History Doctoral Programs in the United States and Canada

Case Western Reserve Univ.

Department Web Site

Areas of Specialization:

America, science/technology/environment/medicine, social policy

Program Description

The Department of History offers both the M.A. and the Ph.D. in history, emphasizing its two focused Ph.D. programs, in Social History & Policy (SHP) and in the History of Science, Technology, Environment, and Medicine (STEM). In practice, these two programs are closely related. The department also joins with the Law School to offer an M.A. in history/J.D. double degree program. Informally, students can also combine graduate study in History with the certificate or degree programs of the Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations.

Special Programs or Resources

Case provides an extraordinarily rich environment for graduate programs in social history and policy and for history of technology and medicine. Collections in the University's libraries date back to the founding of Western Reserve College in 1826, and a new facility, the Kelvin Smith Library opened in fall 1996. Acquisitions of historical materials in science, technology, and medicine have been emphasized since the program began in 1961 and now constitute a particularly strong part of the university library's holdings. The Cleveland Health Sciences Library has one of the country's largest and most valuable collections of books and serials in the history of medicine, public health, and the biological sciences. The Western Reserve Historical Society, adjacent to the university, has a superb library containing many manuscript collections as well as published materials, and the Cleveland Public Library has the third largest research collection of any city library in the nation. In addition to its own distinguished professional schools of applied social sciences, dentistry, engineering, law, management, medicine, and nursing, the University is adjacent to two major medical centers, University Hospitals of Cleveland and the Cleveland Clinic. The University's Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations, the Public Policy Program, and the Center for Biomedical Ethics sponsor many interdisciplinary forums and seminars. Altogether, the University Circle area contains more than 43 social service, medical, educational, and cultural institutions. Cleveland has played a nationally prominent role in the development of social services, under both private and public auspices, for nearly one hundred years.

Financial Aid

The Department of History offers partial or total tuition remission to highly qualified students. In addition, we have a limited number of one-year departmental and endowed fellowships that require no work assignment, as well as teaching assistantships for second- year students. This financial aid is offered to entering students on a competitive basis, and can provide the basis for support at the rate of $9,000 to $14,000 per year for a minimum of two years.

Degree Requirements

The M.A. in history at CWRU requires 33 hours of course work, including 6 hours of carefully supervised work on a master's thesis (a work of original research based on primary sources). It is possible to earn an M.A. in African, Asian, European, U.S., or world history; the strengths of the department are in U.S. and European history. Students are admitted into the History Department's graduate programs with or without a master's or professional degree. Students who do not have a master's degree in history may be required to complete that degree in the department before moving on to the Ph.D.; those who have earned graduate or professional degrees closely related to their Ph.D. programs may petition for direct admission to the Ph.D. program. Post-master's Ph.D. students must complete 18 hours of course work, pass the qualifying exams required by their program of study, and prepare a Ph.D. dissertation while enrolling in at least 18 hours of supervised dissertation-writing work. Students who have completed their master's-level work before coming to CWRU must complete at least 18 hours of course work before taking their qualifying exams.

University Information:

University Type: Private, not-for-profit

Carnegie Institution Ranking: Doctoral/Research Universities—Extensive

Department Demographics:

First PhD conferred: 1896

History PhDs conferred to Date: 215

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

Faculty Mix:
	Full Professor	3
	Associate Professor	6
	Assistant Professor	5
	Instructor/Lecturer
	Joint Appointment	3
	Emeritus Faculty	2
	Part-time faculty	1

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

Number of Graduate Students in Program (Fall 2005): 31
(Graduate student counts include those enrolled in terminal Master's degree program)

Proportion of Full-Time Graduate Students: 81%

New Graduate Students Entering Program, Fall 2004: 6

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

 

Other Information

     Current Dissertations in Progress

     PhDs Conferred by Department