About the History & Social Science Education Doctoral Program

The School of Education at Virginia Tech offers a doctoral program in Curriculum and Instruction with emphasis in History and Social Science Education. The doctoral program is made up of full time and part-time doctoral students. Every effort is made to secure graduate assistantships for full-time students as they complete their one-year academic residency requirement. Students are expected to complete doctoral examinations and dissertation including qualifying exam, preliminary exam, prospectus and final examination. 

The History and Social Science Education Doctoral Program is primarily designed to prepare researchers and higher education faculty. The possible career paths could be but not limited to faculty positions in post-secondary education and for leadership positions in secondary education.

The History and Social Science Education Doctoral Program at Virginia Tech is designed to prepare reflective educators who are ready, willing, and able to facilitate the type of systematic critical literacy work that is a vital part of preparing 21st century citizens to become thoughtful and nuanced readers of the word and the world, both past and present.

THE COHORT MODEL

This program operates on a cohort model. Members of a given cohort attend all of the same classes in the same sequence and pursue common plans of study.

The benefits of a cohort model are many. It is designed to facilitate social interaction, collaboration, and the formation of a supportive learning community.

Students in cohorts learn from and help each other with the successful completion of coursework and professional networking. They report a strong sense of community and are more likely to complete their programs of study in a timely manner.

The History and Social Science Education Doctoral Program emphasizes the following strands of research pertaining to History and Social Science:

• Comparative studies of history and social science education
• Education of preservice and in-service teachers
• How students learn history and social science
• The role of multimedia and technology to support historical inquiry
• Curriculum History
• Citizenship Education
• Teaching and Learning with and About Difficult Knowledge / History informal and informal setting
• Learning and Assessment in Social Studies

Students enrolled in the doctoral program must pass four exams and submit a dissertation as part of the degree requirements.

• Qualifying Exam
• Preliminary Exam
• Prospectus
• Final Examination

Plan of Study

Doctoral candidates will work closely with their advisor to craft a Plan of Study. This will include a series of independent studies around the history and nature of research and practice in the social studies. Candidates may also choose to take graduate coursework in a social science (History, Political Science, Geography, Economics, etc.) as part of their cognate.

The Plan of Study (90 credit hours) for History and Social Science doctoral students must include the following minimum requirements:

• Research: 15 hours minimum
• Core Requirements: 15 hours minimum 
• Major Requirements: 15 hours minimum
• Dissertation: 30 hours minimum
• Cognate: 9 hours minimum 

The Ph.D. degree in History and Social Science Education is not awarded solely on the basis of coursework completion. To graduate, each student must also conduct an original research study culminating in the presentation and defense of a dissertation. The dissertation demonstrates the student’s ability to investigate a practical issue in history and social science education agreed upon by one’s dissertation chair and advisory committee. 

The majority of students write their dissertations in the traditional five-chapter format (i.e., as a research paper with an introduction, literature review, methodology, results, and conclusion).  Other options such as a journal article dissertation are available.  Students work with the dissertation chairs and committees to determine the best format for their dissertation.