Department of History (GRAD)
The graduate history program at UNC–Chapel Hill is committed to training professional historians to be both scholars and teachers. Our program allows ample choice to students in designing academic programs to fit particular interests and needs while providing them with rigorous training in African history, ancient history, Asian history, European history, global history, Latin American history, military history, Russian and East European history, United States history, and the history of women and gender. Degree requirements and departmental culture encourage comparative and interdisciplinary study. The program promotes close mentoring relationships with faculty and sustains a lively intellectual community among the graduate students.
Extensive information about the graduate program in history is available online. Please use this site to supplement the brief summary included in the Graduate Catalog.
Admission
The department considers applications from those holding undergraduate degrees and those who have obtained M.A. degrees elsewhere. Students admitted to the department with an M.A. from another university will be reviewed by the faculty at the time of entry into the program to determine whether they should take a second M.A. degree here or proceed directly to the Ph.D. training. Preference in admission is given to students who intend to proceed to doctoral work, either directly or after completion of the M.A. degree.
Fellowships and Assistantships
The department funds most of its students through teaching assistantships or fellowships and also offers research grants and dissertation fellowships. In addition, The Graduate School awards fellowships to both entering students and students in the later phases of their doctoral training.
Libraries and Research Opportunities
The Davis and Wilson libraries have many collections of great value, and the University itself is conveniently situated close to a number of other research centers, particularly the Duke University Library and the North Carolina State Department of Archives and History. The library houses many outstanding special collections, including the William Henry Hoyt Collection on revolutionary France and the Peabody Collection on international law and diplomacy. Especially notable are the Southern Historical Collection (one of the most important manuscript collections on the subject), and the North Carolina Collection (a repository of books, magazines, pamphlets, and newspapers published in or about North Carolina). The Southern Oral History Program and the Center for the Study of the American South further enhance research and training in the history of our region.
The University Center for Global Initiatives, the Center for European Studies; the Institute for the Study of the Americas; the Center for Slavic, Eurasian, and East European Studies; the Center for Jewish Studies; the Carolina Center for Middle East and Muslim Civilizations; the Department of Asian Studies; and various Triangle Area research and study groups sponsor fellowships, seminars, speakers, and other opportunities in their respective areas. The Department of History participates in the interdisciplinary Medieval and Early Modern Studies Program (MEMs), which offers fellowships and research grants. MEMs places special emphasis upon viewing the premodern world from a global perspective. The Ancient World Mapping Center forms part of the Department of History, and there is no other unit worldwide that matches its mission of promoting cartography and geographic information science within ancient studies. In addition, a variety of workshops regularly bring together faculty and graduate students who share interest in particular historical topics or approaches.
Courses
Numbered 400-999:
The M.A. Program
The courses required for the M.A. degree usually include an introduction to historical thought (HIST 700) and an introductory seminar on research (HIST 900), to be taken in the first year of study; a two-semester reading colloquium or its equivalent in the student's major field; one additional seminar (900-level course); three hours of thesis credit (HIST 993); and four other courses, of which as many as three may be taken in fields other than that in which the student is concentrating or even in other disciplines. M.A. candidates must also pass a reading-knowledge examination in an appropriate foreign language, prepare a thesis based on original research, and pass an oral examination on the thesis. Students entering in fall 2010 and afterwards are expected to complete the M.A. after three semesters in residence.
The Ph.D. Program
Satisfactory completion of the M.A. does not automatically entitle a student to continue at the doctoral level. After the M.A. oral examination, the student's committee reaches a formal written decision about whether he or she should continue toward the Ph.D.
All courses taken at UNC–Chapel Hill for the M.A. (except HIST 993) may be credited toward the doctoral program. If The Graduate School approves for transfer credit up to six hours of graduate courses taken elsewhere, these may be credited as well. Candidates for the Ph.D. complete the following minimum course program (in addition to the requirements for the M.A.): a research seminar, two courses in a second field of study, research design (HIST 905), and dissertation credit (HIST 994). A reading knowledge of two foreign languages or advanced proficiency in one is required for the Ph.D. degree.
Each doctoral student must pass written comprehensive examinations in the major field as well as an oral examination that focuses on the dissertation. The final requirements for the Ph.D. are a dissertation and an oral examination on it.
The department expects doctoral students to proceed efficiently with their work. For those who enter the program in fall 2010 and afterwards and who are pursuing both the M.A. and the Ph.D., all coursework and the comprehensive written and oral examinations must be completed by the end of the sixth semester. For those who enter the program with an acceptable M.A. from another institution, A.B.D. (all but dissertation) status must be achieved within four semesters. The entire degree program must be completed within a period of eight years.
Professors
Cemil Aydin
Jennifer Boittin
W. Fitzhugh Brundage
Chad Bryant
Marcus G. Bull
Peter A. Coclanis
Kathleen DuVal
Erik Gellman
Joseph T. Glatthaar
Karen Hagemann
Michelle T. King
Klaus W. Larres
Miguel A. La Serna
Wayne E. Lee
James L. Leloudis
Lisa A. Lindsay
Susan D. Pennybacker
Louis A. Pérez
Donald M. Reid
Sarah D. Shields
Jay M. Smith
John W. Sweet
Katherine Turk
Benjamin Waterhouse
Brett E. Whalen
Molly Worthen
Associate Professors
Karen Auerbach
Jens-Uwe Guettel
Lauren Jarvis
Terence V. McIntosh
Michael Morgan
Eren Tasar
Michael Tsin
Assistant Professors
Ana Maria Silva Campo
Raquel Escobar
Camille Goldmon
Jennifer Grayson
Henry Gruber
Antwain Hunter
Teaching Professors
Matthew Andrews
Joseph W. Caddell
Mandy Cooper
Joint Professors
Claude Clegg
Morgan J. Pitelka
Daniel J. Sherman
Adjunct Professors
Daniel M. Cobb
Kenneth Janken
Adjunct Associate Professors
Jessica A. Boon
Daniel M. Cobb
Christian C. Lentz
Raúl Necochea
Professors Emeriti
Samuel H. Baron
Stephen B. Baxter
Frederick O. Behrends
Judith M. Bennett
E. Willis Brooks
Christopher R. Browning
Melissa M. Bullard
Kathryn Burns
John C. Chasteen
Stanley J. Chojnacki
William R. Ferris
Peter G. Filene
W. Miles Fletcher
Jacquelyn D. Hall
Barbara J. Harris
Reginald Hildebrand
Jerma A. Jackson
Konrad H. Jarausch
John F. Kasson
Lawrence D. Kessler
Richard H. Kohn
Lloyd S. Kramer
William E. Leuchtenburg
Roger W. Lotchin
Fred S. Naiden
Donald G. Mathews
W. James McCoy
Genna Rae McNeil
Louise McReynolds
Michael R. McVaugh
John K. Nelson
Theda Perdue
Cynthia Radding
Donald J. Raleigh
John E. Semonche
Richard Talbert
Harry L. Watson
Gerhard L. Weinberg
Department of History
