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Rice University

Dept. of History
MS 42, P.O. Box 1892
Houston, TX 77251-1892

Phone 713.348.4947
Fax 713.348.5207
E-mail: hist@rice.edu

Alternate Address: 6100 Main St., Humanities Bldg., Rm. 326, Houston, TX 77005

Department Web Site

Areas of Specialization:

U.S., U.S. South, and World

Program Description

The graduate program in history at Rice University is devoted primarily to the training of professional research scholars who seek the Ph.D. and aim for employment at academic institutions. The uses of a history degree are numerous, however, and graduates sometimes choose careers in editing, public history, the federal government and university administration. With a faculty of 24 scholars who pride themselves on both teaching and research, the Rice history department is among the largest and strongest departments in a school that is distinctive for its combination of small scale with high quality. The smaller scale of things translates into close faculty attention and unparalleled flexibility.

Special Programs or Resources

Graduate students in Rice University's History Department summon all the advantages of a comprehensive research university in an intimate, collaborative setting. The department welcomes applications from highly motivated undergraduates as well as Masters degree-holders. Faculty members will direct dissertations in U. S. history (including colonial America and the U. S. South), Atlantic World history, Latin American and Caribbean history, the history of transnational Asia and the Middle East, and the history of the U. S. and the World. The department also offers examination fields in African history, European history and World history. Within U.S. history, the department offers particular strengths in transnational nineteenth-century U. S. history, missionary studies, U. S. and the World, early North America, slavery, race and Southern history--a field enhanced by the presence of the Journal of Southern History and the Papers of Jefferson Davis on campus. Opportunities for students interested in Latin American and Caribbean history include participating in an on-going research project. Doctoral study in transnational Asia is enhanced by the faculty strengths in gender and intellectual history and by the presence of the Chao Center for Asian Studies and its interdisciplinary journal positions: east asia cultures critique. Numerous department faculty have expertise in early modern and modern colonialism. All graduate students are trained with an emphasis on transnational approaches to the study of the past. Programs in the Humanities Research Center; the Center for the Study of Women, Gender, and Sexuality; and the Kinder Institute for Urban Research offer additional opportunities for interdisciplinary graduate work.

Financial Aid

Most accepted students are offered financial aid in the form of tuition remission and an annual stipend. The department also makes every effort to assist graduate students when attending professional meetings, presenting papers at conferences and conducting research at archives away from Rice.

Degree Requirements

We view the training of a historian as an apprenticeship, not as a period when one mechanically follows a set curriculum. Therefore, the requirements for completing the degree will be administered as flexibly as possible within the bounds of the general university regulations. These requirements state the Ph.D. degree will be awarded after successful completion of at least 90 semester hours of advanced study (48 hrs. courses, 8 seminars, three fields, language requirement), a qualifying examination, and an original investigation reported in an approved thesis. Students must be in residence a minimum of four semesters of full-time study.



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: 27

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

 

Student Demographics (Fall 2011):

Number of Doctoral Students in Program: 38

New Doctoral Students Entering Program: 6

Proportion of Doctoral Students Receiving Financial Aid: 100%

Number of Graduate Students Enrolled: 36

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

 

Degree Information:

First PhD conferred: 1933

History PhDs conferred to Date: 166

Number of PhDs Conferred (2011–12): 4

Relative Size Based on PhDs Conferred: Medium [Explain]

Current Dissertations in Progress

PhDs Conferred by Department

 

 

Last Updated: October 19, 2012