Preparation of General Field

Each student will work closely with a faculty advisor (called the Generals Advisor) to produce a mock syllabus for a year-long graduate survey course that delineates the student’s vision of American Studies.

• The syllabus will be based on 40-50 books and articles, selected under the guidance of the Generals Advisor and approved by the Graduate Chair.
• Each week on the syllabus should include both required and recommended readings.
• The syllabus must specify the framing questions and the logic that underlies the conceptualization of the course. Sections and subsections of the syllabus should each be preceded by guiding questions and explanatory text.
• The student should be prepared in the oral exam to provide the rationale for the conceptualization of the syllabus and for the selection of texts.
• The syllabus should address major themes, events, problems, and concepts of American culture and society.
• The texts must represent the full chronological arc of American history from precontact to the present, as well as the interdisciplinary breadth and transnational dimensions of American Studies.
• This model is designed to help students organize a large number of readings thematically and chronologically. As a mock syllabus, the end product need not include precise segmentation by date, page numbers, assignments, etc.

Steps to Success

• Present the “generals” field adviser with a syllabus proposal: a preliminary reading list plus introductory essay (two double-spaced pages) that lays out the main themes, questions, and objectives of the year-long graduate course.
• After receiving approval of the list, read all the books, meet regularly with the Generals Advisor, and fulfill the writing requirements prescribed by the Generals Advisor.
• Prepare the final version of the syllabus and deliver it to your Generals Advisor.

• Deliver the final version to the graduate chair and to committee members at least one week prior to the start of the oral examination.

Preparation of Specialized Fields

Students choose two additional fields of study related to American Studies for their areas of specialization. Each field will comprise 40-50 books and articles. At least one of the fields should help the student prepare for her dissertation research. The student should define the scope of her chosen fields by working closely with one professor for each field. The scope of a field should be narrow enough to allow the student to master the principal scholarly literature in the topic area and broad enough to define an undergraduate course. Examples include: Indigenous Studies, U.S. Women’s History, Sexuality Studies, Asian American Studies, Popular Culture, Mass Media, African American Literature, Critical and Cultural Theory, American Environmental History, etc.

Steps to Success

• Prepare the preliminary reading lists of 40-50 books and articles in consultation with the field advisors. Consult with each field advisor for advice on the scope and content of the reading list.  Each field list also must be approved by the Graduate Chair.
• Read all books on the list, meeting regularly with field advisor, while fulfilling the advisor’s writing requirements for field preparation;
• Draft and revise the critical literature review;
• After approval of the final draft by the field advisor, deliver a copy to the Graduate Chair, Graduate Coordinator, and to all committee members at least two weeks prior to the oral examination.

AMST 650

AMST 650 is designed to reinforce and deepen content knowledge in the general field of American Studies and in specialized subfields within American Studies. By the time that Ph.D. students in American Studies begin their dissertations, students are expected to have engaged at a sophisticated level with the major themes, problems, and interdisciplinary methods of the field of American Studies, and to have developed specializations in two subfields that will serve as their professional teaching and research fields. This course, which is offered each semester with variable content, is designed to provide students with a defined pathway toward field mastery.

Advanced Ph.D. students may register for this course, with different content, up to three times (up to 9 credits)—each with a separate field adviser. AMST 650 counts toward the 45-credits required for the Ph.D.

Registration for AMST 650 requires signatures from both the field adviser and the Graduate Chair. To register for an AMST 650, students must first compile a preliminary draft of the booklist for the field and then fill out a form with their field adviser, identifying the reading and writing requirements for the course. The form and booklist draft must be submitted to the Graduate Coordinator  in order to acquire the appropriate CRN

Fields & Syllabus Approval
When the student has successfully prepared preliminary booklists for all three fields and has read through much of the material, she should contact the Graduate Chair to review and formally approve the booklists, as signified by completion of the QUALIFYING EXAM APPROVAL FORM.

To complete this component of the qualifying exam, the student will write two literature reviews of approximately 20 pages each. One faculty field adviser will supervise each review, which may be written in whole or in part in AMST 650, or independently. A critical review does not merely summarize texts; it traces the emergence and transformation of an area of inquiry and its intellectual genealogies, assesses contributions and methods of various scholars; and identifies areas of future research. The reviews must be clearly written, analytically sophisticated, organizationally cohesive, and carefully edited. They must be handed in no later than four weeks before the semester’s end. 

