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University of Pittsburgh

Dept. of History
3702 Posvar Hall
Pittsburgh, PA 15260

Phone 412.648.7451
Fax 412.648.9074
E-mail: reid1@pitt.edu

Department Web Site

Areas of Specialization:

Atlantic History; Empires in World History; Gender, Ethnicity, Race, Religion; and Texts and Contexts

Program Description

The Department of History is committed to training area specialists who know how to research, teach, and interpret the histories and historiographies of particular places from comparative, cross-cultural, and global perspectives. Area specialists in US, Latin American, Asian, African and European history have organized themselves into four thematic groups in order to offer graduate students regular specialized seminars on the histories of Empires in World History; Atlantic History; Gender, Ethnicity, Race, Religion; and Texts and Contexts. Professional development of graduate students is encouraged through careful mentoring, teaching and research assistantships, in a monthly departmental research seminar, and self-governance and consultation in almost all departmental activities.

The MA and PhD programs in the Department of History are situated within the more general regulations established by the University of Pittsburgh's School of Arts and Sciences. The Department of History also offers a Master of Arts in History Education (MAHE) in collaboration with the School of Education.

Special Programs or Resources

No information provided

Financial Aid

A limited number of teaching assistantships and nonteaching fellowships are available. In addition, history students are eligible for fellowships for East Asia, Latin America, Russia and Eastern Europe, and West Europe offered through the University Center for International Studies (UCIS). For more detailed information on funding sources available to history graduate students, visit our pages on departmental and nondepartmental awards.

Degree Requirements

The coursework portion of the PhD program should normally take two years beyond the MA. The University requires 48 credits of course work beyond the MA for the PhD. Major hurdles include passage of the preliminary exam for students with outside MAs; the PhD comprehensive examinations; and the doctoral overview. Once the student has passed the doctoral overview and has been admitted to PhD candidacy, the student should meet once a year with the thesis committee to report on progress and receive suggestions/comments on the evolving research design. These annual reports from the student and the committee are required by the University and will form part of the student's academic record. The doctoral defense will be called when the student's thesis committee chair decides that the thesis is ready for a final defense. Students must be enrolled during the semester in which the defense is scheduled. The student is responsible for ensuring that the format of the manuscript conforms to the regulations of the University and Arts and Sciences, for paying certain fees, and for otherwise fulfilling the requirements for graduation.



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: 24

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

 

Student Demographics (Fall 2011):

Number of Doctoral Students in Program: 40

New Doctoral Students Entering Program: 7

Proportion of Doctoral Students Receiving Financial Aid: 90%

Number of Graduate Students Enrolled: 25

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

 

Degree Information:

First PhD conferred: 1930

History PhDs conferred to Date: 276

Number of PhDs Conferred (2011–12): 6

Relative Size Based on PhDs Conferred: Medium [Explain]

Current Dissertations in Progress

PhDs Conferred by Department

 

 

Last Updated: October 19, 2012