Programs

The graduate program in history is intended primarily for students who pursue full-time work toward a Ph.D. Requirements for a Ph.D. degree include 12 courses in history or in a supporting discipline. Two of those courses must be in a minor field, and two or more courses must be research seminars. Students must complete successfully examinations in their major and minor fields. Normally, these tests are taken in the third year. Doctoral candidates working in European and non-Western history must have a reading knowledge of two foreign languages. Candidates are required to prepare an acceptable thesis based on original research and defend that thesis successfully in a final examination conducted by a faculty committee. Credits for M.A. work in history done at other institutions likely will be transferred with the permission of the Graduate School-New Brunswick.

The M.A. is offered within the framework of the doctoral program. Its requirements include eight courses in history and successful completion of an examination in the student's major field. A thesis is not required. Students whose sole objective is the M.A. should consider applying to the M.A. program in American history on the Rutgers-Camden campus or to the M.A. program in history on the Rutgers-Newark campus. For further information about these M.A. programs, write to Department of History, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Camden, NJ 08102; or Department of History, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Newark, NJ 07102, respectively.

Students who plan to seek financial assistance should apply for the September term no later that January 15. Other students should apply by February 15. Transcripts, Graduate Record Examination scores, three letters of recommendation, and a writing sample are required.

The Ph.D. program offers work in most fields of American, European, Latin American, and East Asian history, but the department has particular strengths in early American, women's, cultural/intellectual, comparative/world, and African-American history. New major fields have been established in the history of technology, environment, and health; women's and gender history; the history of Atlantic cultures; and the African diaspora. Each is designed as an interdisciplinary curriculum. The department also is home to the Thomas A. Edison Papers, the Institute of Electronic and Electrical Engineers History Center, the Medieval and  Early Modern Data Bank project, the Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony papers, and the African Studies Association.

A full description of the program may be found in the brochure Graduate Study in History, available from the department or online at http://history.rutgers.edu. This brochure also offers information about fellowships (which pay $13,000, plus tuition remission), teaching assistantships, and other forms of financial aid.