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Programs

Department of History

The Department of History offers programs of study leading to the degrees of doctor of philosophy and master of arts. The faculty intends graduate training to be intellectually stimulating and supportive of a wide variety of careers in and outside higher education. We support our graduate students’ efforts to shape their programs of study to fit the ambitions they hold, and encourage applicants who are open to a wide variety of careers. These include tenure-track academic faculty appointments, teaching at the primary and secondary-school levels, grant writing, public history, digital humanities, and documentary editing and film-making. History graduate students also go on to careers in federal, state, and local politics and government; the foreign service; journalism; archival administration; archaeology; extension education and lifelong learning; community-engaged teaching; business and corporate management; law; medicine and hospital administration; public health and medical humanities; and museum work of various kinds.

Information about faculty and research can be found on the Department of History website.

AdmissionsLink to section

Applying to Master's ProgramsLink to section

We welcome applicants with professional ambitions both within and beyond the academy, as well as those with interdisciplinary interests. Most applicants have the equivalent of an undergraduate degree, but the department welcomes qualified students who previously had specialized in other related disciplines and show clear promise of excellent work in history. We encourage applications from those with diverse backgrounds and from under-represented groups.

Applications for admission should include transcripts of all undergraduate and graduate coursework done at other institutions, three letters of recommendation (preferably from history faculty), a statement of purpose that indicates the faculty member(s) with whom you would like to work, and a writing sample from a history course or BA or MA thesis. TOEFL, IELTS or Duolingo English Proficiency exam scores are required for international students; this may be waived for students from certain countries whose native language is English or for students who have completed at least three years of full time and in-person postsecondary study in one of these countries.

Applying to Doctoral ProgramsLink to section

We welcome applicants with professional ambitions both within and beyond the academy, as well as those with interdisciplinary interests. Most applicants have the equivalent of an undergraduate degree and/or an MA in history, but the department welcomes qualified students who previously had specialized in other related disciplines and show clear promise of excellent work in history. We encourage applications from those with diverse backgrounds and from underrepresented groups.

Applications for admission should include transcripts of all undergraduate and graduate coursework done at other institutions, three letters of recommendation (preferably from history faculty), a statement of purpose that indicates the faculty member(s) with whom you would like to work, and a writing sample from a history course or BA or MA thesis. TOEFL, IELTS or Duolingo English proficiency exam scores are required for international students; this may be waived for students from certain countries whose native language is English or for students who have completed at least three years of full time and in-person postsecondary study in one of these countries.

AcademicsLink to section

Master's Degrees and RequirementsLink to section

The MA degree requires 30 hours of graduate credit beyond the bachelor’s degree. Courses in the Department of History normally carry five credit hours. Full-time MA students earn 15 credits each semester for one year, for a total of 30 credit hours. The department offers two tracks to an MA degree: Plan A and Plan B. Students who wish to write a master’s thesis complete Plan A; most students choose to complete Plan B, which requires a master’s essay. Please see the MA handbook for specific coursework expectations for each plan.

Doctoral Degrees and RequirementsLink to section

The PhD degree requires 90 hours of graduate credit beyond the bachelor’s degree. Courses in the department normally carry five credit hours. Full-time PhD students earn 15 credits each semester for two years, for a total of 60 credit hours. They accrue an additional 30 credit hours by registering in the third year for HIST 502 The Dissertation Writers’ Workshop and reading and research courses in connection with the dissertation. Students entering the program from another graduate program may receive transfer credit for up to two semesters of coursework for the PhD. The decision on transferable credits will be made by the Director of Graduate Studies and graduate studies committee on a case-by-case basis.

During their first three years in the program, students undertake both written and oral examinations in three geographic, thematic, or methodological research fields that should support their dissertation work. Students must successfully complete language exams when one or more foreign languages are central to their fields of study. Typically, PhD candidates serve as teaching assistants during their third year and are instructor of record for an independent course in their fourth or fifth year. Alternatively, students may choose to undertake a digital history or public history project or internship in lieu of serving as a TA or teaching their own course.

