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State University of New York at Stony Brook

Dept. of History
3rd Fl., Social and Behavioral Sciences Bldg.
Stony Brook, NY 11794-4348

Phone 631.632.7500
Fax 631.632.7367
E-mail: michael.barnhart@stonybrook.edu

Department Web Site

Areas of Specialization:

Empire, Colonialism, & Globalization; Environment, Health, Science & Technology; Gender, Race, & Sexuality; and Nation-State, Civil Society, & Popular Politics

Program Description

Over the past decade and a half, as the historical profession has moved in new directions, the Stony Brook Department of History has launched itself into the vanguard of a parallel re-visioning of graduate education. In 1997, the department reorganized its graduate program along thematic lines. Having anticipated what have become deepening trends in history scholarship and job markets, the program in history at Stony Brook now draws on over a decade of experience in re-thinking historical specialties that have long been defined by geographic region and time period. Each year 6 to 10 students are admitted into the doctoral program and 4 to 6 students into the terminal master's program. The department has 80 full- and part-time graduate students.

Our "thematic clusters" approach builds on the strengths of a nationally and internationally renowned faculty. Stony Brook faculty have received awards from virtually every major public and private foundation that supports history, from the National Science Foundation to the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Humanities Center to the Wilson Center. Among the current faculty are four recent recipients of the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship, a record that even our Ivy League counterparts have to envy. As a recent review of the department has noted, "this record of national and international recognition confirms the widespread recognition of Stony Brook's history faculty as in the very top tier. This record of scholarship has not come at the cost of their teaching." The Stony Brook graduate program in history currently offers two degree tracks: for a Doctoral degree, and for a terminal Master's degree.

Special Programs or Resources

The History Department also offers a Masters in Teaching Program (MAT) in Social Studies Education in conjunction with the School of Professional Development.

Financial Aid

Teaching Assistantships, Tuition Scholarships, Turner Fellowships, University-Presidential Scholarships, Frankel and Gardiner Fellowships are available on a competitive basis.

Degree Requirements

Students in the doctoral program are expected to complete three years of coursework. All students take the team-taught Core Seminar in the first year. Course requirements also include 2 Field, 3 Theme, and 2 Research seminars, plus an additional Field or Theme seminar (depending on the student's academic needs and course availability). At the end of the third year, students take a comprehensive oral examination designed to assess their mastery of the subject matter, conceptual tools, and research skills necessary to undertake independent research for the dissertation. The dissertation is to be a substantial piece of original research completed independently by the student, and all students are required to defend their dissertation orally before their Doctoral Defense Committee at the end of their course of study.

Students in the master's program follow the same course of study as entering doctoral students. They are expected to develop a concentration in a region or period, or in an interdisciplinary field, and to conduct research in this area of concentration in the core seminar.



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: 75

New Doctoral Students Entering Program: 6

Proportion of Doctoral Students Receiving Financial Aid: 90%

Number of Graduate Students Enrolled: 106

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

 

Degree Information:

First PhD conferred: 1981

History PhDs conferred to Date: 206

Number of PhDs Conferred (2011–12): 7

Relative Size Based on PhDs Conferred: Large [Explain]

Current Dissertations in Progress

PhDs Conferred by Department

 

 

Last Updated: October 19, 2012