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Taking Comprehensive Examinations

1. In the quarter before you intend to take comps, you should talk to examiners and ask them what they will expect of you. You should present them with a list of courses that you have had in their field.

Examiners are:

Early Prehistory: Davis
Later Prehistory: Walberg
Greek Archaeology: Lynch
Roman Archaeology: Rose
History: Sage, Christopherson, Cohen

2. By the first week of the quarter in which you take comps, you must supply the graduate advisor with a list of examiners and exam dates.
Include a suggested date for the Oral Examination. All examinations must be completed within a single quarter. While taking comps you should register for 12 hours of dissertation research.

3. A copy of the exam will be left for you with the secretary on the day of the examination. Pick it up and take it to a quiet place (the library cage is recommended). When you finish with the examination, return it to the secretary (not the graduate advisor) who will make copies for the examiners. PLEASE write in dark medium so that your exam can be copied.

4. If you want to know the results of individual examinations, as they become available, tell the graduate advisor.

5. When all exams are passed, the Oral Examination will be officially scheduled. Present will be all full-time faculty archaeologists in the department, and possibly also the head of the department. Orals usually last an hour or more. At the end of the oral, the examining committee will decide on your final grade (Pass, or Pass with distinction). In the oral examination you should be prepared to answer questions that gave you problems in the written examinations.

6. After completing comps, you have one month to present a proposal for a dissertation to the graduate advisor, and a list of dissertation committee members. If the graduate advisor finds the proposal satisfactory, it will be circulated to members of the committee and a meeting will be called to offer advice on the proposal and the feasibility of the dissertation in general.

7. Aegean prehistorians take the following examinations: Ancient History(4 hrs.); Greek Archaology (2 hrs.); Roman Archaeology (2 hrs.); EarlyPrehistory (4 hrs.); Later Prehistory (4 hrs.). Classical archaeologists take the following examinations: Ancient History (2 hrs.); GreekArchaology (4 hrs.); Roman Archaeology (4 hrs.); Early Prehistory (2 hrs.); Later Prehistory (2 hrs.).

Examinations are either passed or failed; partial credit is not given.

See a study guide for the Classical Arch comps.