I teach modern British history, and this fall I am expected to be one of the
graduate examiners for several PhD candiadates in this field at my
university. The problem is, that having done my own doctoral work in
Britain, I have never experienced a comprehensive examination, either written
or oral. Can anyone tell me what kind of examination the comprehensive is
supposed to be? Should I be testing their recall of the books on their list,
asking them about sources, asking very broad (ie: was the Industrial
Revolution a Good Thing?) questions, or is the focus comparative? Any
suggestions on how I should approach devising questions for these comps would
be very much appreciated.
Susan Mumm
York University
(smumm@yorku.ca)`
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