The graduate program in history is intended primarily for students
who pursue full-time work toward a doctor of philosophy (Ph.D.) degree. Requirements for a Ph.D.
degree include 48 course credits in history or in a supporting
discipline and 24 research credits. Students must successfully complete examinations in a major and a minor
field. Normally, these exams are taken in the second and third
years. Doctoral candidates must demonstrate appropriate reading
knowledge of non-English languages required by each field. Candidates
are required to prepare a doctoral dissertation based on
original research and successfully defend that dissertation in a
final examination conducted by a faculty committee. Some credits for master of arts (M.A.)
work in history done at other institutions can usually be transferred
with the permission of the Graduate School–New Brunswick, though students may still need to fulfill particular program course requirements. Students may
enroll for graduate courses at neighboring universities that are linked with
Rutgers through a consortial arrangement.
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. The M.A. is an option for students who start in the Ph.D. program, but who are not able to complete it. For those whose terminal degree objective at Rutgers is the M.A., the New Brunswick program offers an M.A. program in global and comparative history in this department. Such students might otherwise apply to the M.A. program
in American history at Rutgers University-Camden, or to the M.A. program
in history at Rutgers University-Newark. For further information about
these latter 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.
Those interested in the Ph.D. program should apply by December 15 for entry in the following fall semester. Applications must be submitted online. Transcripts, Graduate
Record Examination scores, three letters of recommendation, and a
writing sample (preferably based on primary sources, and where possible using appropriate languages in the proposed major field) are required for application to the program.
The
Ph.D. program offers work in most fields of American, European, African, Latin American, and Asian history. The department has
particular strengths in the following areas of history: women, gender, and sexuality; African American; cultural and intellectual; early and modern American; modern Europe; global
and comparative; and technology and medicine. Major fields exist for
the history of science, technology, environment, and health; women's and gender
history; and the history of Atlantic cultures and the African
diaspora. The
department also is home to the Center for Historical Analysis, the Thomas
A. Edison Papers, the Medieval and Early Modern Data Bank project, and
the Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony papers. Faculty members are
affiliated with centers and programs in African, Asian, British, European, Latin
American, Middle Eastern, and South Asian studies; with the Center for Race and Ethnicity and the Center for Cultural Analysis; and with the
Department of Women's and Gender Studies and related centers.
A full description of the
program may be found online at http://history.rutgers.edu. The website also offers information about multiyear funding packages, constituted by fellowships, teaching assistantships, and other forms of
financial aid.
