What’s the Dissertation Committee?

The dissertation committee consists of either 3 or 4 people, a minimum of a couple of whom are ordinarily people or formal affiliates from the History Department. The advisor should be part of a brief history Department.

• First Readers / Advisor: The Dissertation Committee is chaired by part of a brief history Department that has been designated because the student’s advisor. The Advisor works carefully using the student at every stage from the dissertation, from formulation from the subject through writing and defense.
• Second Readers: a senior or junior faculty member in the history department, or associated with the department as indexed by the Courses of Instruction. If your student desires to incorporate a second readers who isn’t associated with the department, she or he submits a petition towards the coordinator for approval through the director of graduate studies.
• Third Readers: can be a person in another department, faculty, or college. Using the permission from the consultant and also the DGS, an applicant may not approach another readers for academic reasons. If your student wishes to not have another readers, she must choose to recognized to the Coordinator of Graduate Studies through the finish from the spring semester of the 4th year.
• 4th Readers: optional might be added toward the conclusion from the dissertation. Note: the dissertation defense committee will contain the student’s dissertation committee plus yet another good member (see “Dental Defense and Defense Committee” below.)

Through the research and writing phase, students are advised to keep communication with all of readers, and submit chapters because they are implemented to the committee in general.

To accomplish the executive procedure for developing the committee, students submit the dissertation committee form towards the coordinator. The shape necessitates the signatures of every readers, so please begin collecting signatures as quickly as possible.

Changes towards the Dissertation Committee

After creating a dissertation committee, students might want to replace a readers. This decision ought to be made after consideration and consultation with their consultant. A student should initiate discussions using the current and potential readers and it’s important tthere shouldn’t be ambiguity concerning the new reader’s agreement for everyone around the Committee. The Graduate Coordinator, once notified, will update the state record of committee names.

Dental Defense and also the Defense Committee

Students defend their dissertation prior to it being authorized by the dissertation defense committee .* The defense committee includes the student’s dissertation committee plus yet another good member attracted in the History Department, another Harvard department, or outdoors the College. Before the dental defense, each person in the defense committee writes an in depth set of the dissertation. The defense itself should last roughly two hrs. It’s available to the intellectual community of college and graduated pupils in addition to buddies and group of the candidate. When the dissertation continues to be effectively defended, the people from the defense committee sign the dissertation acceptance certificate, and append their reports into it.

Defense Deadlines

The defense must be held prior to the GSAS dissertation submission deadline, and final dissertations should be posted towards the people from the Dissertation Defense Committee a minumum of one month ahead of time to provide them time for you to prepare their reports. This means the next timelines:

For any May Degree :
Dissertation due at GSAS by mid-May. Therefore, the defense must occur no after early May (again, with final draft posted a minimum of per month prior).

For any November degree.
Dissertation due at GSAS by mid-September. Therefore, the defense must occur no after early September (with final draft posted a minimum of per month prior).

Students may also obtain a March degree. The GSAS dissertation submission deadline for March levels is within mid-The month of january, meaning students targeting the March degree will have to defend by mid-December, prior to the winter break.

Where will i submit my dissertation?

Online submission from the dissertation via ETD @ Harvard is needed through the Graduate School. Dissertations should be received by 11:59 pm around the deadline date for that given degree period. NO EXTENSIONS For This DEADLINE Are Supplied.

Dissertations ought to be posted within their final format, in compliance using the guidelines listed by means of the PhD Dissertation guide, and prepared for publication. The Registrar’s Office will evaluate the document for formatting compliance. Formatting errors prevents the conferral from the degree and also the student might need to apply for the following available degree period. An example dissertation along with the Top Common Errors are supplied for your benefit.

The next two surveys should be completed and completion confirmation codes provided during dissertation submission.

Additionally towards the electronic dissertation submission, the initial complete and signed Dissertation Acceptance Certificate must be sent to the Registrar’s Office, Cruz Campus Center, 1350 Massachusetts Avenue, Suite 450, Cambridge, MA 02138 through the appropriate dissertation deadline. This certificate ought to be typed, printed on watermark paper, and match the dissertation title page exactly. It should be signed by no less than three readers. a couple of whom should be people from the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. A student name must match the legal name on record in the Registrar’s Office .