Skip to main content

Graduate Program General Information

Graduate study is one of the core elements of our department's mission.  We offer graduate work leading to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy with concentrations in, Ancient History, East Asian History, European History, History of Science, Latin American History, Middle Eastern Histoy, and United States History. A Master of Arts degree in history is also offered, with concentrations in East Asian History, European History, History of Science, Jewish Studies, and History of the United States.

Field Specific Information

Ancient History

Students in ancient history will be expected to demonstrate a broad mastery of the entire field, with special concentration as follows:

Major Fields

  • The history of Israel in the biblical period
  • The history of the Jewish people in antiquity
  • The history of Classical Greece
  • The history of the Roman Empire (including late antiquity)

First Minor

  • One of the fields listed above not chosen as the major field
  • Greek and Roman history
  • The Middle East before Islam (western Asia and northeastern Africa from the sixth century B.C.E. to the seventh century C.E.)

Second Minor

  • A field of history outside of ancient history
  • A related discipline, offered through another department

Language Requirements

All students will be expected to demonstrate a reading knowledge of two modern foreign languages, usually French and German. This requirement may be satisfied by any of the means recognized by the department.

All students will be expected to demonstrate a reading knowledge of at least one and usually two of the three following ancient languages: Greek, Hebrew, and Latin. The languages will be chosen as appropriate to the student’s particular interests and the requirement will be satisfied by departmental examination.

The second and sometimes third language not elected under (2) may be required if necessary for the student’s research. Additional languages, such as Akkadian, Aramaic, Egyptian, Ugaritic, Phoenician, Coptic, Syriac, and middle and modern Hebrew, may be required as necessary for the student’s research. The required level of competence will be set as appropriate to the student's needs and the requirement will be satisfied by departmental examination.

Core Courses

  • HIGR 255. Historical Scholarship in Ancient History
  • HIGR 260. Research Seminar in Ancient History (two quarters)

East Asian History

Students in East Asian history will be expected to demonstrate a broad competence in the entire field, with special concentration as follows:

Major Fields

  • Modern China
  • Modern Japan
  • Premodern China

Minor Fields

Students majoring in Modern Chinese history will be expected to pass three minor fields for a broad perspective on East Asian history:

  • Premodern Chinese history
  • Modern Japanese history
  • A history field outside of East Asia, or a discipline outside of history

Students majoring in Modern Japanese history:

  • A field in history
  • A related field offered through another department
    Note: One of the minor fields must not focus exclusively on East Asia

Students majoring in Premodern Chinese history will pass three minor fields:

  • Modern Chinese history
  • Premodern history of another area
  • One of modern Japanese history; a relevant field outside of East Asia; or a discipline outside of history

Language Requirements:

For students majoring in Modern Chinese history: Students must demonstrate a reading knowledge of Chinese and a reading knowledge of a second foreign language related to the student’s research interests.

For students majoring in Modern Japanese history: Students must demonstrate a reading and speaking knowledge of Japanese. Depending on specialization, reading knowledge of a second foreign language might be necessary.

Students majoring in Premodern Chinese history must demonstrate proficiency in Chinese, classical Chinese, and another relevant Asian or European language.

Core Courses:

For Chinese history students:

HIGR 210. Historical Scholarship on Modern Chinese History (three quarters)
HIGR 211. Historical Scholarship on Modern Japanese History (two quarters)
HIGR 212. Historical Scholarship on Modern East Asian History
HIGR 213. Sources on Modern Chinese History
HIGR 215A-B. Research Seminar in Modern Chinese History
HIGR 217A-B-C. Historical Scholarship on Premodern Chinese History

For Japanese history students:

HIGR 211. Historical Scholarship on Modern Japanese History (two quarters)
HIGR 212. Historical Scholarship on Modern East Asian History
HIGR 214. Readings in Japanese on Modern Japan
HIGR 216A-B. Research Seminar in Modern Japanese History

European History

Major Fields

Within the major field, national specialization is offered in modern Germany, Spain, Russia and Greece, and in early modern Italy and Germany. Regional specialization is offered in central/eastern Europe and in the Mediterranean.

  • Modern Europe
  • Early modern Europe

First Minor Field

The first minor field should be selected from within the parameters of European history or in world/global history, but in a chronological period outside that of the major field.

  • Ancient Mediterranean
  • Medieval Europe
  • Early modern Europe
  • Modern Europe
  • A second national history
  • World/global history

Second Minor Field

The second minor field is designed either to develop a non-European teaching expertise or to pursue broader theoretical reading related to the research interests of the student or in a chronological period outside that of the major field.

  • A geographical area outside Europe
  • History of science
  • World/global history
  • A transnational thematic or theoretical concentration, such as gender history, citizenship, nationalism, etc.
  • A thematic or theoretical concentration rooted in another discipline, such as anthropology, sociology, art history, ethnic studies, or literature.
  • Early modern Europe (only if the world/global history was taken as the first minor field)

Language Requirement

All European PhD students must show reading proficiency in two European languages other than English.

History of Science

Latin American History

Middle Eastern History

United States History