ted’s posts alone, the tread would constitute a more-than-acceptable doctoral bibliography in history.

    Therefore, would Liberty concur that his independent study over the years is, at the least, equivalent to having a master’s in the field?

    You never know until you try. Naturally, you would want to take such a question beyond Liberty’s “enrollment counselor” whores and directly to a faculty member or administrator in their history Ph.D. program.
     
  11. Neuhaus

    Neuhaus Well-Known Member

    A doctoral program, ANY doctoral program, can only really offer a student the expertise of its own faculty. If you want to write a dissertation on, say, WW1 History and there isn't an advisor available who is willing to advise you on that research then you either need to change your focus or go somewhere else.

    This isn't a criticism of Liberty. This is the case everywhere. But I highly doubt that if I wanted to do doctoral level research in, say, the History of Wicca, I would find a suitable advisor for those studies at Liberty. Even then there would be nuance. If I wanted to research modern paganism from a Christian perspective then they could probably help me out.

    Given that Liberty is well known for having young earth creationists in their life science departments I'm very willing to go out on a limb and say that if you enrolled in this program and tried to publish something that just generally didn't jibe with evangelical Christianity, it wouldn't fly.

    Then again, that exact same topic might not find a suitable advisor at any number of universities.

    I guess I'm just saying that I think Kizmet's point is correct, though not necessarily as a means of censorship.
     
    chrisjm18 likes this.
  12. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    I sometimes use UNISA as an example in this regard. If you go to their website and look at their doctoral programs you will see two different things. The first is that each discipline has a page where they describe "areas of supported research." If your research doesn't fit into one of those areas then your dissertation proposal (and maybe even your initial enrollment) will not be accepted. They also have faculty listings where areas of research interests are listed. These are your potential dis advisors and so at least one of them has to be able to support/guide your research. You might be a brilliant student but if you can't fit yourself into their existing research structure they will just pass you by. I bring this up because I think that this is essentially what every university does. UNISA is just more transparent about it than most. Probably because it saves a lot of time and trouble for everyone.

    We know that there are Christian schools (I include the Catholics in this) that are not too "Christian" in the sense that you don't have to nail yourself to a cross in order to be admitted or throw yourself into a fiery pit if you have sex with someone. Boston College comes to mind. But Liberty is more extreme in that regard and I think it would be naïve to suggest that this worldview doesn't influence the research that takes place in their school. If I wanted to go to a "party school" I wouldn't go to BYU. If I want to study Oceanography I'm not looking at Kansas State. If you look at the Philosophical Gourmet report you'll see a very nice analysis of top Philosophy grad programs. Some are strong in this, some in that. This is the case everywhere.
     
    chrisjm18 likes this.
  13. Tireman 44444

    Tireman 44444 Well-Known Member

    Yes on the UNISA part. My research was different/quirky enough for Dr. Alex Mouton to want to sponsor me in the program.
     
  14. chrisjm18

    chrisjm18 Well-Known Member

    One of my instructors at Liberty is doing an LU grant-funded research. He was recruiting LU Ph.D. in CJ students to be an RA (stipend) on his quantitative research. I didn't apply though because his research area wasn't of interest and I'm more a qual person. However, I'm glad to see LU funding CJ research.
     
    cronus likes this.
  15. sanantone

    sanantone Well-Known Member

    University of Florida has two online PhD programs that are a blend of history and cultural studies. One was already mentioned - classical civilization. The other is Latin and Roman Studies. Their target audience is teachers.

    Regarding dissertation committees, you only need to find professors who are interested enough to be committee members. You can find an expert from another university to be a member. Ideally, your chair would be an expert, but it's not required.

    Would Liberty University professors be interested in a dissertation on the history of religious extremism, the development of the pseudoscience that is Young Earth Creationism, or the romanticizing of the Confederate States of America? I do not know.
     
    Last edited: May 5, 2019
  16. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

  17. AlK11

    AlK11 Active Member

  18. Jonathan Whatley

    Jonathan Whatley Well-Known Member

  19. sanantone

    sanantone Well-Known Member

     
  20. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

    How's the dissertation coming along?
     

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