The Program of Ethnography and Cultural Anthropology has been offered by the PhD School of History and Ethnography of the University of Debrecen since 1993. This program operates under the guidance and supervision of the Department of Ethnography of the university.
Following the general operating procedure of PhD. schools, the programs in Hungarian and English last for 4 years (8 semesters). During the course of the first two years of the program, students attend courses offered as part of the program the requirements for completing which are specified by the instructors responsible for these courses. The second two years of the PhD. program cover the preparation of the doctoral dissertation, the completion of the relevant research and the fine-tuning of the text of the dissertation. Doctoral candidates under the guidance of their supervisors are expected to implement an intensive research phase and prepare for independent academic research as well as for the graduation process:
During the course of the doctoral program, a precondition for students to proceed to the next year of studies is passing the end-of-the-semester and the end-of-the-year examinations. PhD students must include the courses announced in the NEPTUN system in their electronic grade book (index) at the beginning of the semester. Signing up for the announced compulsory courses is essential, while only those elective courses that the doctoral student can complete during the semester need to be registered.
Doctoral students must obtain at least 240 credits in doctoral training, during 8 semesters of the program period.
The sequence of exams is as follows:
1, Topic Introduction Exam
Date and type of exam: at the end of the first PhD. year (concluding semester 2), a mandatory oral examination before a professional committee / examination board.
At the end of the first completed academic year of the PhD. Program of Ethnography and Cultural Anthropology, students take a Topic Introduction Exam (as a precondition for concluding the second semester). This exam is meant to assess and evaluate the progress of the doctoral candidates in their chosen field of research and is to be taken before a committee of experts teaching in the program.
A precondition for taking the oral exam is the presentation and submission of the professional material related to the preparation of the dissertation at least a week prior to the date of the exam announced, including:
a, A description of the topic of the dissertation in not less than 10 pages (20 thousand characters).
b, A select bibliography prepared for the dissertation, containing at least 10 of the most important books and 15 academic studies or articles related to the dissertation.
The subject matter of the topic introduction exam is an oral presentation (of 8-10 minutes’ length, based on a PPT file) of the topic introduction description and the concept of the structure of the dissertation in front of the committee / examination board. The members of the examination board shall formulate their questions and comments in the light of the oral presentation and the material submitted to them, following which they shall make an assessment concerning the progress of the candidate.
2, Complex Exam
Date and type of exam: at the end of the second PhD. year, a mandatory oral examination before a professional committee / examination board.
Precondition: Minimum 120 credits earned in 1-4 semesters of the program.
A precondition for progressing in the doctoral program and commencing the third year (semester 5) of the program with respect to the general program regulations is passing a complex exam at the end of the second PhD. academic year (concluding semester 4). At the complex oral exam, students enrolled in the PhD. Program of Ethnography and Cultural Anthropology are expected to present their knowledge to the committee consisting of the instructors of the program concerning the following:
A precondition for taking the oral exam is the presentation and submission of the professional material related to the preparation of the dissertation at least a week prior to the date of the exam announced, including:
a, A detailed working draft of a chapter of the dissertation in not less than 40 thousand characters.
The oral part of the Complex Exam consists of three units:
a, The oral presentation and analysis (of 12-15 minutes’ length, based on a PPT file) of the first dissertation chapter in front of the examination board, whose members then are to ask questions based on their prior knowledge of the text and the content of the presentation.
b, The PhD. student taking the examination shall give an itemized and objective account of the specific literature submitted as the select bibliography on the occasion of the Topic Introduction Exam. The questions asked at the examination shall be formulated by two members / interviewers appointed to the examination board in advance by the Head of the Program.
c, The examinee shall present his or her plans concerning the schedule of the process of further research activities and the implementation of the PhD. dissertation as well as the structural outline of the planned dissertation. The structural outline shall contain the structure of the planned thesis agreed and approved by the supervisor. Presenting a structural outline is a mandatory element of the complex exam.
The assessment of the Complex Exam is pass / fail, which shall reflect the committee’s decision regarding whether the examinee is deemed to be suitable on the basis of his or her performance, level of preparation and the submitted dissertation chapter to complete the dissertation and earn a degree in the remaining three years (6 semesters) available.
3, 3rd-Year and 4th-Year Semester-End Exams
In the 3rd and 4th years of the program, students are required to take so-called end-of-semester exams at the end of each semester on a date specified in advance.
Accordingly, in semesters 5 to 8 each, doctoral candidates shall present a newly completed chapter of their dissertations to a committee appointed by the Head of the PhD. program, thus giving an account of the progress of their research and the writing of the dissertation.
In all cases, the subject matter of the semester-end exams shall be a chapter of the structural outline submitted and presented at the Complex Exam. In the event that a doctoral candidate should change the previously planned and accepted structure of the dissertation with the approval of the supervisor, an account of this fact and a justification for its reason shall be presented to the examination board.
During the course of the semester-end exam, PhD students shall present the content of the submitted thesis chapter in a 12-15 minute presentation based on a PPT file. In this presentation, the PhD students shall discuss the theoretical and methodological details used in the chapter, the results of the relevant field research (if relevant), and the preparation schedule for further chapters of the thesis.
Chief guidelines:
- Delineation of the topic of the chapter to be presented.
- An explanation of the role of the submitted chapter in the structure of the dissertation and how it fits into the structural outline.
- Chapter theses, conclusions and presentation of new results.
- Additional tasks for the preparation of the dissertation, research plans and tasks for writing the next chapter.
Formal requirements for submitting the chapter:
- Author's name, chapter title.
- Unified note-taking apparatus (the journal Ethnographia is recommended as a basis for notes format).
- Justification to both sides and page numbering.
At the end of the 8th semester, in addition to the dissertation chapter, a professional CV must also be sent to the examination board in a separate file.
4, PhD. Doctoral Pre-Defense
The event when the document called abszolutórium [pre-degree certificate or absolutorium], which marks the official conclusion following the completion of the training requirements, is issued takes place after the end of the fourth academic year.
Candidates shall initiate the pre-defense procedure at a 90% completion level of their doctoral dissertation by submitting the manuscript of the dissertation, thus indicating the fact that they are prepared for the process of earning the degree. The opponents and the members of the committee shall be appointed and invited to participate in the pre(liminary) defense by the Head of the Program in accordance with the regulations relevant for the doctoral school.
4, PhD. Doctoral Defense
See Doctoral Regulations of the University of Debrecen at:
https://mad-hatter.it.unideb.hu/portal/displayDocument/id/3319787
Program flowchart:
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