History Doctoral Programs in the United States and Canada

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William and Mary, Coll. of

Department Web Site

Areas of Specialization:

early America, comparative, Europe, Latin America, Asia, Africa

Program Description

For nearly eighty years, the Lyon G. Tyler Department of History has been offering students a unique opportunity to pursue graduate degrees. Its moderate size, prize-winning faculty, and distinctive history helps the Department create an innovative learning environment that fosters close interaction among students and teachers. The Program prides itself on its commitment to preparing broadly trained faculty who are leaders in their fields of specialty, while also preparing students for careers as editors, historical archaeologists, and public history professionals in historical societies, libraries and museums. The History Department offers Doctoral degree programs in Early American and United States History, and a Master's degree programs in Early American, United States, and Comparative History.

Special Programs or Resources

In addition to traditional preparation in teaching and research, the Lyon G. Tyler Department of History offers both MA and doctoral students practical experience in career fields related to history in the form of apprenticeships and internships in conjunction with the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, Colonial Williamsburg, the Earl Gregg Swem Library, the National Institute of American History and Democracy, the William and Emery Reves Center for International Studies, and the William & Mary Center for Archaeological Research. Apprenticeships for first-year students and internships for advanced doctoral students are available in archives and manuscript collections, the editing of historical books and magazines, humanities computing, vernacular architecture, and historical archaeology. The History Department also requires doctoral students to serve as teaching assistants and participate in a teaching internship that provides supervised experience in teaching college classes. Senior graduate students also serve as writing preceptors in the department's innovative History Writing Resources Center.

Financial Aid

All Ph.D. students are awarded full tuition, fees, and a stipend of $18,000 ($4,000 of which is in the form of summer support). Some financial aid is available to M.A. students on a competitive basis. The department offers a graduate fellowship in African American history.

Degree Requirements

Students in the Master's Degree Program take two semesters of coursework and write a master's thesis, all of which can be completed in one year. Candidates for the doctoral degree take an additional three semesters of coursework, but must complete the course requirements for the Master of Arts degree at William and Mary, or have fulfilled similar requirements at an equivalent institution, by March 15 of their second year in the doctoral program. Doctoral students take two research seminars in separate fields. No later than the end of the third year of graduate study, doctoral students must take a written and an oral comprehensive qualifying examination in Early American History to 1815; United States history since 1815; one thematic field, such as African American or labor history; and one non-U.S., comparative, or transnational field, such as Modern Latin America, Comparative Revolution, or the Slave Trade. Both Master's and Doctoral candidates must pass a language exam that tests reading knowledge of a language other than English.