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University of Mississippi

Dept. of History
310 Bishop Hall
University, MS 38677-1848

Phone 662.915.7148
Fax 662.915.7033
E-mail: history@olemiss.edu

Department Web Site

Areas of Specialization:

Medieval Europe; Early Modern Europe to 1815; Latin America; Modern Europe since 1789; United States History through Reconstruction; and United States History since the Civil War

Program Description

The Department of History at the University of Mississippi offers programs of graduate study leading to the masters and doctoral degrees. The core of the program is, of course, the faculty. The faculty offers a wide variety of graduate courses in United States, European, and Latin American history, with additional work available in African and Asian history. The department includes faculty members from all over the United States and from Europe and Africa, and their interests span the full chronological sweep of American and European history, as well as much of the histories of Africa, Latin America, and East Asia.

Special Programs or Resources

The Department of History maintains close relationships with several interdisciplinary programs at the University, including the African American Studies Program, the Center for the Study of Southern Culture, the Croft Institute for International Studies and the Sarah Isom Center for Gender Studies. It also engages in many activities to enhance its regular research and teaching programs and to enrich the intellectual lives of its students and faculty. Each year the Department co-sponsors the Porter L. Fortune, Jr., History Symposium. Held every fall since 1975, this three-day conference brings well-known scholars to campus to discuss their research and interpretations on various issues relating to Southern History. Recent symposium topics have included Gender and the Southern Body Politic, the Civil Rights Movement, Religion in Southern History, and Britain and the South.

Within the University, the history department also has close ties with the John Davis Williams Library, which contains more than 800,000 volumes. Of particular importance to history graduate students are the Mississippi Collection of books and manuscripts pertaining to the state, the Blues Archive, and the depository of federal government documents.

Financial Aid

The department offers several graduate assistantships every year; each includes a tuition scholarship. The assistantships are competitive and based on merit, and all applicants to our program are automatically considered for these assistantships. The Graduate School offers Underrepresented Minority Graduate Scholarships as well as Honors Fellowships for students of exceptional ability. A graduate student may combine any of the above awards. The Graduate School also provides, on a competitive basis, Dissertation Fellowships to a limited number of students nearing the completion of their doctoral studies. More information on graduate fellowships and aid may be found at the Graduate School website listed above.

Degree Requirements

Students should pursue a rationally structured course program to be designed on an individual basis in close consultation with the Graduate Advisory Committee. Doctoral students who have not previously taken a graduate-level historical methods must do so as part of their course work, and they must also complete at least one 700-level research seminar, at least two 600-level courses, and at least 6 hours of graduate course work in each of the minor fields for their comprehensive examination. Also, prior to taking their comprehensive examination doctoral students must demonstrate proficiency in one foreign language. All graduate students may, with the approval of the Graduate Advisory Committee, include as part of their program a limited number of graduate courses in other departments. More information about specific graduate course offerings may be found on the History Department’s web site.



University Information:

Information from Department of Education
(Includes information on the size, location, and general characteristics of faculty and student body)

Information from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
(Includes rating of the institution's rating of the graduate instructional program and size and setting)

 

Faculty Information (Fall 2011):

Full-time Faculty: 31

Relative Size based on Number of Full-time Faculty: Medium [Explain]

 

Student Demographics (Fall 2011):

Number of Doctoral Students in Program: 28

New Doctoral Students Entering Program: 4

Proportion of Doctoral Students Receiving Financial Aid: 75%

Number of Graduate Students Enrolled: 63

Relative Size Based on Graduate Student Enrollment: Medium [Explain]

 

Degree Information:

First PhD conferred: 1963

History PhDs conferred to Date: 89

Number of PhDs Conferred (2011–12): 5

Relative Size Based on PhDs Conferred: Medium [Explain]

Current Dissertations in Progress

PhDs Conferred by Department

 

 

Last Updated: October 19, 2012