Graduate Handbook
Welcome to the USC History Department's Graduate Student Handbook. Whether you're a potential applicant, first-year student, or someone well into your time as a history graduate student at USC, we hope you'll find the information most useful to you. For further information, please do not hesitate to contact the department faculty or staff.
This Handbook was designed and written by Jason LaBau, ABD in US history. If you have suggestions for additions or revisions to this section of our graduate website, please contact the Director of Graduate Studies, Lisa Bitel.
This Web-Handbook is divided into three main sections:
This section of the Graduate Student Handbook provides a year-by-year review of the steps necessary for the completion of your Doctoral Degree. Here you will find information about requirements, course work, qualifying exams, your own teaching, and the dissertation. Accompanying this information are links to university resources, bureaucratic paperwork, and advice from students and faculty.
This section of the Graduate Student Handbook provides a guide to the History Department and related institutional structures that will play a part in your graduate student career at USC.
This section of the Graduate Student Handbook provides additional information about life as a successful graduate student, including FAQ for new students, information on finances, and a list of online resources.
Professionalization
This section of the Graduate Student Handbook is "under development." It will provide counsel relating to the ongoing process of professionalization that you'll undergo as a graduate student. Here you will find information about such topics as conference attendence and paper presentation, article publication, c.v. development, and external funding.