History Doctoral Programs in the United States and Canada

Northern Illinois Univ.

Department Web Site

Areas of Specialization:

U.S., early modern and modern Europe, Russia and eastern Europe, Southeast Asian studies, Latin America

Program Description

Students applying to the Ph.D. program must hold a master's degree. The primary areas of doctoral study offered are modern European, Russian, Asian, United States, and Latin American History. Thematic fields of study are available for secondary and tertiary concentrations.

Special Programs or Resources

Northern Illinois University houses the Center for Southeast Asian Studies (a National Resource Center since 1997), a Center for Burmese Studies, a Center for Black Studies, a Center for Latinos and Latin American Studies, a Regional History Archive, and the Abraham Lincoln Digitization Project. Faculty are also associated with Women's Studies and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Studies. The university is 60 miles from the Newberry Library and the Chicago Historical Society.

Financial Aid

New doctoral students may apply for teaching assistantships in the Department of History; graduate assistantships in the Center for Black Studies, Center for Latinos and Latin American Studies, Women's Studies, and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Studies, and FLASes through the Center for Southeast Asian Studies.

Degree Requirements

The doctorate entails 54 semester hours of course work, including the 30 credits typically drawn from the M.A. degree. The remaining 36 hours are devoted to the writing of the dissertation. Doctoral students must also demonstrate proficiency in two foreign languages at an average level or in one foreign language at a high level. Quantitative methods may be substituted for one of the languages. The candidacy exams involve the writing of three historiographical essays, the preparation of a teaching portfolio, and one oral.

University Information:

University Type: Public

Carnegie Institution Ranking: Doctoral/Research Universities—Extensive

Department Demographics:

First PhD conferred: 1966

History PhDs conferred to Date: 105

Relative Size Based on PhDs Conferred (2000–04): Medium [Explain]

Faculty Mix:
	Full Professor	7
	Associate Professor	11
	Assistant Professor	7
	Instructor/Lecturer	1
	Joint Appointment
	Emeritus Faculty	19
	Part-time faculty

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

Number of Graduate Students in Program (Fall 2005): 103
(Graduate student counts include those enrolled in terminal Master's degree program)

Proportion of Full-Time Graduate Students: 42%

New Graduate Students Entering Program, Fall 2004: 23

Relative Size Based on Graduate Student Enrollment (2002–04): Medium [Explain]

 

Other Information

     Current Dissertations in Progress

     PhDs Conferred by Department