The Advisor supervising each field determines whether the student has successfully passed the literature reviews. The Generals Advisor determines whether the student has passed the general exams (or “syllabus”). The Generals Advisor also serves as Chair of the Qualifying Exam committee.

Upon the student’s successful completion of the literature reviews, field advisors will send the final drafts to the Generals Advisor, who will communicate results to the Graduate Chair. The Graduate Coordinator will then schedule the Oral defense.

Oral exams are two hours long and cover all three fields. Each of the three field advisors will have approximately thirty minutes to ask questions. Students may be asked to clarify or elaborate on their literature reviews and syllabus, and/or asked to discuss other theories, methods, and arguments covered by books in the reading lists.

After the exam, the committee meets privately to assess the student’s performance and assign a grade of “Fail,” “Low Pass,” “Pass,” or “Pass with Distinction.”

A student who fails the Oral Examination on the first attempt can try once more, either by two weeks after the original oral exam or before the end of the semester, whichever comes first.

The dissertation committee consists of five faculty members, including at least three faculty members from American Studies and one outside member.

Please note:

• The committee chair must be a full graduate faculty in American Studies.
• One outside member (known as the university representative) must be a full graduate faculty in another department in UHM.
• In certain circumstances and with the approval of the Graduate Chair, the committee may include a faculty member at another university.
• Consult with the Graduate Chair as well as the committee chair to ensure the range of expertise and support necessary for the student’s particular dissertation project.

The content and format for the dissertation proposal vary depending on the nature of the project, but all proposals must include:

1. project overview, describing the topic, research questions, potential arguments, and significance;
2. sources and methods, identifying the key primary sources and describing the methods to be used for analysis;
3. literature review, summarizing the findings and arguments made by other scholars and writers on relevant issues and discussing what the dissertation would add to existing scholarship;
4. chapter outline, summarizing research questions and preliminary arguments for each chapter.
5. a bibliography listing both primary and secondary sources.

While there is no minimum or maximum length for the proposal, typically a solid proposal is no less than 15 double-spaced pages, excluding the bibliography.  Samples of successful dissertation proposals are available for review on our website by registered students.

After approval by the committee and the Graduate Chair, the student may schedule the comprehensive exam. During the two-hour oral exam, the student may first make a brief oral statement about the proposed research. The committee members will then ask questions and make suggestions about the proposal, and the student is expected to defend her project.

Upon successful completion of the Comprehensive Examination, students earn ABD (All-But-Dissertation) status and proceed to dissertation research and writing. The Graduate Division rules state that any student who fails the Comprehensive Examination twice will be dropped from the PhD program.

Ideally students complete the dissertation by their sixth year of study, but students should be aware that it may take three or more years. It is strongly recommended that students apply for external fellowships and grants that will not only provide necessary funding but also strengthen one’s academic profile.

Dissertation research and writing is generally a solitary process that requires extended periods in the archives or in the field as well as at one’s desk. However, students should maintain regular contact with their committee members, especially their chair, and receive ample feedback along the way. Students should expect to revise chapters multiple times in response to the committee’s guidance. A full draft of the dissertation must be provided to the committee by the first day of the semester in which the candidate hopes to defend the dissertation.

When the entire committee has read the manuscript and approved it for defense, the student may schedule the oral defense in consultation with the Graduate Coordinator. The defense is a public event and must be announced in the UH events calendar at least two weeks in advance. In cases where any of the committee members is out of town on the scheduled defense date, the member may participate in the defense remotely, following procedures set up by the Graduate Division.

In the semester of the dissertation defense, students must register for AMST 800. They must also submit a petition and graduation fee to the Graduate Division several months prior to graduation. The Graduate Division requires submission of the completed dissertation well before the end of the semester. It is thus essential check the Graduate Division calendar and plan accordingly.

During the two-hour defense with the dissertation committee, the student will make a brief statement about the dissertation. The committee members will then ask questions and make comments on the dissertation, and the student is expected to defend her work. A majority of the committee members, including the committee chair and the outside member, must vote “Pass” in order for the student to pass the defense. The student may be required to make further revisions based on the comments made during the defense before submitting the final dissertation to the Graduate Division. The dissertation must conform to the Style and Policy Manual for Theses and Dissertations.

• Upon the successful completion of the defense and the submission of the dissertation to the Graduate Division, the student will earn a PhD.