Fields
Graduate education in History typically involves two phases: 1) mastering historiographical fields in order to pass qualifying exams within five semesters; and 2) completing a dissertation of advanced original research over the next five to seven semesters. In our program, these phases are knit together in several ways. First, the coursework and independent reading in preparation for qualifying exams should allow students to grasp the contours of broad historiographical debates and to frame innovative and provocative questions to guide new research. Second, students take several courses in year 1 and year 2 that focus on the professional skills (grant-writing, prospectus development) that are indispensable to completing a dissertation.
Within the first year, students typically identify one major field: a broad chronological and/or regional category within which they will specialize and complete dissertation work. Examples of major fields currently offered by our faculty include Modern US History, Early Modern England, 1500-1783, and Colonial Latin America. By virtue of its breadth and depth, the major field prepares students for a career of teaching and research. The major field is not akin to a dissertation topic. “Patronage in Renaissance Florence” and “Early American Poor Relief” are not major fields; Early Modern Europe and Early American History are. The Department has not established set reading lists for the major fields, but rather an individual student will work in consultation with an individual faculty member (the major professor) to set the contours of the major field. In this light, Modern US History will look somewhat different depending on the particular professor and the particular student.
Students must also prepare two minor fields for qualifying exams. These fields can serve multiple purposes. In some cases, minor fields are more focused than major fields, so that (for example) a student whose major field is Modern Europe might prepare a minor field in a particular national history, such as Modern Britain. Similarly, a student whose major field is Modern US History might prepare a minor field in American Legal History. In other cases, a minor field might constitute a field of great breadth to allow a student the potential to conduct more comparative research or to offer a wider range of courses during his or her teaching career. To that end, a student whose major field is Early North America might choose a minor field in Colonial Latin America, or a student whose major field is Modern Britain might choose a minor field in Modern South Asia. The History Department is also encouraging students to pursue minor fields that are thematically or methodologically focused, or transnational in scope. For example, students might prepare a minor field in Gender, Sexuality, and the Body, working with any member of the faculty who conducts research on these topics. Another example is Empires & Cultures, a faculty research cluster that not only offers courses and prepares exam fields, but also conducts reading groups and workshops.
The relationship of 2970 and 2980 seminars to exam fields requires explanation. Some 2970 reading seminars reflect exam fields, such as “Readings in Early Modern Europe” or “Readings in Early American History.” However, completing a 2970 seminar does not alone prepare a student to take a qualifying exam in a given field. Students should consider a 2970 seminar as a foundation or a component of an exam field. While the seminar professor might be a logical choice to be the examiner in that field, it is not automatic and a student who completes a seminar called “Modern US History” with Professor X may take the Modern US exam field with Professor Y. Along these lines, a 2970 seminar called “The Scientific Revolution” might help a student prepare to complete an exam field in Early Modern Europe or one in History of Science (either one of which might be supervised by someone other than the seminar professor).
History 2980 research seminars may also serve as the foundation for a qualifying exam field. This is especially true in regard to a thematic or transnational minor field. For example, a student who completes a 2980 research seminar called “Imperial Projects of the Modern World” may pursue Empires and Cultures as an exam field. Again, the seminar professor may supervise the exam field, but so too could another member of the faculty.
Preparing an exam field requires a great deal of independent study. It is common for students to complete directed readings with a faculty member during the semester on a not-for-credit basis (above and beyond the courses for which the student is registered). Students can also enroll in independent study courses with their examiners; this is common when 2970 reading seminars are not available in a particular exam field. Students also enroll in independent study courses during the fifth semester in the immediate run-up to qualifying exams. Students and faculty sometimes make arrangements to complete a course of directed readings over the summer. Another common practice is to conduct “virtual discussions” over email when a faculty member is on leave and away from campus.
There is no “right” or “required” configuration for choosing major and minor fields. US History students, however, must complete a field outside US, and it is recommended that all students configure their fields to reflect a breath of intellectual interests and to prepare for a career of teaching and research (rather than merely a dissertation).
The following list of fields is not a menu from which all graduate students must choose, but rather reflects the diversity of faculty interests:
Name |
Fields |
Akarli, Engin |
Ottoman History Modern Middle East History |
Bartov, Omer |
Modern Germany Human Rights/Crimes Against Humanity Modern Geoncide Ethnic Co-existence/Conflict in Modern Europe |
Bodel, John |
Roman Empire Epigraphy |
Castiglione, Caroline |
Early Modern Europe, 1400-1800 Early Modern Italy, 1400-1800 Eur. Women/Gender/Politics, 1400-1800 |
Chudacoff, Howard |
U.S. Social and Urban History |
Cohen, Deborah |
Late Modern Europe Modern Britain |
Cope, Doug |
Colonial Latin America Colonial Encounters Race, Ethnicity, and Identity |
Dean, Carolyn |
Please contact Professor Dean |
Flores, Jorge |
Early Modern Empires |
Garcia, Matt |
Please contact Professor Garcia |
| Gluck, Mary |
The City and the Culture of Modernity The Aesthetic Project of Modernism Jewish Culture in Central Europe Bohemia & Counter Cultures in Mod. Eur. |
Green, James |
Modern Latin America Colonial Latin America Gender and Sexuality LGBTQ History Revolutionary Movements in the 20th c. |
Gorn, Elliott |
Modern U.S. |
Hamlin, Françoise |
Please contact Professor Hamlin |
Harris, Tim |
Early Modern England, 1500-1783 |
Hu-Dehart, Evelyn |
Modern Latin America Modern Mexico US-Mexico Borderlands Chinese Diaspora World History |
Jacobs, Nancy |
Colonial Africa Southern Africa African Environmental History Post-Colonial Africa |
Jacoby, Karl |
Environmental History Native American History American West/Borderlands |
Lubar, Steven |
Public History History of Technology/Industry |
Mandel, Maud |
Modern Jewish History Modern France Twentieth-Century Europe Minorities, Ethnicity, and the State |
McClain, Jim |
Premodern Japan Early Modern Japan Japanese Urban History |
Nummedal, Tara |
Early Modern Europe History of Science and Medicine to 1800 Gender, Sexuality, and the Body |
Pollock, Ethan |
History of Russia, 1689-1861 History of Russia, 1861-Present |
Raaflaub, Kurt |
Greek History Roman History |
Remensnyder, Amy |
Medieval Europe Medieval Iberia Experimental History |
Richards, Joan |
Modern History of Science Early Modern History of Science |
Rockman, Seth |
Early American History Transnational Labor History |
Sacks, Ken |
Ancient Classical History Greek and Roman History Hellenistic Intellectual History American Transcendentalism |
Self, Robert |
Post-1877 U.S. History |
Shibusawa, Naoko |
America and the World Race and American Empire 20th Century American Cultural History 20th Century Gender and Sexuality |
Smith, Kerry |
Modern Japanese History Empires and Cultures |
Steinberg, Michael |
Please contact Professor Steinberg |
Swislocki, Mark |
Modern China Empires and Cultures |
Vorenberg, Michael |
Modern American History American Legal History Comparative Race, Slavery, & Emancipation History of the American South, 1600-1900 |
Zamindar, Vazira |
Please contact Professor Zamindar |
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