Students have to propose, research and write a PhD thesis that satisfies universally accepted criteria for original work.

The following courses are all required.

Although language courses are not required, PhD students intending to specialize in Ottoman History are strongly encouraged to register for language courses as early as possible. In calculating overall graduation requirements, language courses are counted as Area Electives. A maximum of 6 of the language courses listed below may be counted towards PhD level coursework, provided all other distributional requirements have been fully met. After the beginning level represented by TLL 501-502, all advanced Ottoman language training comes in the form of HIST-coded 600-level seminars.

Students have to choose at least 2 courses from this pool. But for students who happen to have done a History MA at Sabancı University (and have therefore taken at least one Sources and Methods course in the process), the PhD requirement consists of only 1 additional course from the pool below. Any and all Sources and Methods courses taken and passed in excess of these minima may be counted towards completion of the student's Area Electives requirement. In addition to the courses listed below, certain specialized 500-coded courses occasionally offered by visiting professors or full-time staff may, by decision of the History Program Committee, be counted towards completion of the Sources and Methods requirement.

Students have to choose at least 3 courses from this pool. Any and all Research Seminars taken and passed in excess of this minimum may be counted towards completion of the student's Area Electives requirement.

PhD students must take a minimum of 3 courses from this pool in preparation for taking their Qualifying Exams in one major and two minor fields. Any and all Literature Survey courses taken and passed in excess of this minimum may be counted towards completion of the students Area Electives requirement.

Students have to choose (i) a minimum of 3 courses from this pool if they are taking just 1 Sources and Methods course, or (ii) a minimum of 2 courses from this pool if they are taking 2 Sources and Methods courses at the PhD level. While some or all of these Area Electives can be taken from among those listed below, they can also be taken from within the Core Electives I, II, III, IV pools as given above. In other words, (a) even if they are not separately listed below, all Core Electives I, II, III, IV taken above and beyond the indicated minimum requirements; and (b) even though they may not be listed anywhere within the boundaries of the History PhD Program, all courses included within the various sub-pools of the MA Programs in History, may also be counted towards the completion of the Area Electives requirement. An additional rule is the following: (c) Students are entitled to take at most 2 out of their 3 Area Electives from among other graduate course pools not overlapping with the overall course pool of the History programs.