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The launching of this doctoral program heralds the return of AUB’s Department of History to its leadership role in the formation of top-rank professional historians. PhD students will acquire critical, interpretive, and research skills that will enable them to contribute to the deepening and enrichment of their preferred field of specialization.

Upon receiving their degree, graduates of the program will be equipped with the methodological, language and research skills that will qualify them to serve as educators or professional researchers in local, regional and overseas universities or in other advanced centers of higher learning in their fields of specialization or in related cultural and inter-disciplinary studies. Their training enables them as well to be eligible for broader academic, administrative, media and diplomatic posts.

Admission to the doctoral program is on a competitive and selective basis and is dependent upon the recommendation of the department and the approval of the University Board of Graduate Studies. Applicants normally hold an MA and have demonstrated outstanding academic ability (minimum average grade of 85 or its equivalent) and potential to conduct scholarly research. In certain cases, BA holders whose academic performance is superior (minimum average grade of 85 or its equivalent) will be considered for admission to the program. Depending on their point of entry, the completion of the program will extend between 3 to 5 years. 

For MA holders, 12 credits of graduate level courses. For BA holders directly admitted to the program 30 credits of graduate level courses. The department may require such students to take additional graduate or undergraduate courses whenever it deems that to be necessary. The language of instruction is English; Arabic, however, can be considered as such depending on the area of specialization. Additionally, all students are required to attain working knowledge of either French or German and any ocher language required by their field of specialization. All students must take a comprehensive examination and submit a dissertation.

Students with an MA must achieve candidacy status not later than 5 semesters after admission to the program. In the case of BA holders directly admitted to the Program, candidacy must be achieved nor later than three years. For admission to candidacy, students are expected to have submitted a study program approved by the Board of Graduate Studies, completed at least 12 credits of graduate courses and required language courses, attained a cumulative average of at least 85 in all courses taken, passed the comprehensive and language examinations set by the department and submitted and defended a dissertation proposal .
For further information about admissions and an application form, go to the admissions website or http://www.aub.edu.lb/~webadmit/

The history graduate curriculum is subject to periodic departmental review. Overall it is a flexible and an individually driven program designed to build up a critical mass of information, based on the historical literature relating to the area of specialization, which will serve as the necessary foundation for a continuing process of life-long education. To teach historical research and writing, the curriculum adopts a problem-solving approach with a view to enabling graduates to think critically, to work independently and ultimately to take conscious ownership of their learning activity and to align it with their own educational, academic and career aspirations.
For details on the full curriculum, go to http://staff.aub.edu.lb/~webhist/historycourses.htm

A. Abu-Husayn
Professor, PhD, American University of Beirut
Ottoman Lebanon and the Syrian Provinces  

N. El-Cheikh
Professor, PhD, Harvard University
Byzantine, Early Islamic History and Gender Studies  

T. Khalidi
Adjunct Professor, The Shaykh Zayid Bin Sultan Al-Nhayan
Chair, PhD University of Chicago
Early Islamic History and Historiography  

D. Koistinen
Associate Professor, PhD, Yale University
Industrial and Labor History of the US  

J. Meloy
Associate Professor, PhD, University of Chicago
Mamluk History.  

C. Schayegh
Assistant Professor, PhD, Columbia University
History of Modern Iran 

S. Seikaly
Professor, PhD, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London
Modern Middle East History

In addition to computer and other technical facilities provided by AUB, students will have access to the department’s private library as well as to the main University library. Jafet Library holds over half a million printed volumes, many of which relate to the history of the Arabs and the Modern Middle East. The University Library also owns over 1400 manuscripts, overwhelmingly concerned with matters pertaining to Islam and other aspects of Middle Eastern life and history. Its periodical subscriptions include about three thousand periodicals of which 182 are in Arabic. The Library moreover has one of the largest and most complete collections of Arabic newspapers covering the 19th and 20th centuries. To this must be added the vast array of primary and secondary material available on microfilm and microfiche and in a multiplicity of databases which are accessible to all AUB students.
The Department also has an additional Faculty line for Visiting Professors: the Alfred H. Howell Endowed Chair.

The University will award graduate or teaching assistantships to PhD candidates, on a merit or need basis, entitling them to a tuition waiver and to a monthly stipend of $800 covering each academic year of their study. It will also assist in covering the cost of language instruction should this be required.