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
-- 
*********************
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