last modified:2009-08-03 14:58:33
Graduate Program
| Graduate Students Financial Aid | Fields of Study | Current Students |
Degrees and Fields: The Department offers three advanced degrees (click on them to see their requirements in the Graduate Handbook): the M.S., M.A., and Ph.D. Students pursuing these degrees specialize in Asian History, Colonialism and Imperialism, Comparative Gender, European History, Latin American History, Middle East History, Religious History, US History, and World History.
To view faculty and fields, click here.
The M.S. degree is designed for all those who "love history" including: students looking for a Masters level degree but not bound for the Ph.D., secondary educators, military service members, and those pursuing employment in government, archives, libraries and other sectors. The M.S. has no thesis and no language requirement. The M.S. is, in most cases, a terminal degree that is non-research focused and best suited for individuals not intent on pursuing a Ph.D.
The M.A. degree is primarily for those intent on pursuing Ph.D. work. The M.A. degree has both a language and thesis requirement and is considered training for individuals seriously considering the Ph.D. and a career in research, publication, and collegiate teaching.
The Ph.D. is the highest degree conferred and best suited for those planning on careers in the academy.
Faculty: The Department of History has 24 full time faculty, nearly 90% of whom hold the rank of Associate Professor or higher. The graduate student-faculty ratio is 2.5 to 1. Research monographs, articles, edited volumes, textbooks, conferences, and public service are all part of the faculty’s productivity. The department also hosts about 10 auxiliary faculty who had both breadth and depth to the teaching and research profile of the department.
Constantly at work on new research projects, some to look forward to include work on colonialism, scandals, lynching, corruption, and gambling. Faculty received their own graduate training in some of America’s best History programs including Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Wisconsin, Virginia, and Berkeley among others. In addition to Spanish, French, and German, you might also hear faculty speaking in Arabic, Greek, Turkish, Telugu, Urdu, and Portuguese. Before taking academic positions, and to this day, many members of the department had lives as musicians, restaurateurs, baristas and a delivery man. To hear some faculty podcasts, click here.
Financial Aid: The department provides financial aid, on a competitive basis, chiefly in the form of renewable teaching assistantships awarded for a single academic year. These assistantships include a stipend, health benefits, and tuition benefit for in-state and out-of-state students. Graduate students can also apply for college and university wide fellowships, including Steffensen Cannon Graduate Fellowships, Tanner Humanities Center Graduate Fellowships, and Mariner S. Eccles Graduate Fellowships in Political Economy. Funds for travel to conferences are also available through the university and the department. In addition, the University has an active work-study program and student loans available through the Office of Financial Aid to students who meet stringent financial need criteria. The department and university also have fellowships with wide-ranging benefits. The department offers several fellowships: the Dean May Fellowship, the Burton Fellowship, the Simmons Fellowship.
Apply to Our Program: Please read the FAQs about applying and admission to our program. Click here. If you would like to apply to the graduate program in History for Fall Semester 2010, please click here. Please note that the application deadline for the 2010-2011 academic year is January 15, 2010.
*Important.* A separate application to the Graduate School is required and should be completed no later than December 1, 2009, to insure that it is processed and forwarded to the Department of History by the 15 January deadline.
Placement: Our Ph.D. graduates have gone on to faculty positions at the American University Cairo, the University of Illinois – Carbondale, the University of Montana, Texas Tech University, as well as to positions with the federal and state governments, newspapers, archives, and libraries. Recent M.A. students have been accepted to the University of California – Davis, the University of Wisconsin – Madison, Cambridge University, the University of Illinois – Chicago, Ohio State University, and other top graduate programs.
Connections: The department, faculty, and graduate program are connected to the university’s most exciting interdisciplinary programs. A few include: the Gender Studies Program , the Middle East Center, the American West Center, the Asia and Latin American Studies Programs, the Confucius Institute, the Environmental Humanities Program, the International Studies Program, and the Tanner Humanities Center.
Facilities: In August 2008, the Department of History bade farewell to Carlson Hall, its home for the past four decades, and moved to its new building located in the heart of campus, the Carolyn Tanner Irish Humanities Building. Graduate students have generous accommodations including both a reading room/lounge as well as separate consultation room for Teaching Assistants to meet with students. In conjunction with the American West Center, a special reserve library for graduate students of the American West exists. This sparkling 50,000 square foot building is home to the History Department, the Philosophy Department, the Tanner Humanities Center, the Asian Studies Program and Asia Center, the Latin American Studies Program, the International Studies Program, and the Environmental Humanities Program. The lobby of the new building boasts a locally owned Italian coffee shop and deli. Further, the Irish Building is a stone’s throw from the Union and other Humanities Departments and Programs.
The Campus: The University of Utah is a co-educational, non-sectarian, state-supported institution of some 27,000 students and 4,000 faculty. Founded in 1850, it is one of the oldest institutions of higher learning west of the Missouri River. The 1,500 acre campus is located along the foothills of the Wasatch Mountains, the westernmost branch of the Rockies, overlooking Salt Lake City.
