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University of Massachusetts Amherst

Dept. of History
616 Herter Hall
161 Presidents Dr.
Amherst, MA 01003-9312

Phone 413.545.1330/2378
Fax 413.545.6137
E-mail: gradprogram@history.umass.edu

Department Web Site

Areas of Specialization:

Africa, Asia, Europe, Global and Comparative, Latin America, Middle East, Public, Science/Technology/Medicine/Environment, U.S., Women/Gender/Sexuality/Family

Program Description

The University of Massachusetts Amherst/Five College Graduate Program in History represents an extraordinary collaboration between the faculties of five distinguished campuses--Amherst College, Smith College, Mount Holyoke College, Hampshire College, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst--and offers qualified students exceptional resources to pursue advanced study in history. Our goal is to offer a small, high quality program with a low student-faculty ratio and ample opportunity for participation in seminars, lecture courses, and individual instruction.

M.A. and Ph.D. programs are available in a variety of fields, especially in the history of the United States, Latin America, and Europe; among these is the nationally known and highly respected program in Public History. We offer a variety of historiography courses in U.S., European, Latin American, and World History. Featured is the Introduction to History seminar taken by all new students during the fall semester. We also schedule a range of topical courses and research seminars. In recent years, these have explored social and cultural history, the history of work and labor, women's and gender history, public history, and the history of science and technology. Recent additions to the faculty have strengthened resources in the history of China, Pacific Empires, women's history, and the history of science.

Special Programs or Resources

Notable is the nationally respected program in Public History that draws on a network of museums, archives, historical societies, and historic preservation agencies from local institutions like Historic Deerfield and the Emily Dickinson Museum to the Massachusetts Historical Commission and the National Park Service, with opportunities for both internships and research. Among a rich variety of special collections are the W. E. B. Du Bois and Horace Mann Bond papers and the papers of the Hon. Silvio O. Conte at the University as well as substantial resources for Early America, especially New England, and Latin America. The Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College is an internationally recognized repository of manuscripts, photographs, periodicals, and other primary sources in women's history. The substantial collections of the American Antiquarian Society are nearby in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Financial Aid

The program is prepared to offer financial support to a number of qualified incoming graduate students each year. Such support, awarded on the basis of academic promise, ordinarily takes the form of renewable teaching assistantships, which currently provide a stipend of $16,537 per year plus a waiver of tuition, the course fee and the health fee. In addition, research and travel grants are available to assist dissertation research. Support is also available, on a competitive basis, to allow students enrolled in the Graduate Certificate in Public History to accept unfunded or underfunded internships with history organizations.

Degree Requirements

Eight courses are required for the MA; four for the PhD for students entering with an MA. Candidates are expected to prepare a number of fields, sit for exams (MA students prepare a portfolio of their work completed while in the program, while PhD students take traditional qualifying exams), prepare dissertations and theses, and demonstrate proficiency in a foreign language. Other requirements and more detailed descriptions should be checked at the History Department and Graduate School web sites.



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: 30

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

 

Student Demographics (Fall 2011):

Number of Doctoral Students in Program: 29

New Doctoral Students Entering Program: 5

Proportion of Doctoral Students Receiving Financial Aid: 100%

Number of Graduate Students Enrolled: 61

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

 

Degree Information:

First PhD conferred: 1965

History PhDs conferred to Date: 164

Number of PhDs Conferred (2011–12): 2

Relative Size Based on PhDs Conferred: Small [Explain]

Current Dissertations in Progress

PhDs Conferred by Department

 

 

Last Updated: October 19, 2012