Research & Publication in the Graduate Program

The Department of History's graduate program is driven by research, especially by the goal of producing and defending a first-rate doctoral dissertation. Evident throughout the program, emphasis on developing excellence in research takes concrete shape in the two-semester Research Seminar, which combines instruction in research methods, techniques, and standards with the production of a research paper based on primary sources. Students receive joint mentoring on this paper from the Instructor in the Research Seminar and from their academic advisors.

The department's Graduate Research Forum serves as the capstone experience for students in the Research Seminar. Held at the end of the academic year, the Graduate Research Forum provides second-year students an opportunity to present their research to a community of professional historians in a conference-like environment. Advanced graduate students who are often near the completion of their dissertations serve as formal commentators on the second-year papers, and lively question-and-answer sessions and debates often ensue. The Graduate Research Forum also features papers by advanced graduate students, written either as dissertation chapters or as papers prepared for publication or presentation at other professional conferences.

The faculty is committed to working closely with graduate students in developing and crafting their dissertations and helping them to publish their work. Faculty members and graduate students occasionally cooperate in joint research projects and publications.

You can find information on current and recent research and publishing by graduate students in the links below.
You can also find out more about the Department of History's general areas of research interest, for both faculty and graduate students, in the main Research section of our website.