Graduate Course TitlesLink to section

  • HIST. 400 History of Nature
  • HIST. 401 Modernity and Modernism: Topics Course
  • HIST. 402 Spatial History: Putting History in its Place
  • HIST. 403 International Human Rights
  • HIST. 404 Readings in Atlantic History
  • HIST. 405 Maritime Atlantic History
  • HIST. 406 Evolution of the Current World Economic Order from 1500
  • HIST. 409 The Mediterranean World, 1400–1800
  • HIST. 410 The Political Economy of Food in Africa
  • HIST. 411 The Atlantic Slave Trade and Africa, 1650–1851
  • HIST. 412 Global Crime and Detection
  • HIST. 413 History of Global Exploration
  • HIST. 420 Topics in Medieval European History
  • HIST. 421 Topics in Early Modern European History
  • HIST. 422 Miracles: From Antiquity to Modernity
  • HIST. 423 World War II: Eastern Front
  • HIST. 424 History of Emotions
  • HIST. 425 Microhistory
  • HIST. 426 History of Adventure
  • HIST. 427 Real Existing Socialism: 19th and 20th Century Europe
  • HIST. 428 Victorian England: Portrait of an Age, 1837–1901
  • HIST. 429 History of Friendship
  • HIST. 430 British Imperialism
  • HIST. 431 Europe in 1215
  • HIST. 432 Stalinism
  • HIST. 433 Russia in East Asia
  • HIST. 434 The Soviet Union and the Cold War
  • HIST. 437 George Orwell and the 20th Century
  • HIST. 440 Public History: Theory and Practice
  • HIST. 442 Rich China, Poor China
  • HIST. 443 Topics: Modern South Asia
  • HIST. 444 China in Africa: The Socialist and Capitalist Stories
  • HIST. 446 East Asia and the Cold War
  • HIST. 450 Captives: Past, Present, and Future (1500–2100)
  • HIST. 451 Life in the City: Latin American Urban History
  • HIST. 452 Racial Democracies: Mexico vs. Brazil
  • HIST. 453 Immigration and the Americas
  • HIST. 454 Oral History Theory and Methods
  • HIST. 455 Digital Paleography: Deciphering Early Modern Spanish (2cr)
  • HIST. 456 American Intellectual History: Modernism to Civil Rights
  • HIST. 457 America and the Holocaust
  • HIST. 458 Archaeology Field and Research Methods
  • HIST. 459 Birth in the Nation: Reproduction in the United States
  • HIST. 460 America and the World to 1865
  • HIST. 461 America and the World since 1865
  • HIST. 462 American Thought: Topics Course
  • HIST. 463 American Culture in the Great Depression and World War II
  • HIST. 464 The Black Family in Slavery and Freedom
  • HIST. 465 Topics in Early American History
  • HIST. 466 18th Century Anglo-America
  • HIST. 467 Topics in Revolutionary America
  • HIST. 469 Global America, 1865–Present
  • HIST. 470 Histories of Race and Revolt in US Literature and Film
  • HIST. 471 Digital Hands-On History
  • HIST. 472 Topics in 20th Century US History
  • HIST. 473 American Health Politics and Policies
  • HIST. 474 Pandemics, Politics, and Policies in the US 1918–2020
  • HIST. 475 Benjamin Franklin's America
  • HIST. 476 Economy and Society in Classical Antiquity
  • HIST. 477 Emergence of the Modern Congress
  • HIST. 480 The Visual Culture of Heritage and Identity
  • HIST. 482 Apocalypse Now…and Then: A History of Apocalyptic Thought
  • HIST. 483 Disease and Society from Antiquity to the Present
  • HIST. 484 Race, History, and Urban Politics
  • HIST. 485 Digital History: Building a Virtual St. George’s
  • HIST. 486 The Other Atlantic: Ethnohistory, Chronicle, and Memory
  • HIST. 487 Black Mexico
  • HIST. 488 Doctors and Devils: Literature and Medicine in Early Modernity
  • HIST. 489 The Role of the State in Global Historical Perspective
  • HIST. 491 Master’s Reading Course
  • HIST. 495 Master’s Research
  • HIST. 496 Extended Reading at the Master’s Level
  • HIST. 497 Archaeology of Early America
  • HIST. 500 Problems in Historical Analysis
  • HIST. 502 Dissertation Prospectus Seminar