Dear Ph.D. Students,



Because of the lengthy time it has taken many of you to complete 

minor field statements, the department decided to make a change in 

the way minor fields can be satisfied. If you have already completed 

your minor fields, this change will not affect you at all. If you 

have not yet completed both minor fields, you will now have a choice 

of how to satisfy any remaining minor fields. And this change will 

only be mandatory for those students entering in Fall 2010 and after. 

At its meeting on May 7 the department's full-time faculty voted to 

substitute a take-home, open book essay exam for the field statement 

for students beginning in Fall 2010. The exam will be given during 

the final exam period at the end of the semester the student takes 

the HIST 804 readings course. Details are spelled out in the actual 

motion from the Graduate Committee that the department faculty 

approved unanimously on Thursday. The Graduate Committee has been 

discussing how to deal with the problem of field statements for over 

a year, so this is not a decision that we have made in haste or taken 

lightly. Moreover, we have relied on input from the two student 

members of the Graduate Committee during this entire discussion. So, 

please be assured that we have taken this step in order to make it 

easier for you to get through our program requirements quicker and 

with less anxiety than at present, so that you can advance to 

doctoral candidacy sooner and get on with your dissertation.



Please read through the enclosed attachment carefully, and please let 

me or Steve Barnes, who is also a member of the Graduate Committee, 

know if you have any questions.



Mack Holt

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*********************

Mack P. Holt

Professor of History

Director of Graduate Studies

George Mason University

Mail Stop 3G1

4400 University Drive

Fairfax, VA 22030-4444

Direct office phone: (703)-993-1259

Fax: (703)-993-1251