The History Department and the Graduate Program
The graduate program in history is designed to provide professional training in history, with the expectation that most of its Ph.D. graduates will take teaching positions in colleges and universities. In recent years our graduates have accepted appointments at Brown, Cornell, Duke, Princeton, Rutgers, Texas, Utah, the University of Wisconsin, Yale, and the University of Michigan, as well as at smaller colleges such as Davidson, Reed, Kenyon, William and Mary, and Williams and at regional universities such as Alabama, Florida State, North Carolina at Greensboro, and Texas A&M. Some of our graduates take non-academic positions: in recent years these jobs have included positions in banking and business firms, university libraries, government agencies, congressional staffs, and the Foreign Service. The department has a Placement Officer who helps Ph.D. candidates secure academic positions and cooperates with University Career Services to direct graduates to opportunities in other fields.
The Corcoran Department of History offers courses of study leading to the M. A. and the Ph.D. degree. In addition, the department offers, in collaboration with the University of Virginia School of Law, a joint M. A. and Ph.D. program in legal history. Approximately one hundred history graduate students are in residence in Charlottesville each year, of whom approximately twenty-five are in their first year of graduate work.
Faculty and Fields
Graduate instruction and research are offered in thirteen fields of world history.
U.S.—Colonial and early national, southern, social, cultural, economic, intellectual, and nineteenth and twentieth-century political and diplomatic history are strongly represented. In addition, American history offerings are enriched by the existence of an excellent legal history program, whose director teaches American legal history; the Miller Center of Public Affairs; the International Center for Jefferson Studies connected to Monticello, and the Carter G. Woodson Institute of African-American and African Studies, established in 1981, which bring research scholars from all over the country to Charlottesville. Many history graduate students also take advantage of the strong courses in American literature given by the English Department, and relevant seminars in Anthropology, Art History, Religious Studies, Sociology, and Politics.
Europe—Here the department can offer unusually broad coverage, with courses in French, German, Italian, British, and Russian history, as well as separate fields in Ancient, Medieval and Jewish history. Social, cultural, and intellectual history, as well as political and diplomatic history and the history of science are well represented. Extensive resources outside the department in European literature and languages may be drawn upon, including a Center for Russian and East European Studies. In recent years Ph.D. students trained in the department in European history have won Fulbright, Mellon, FLAS, DAAD, German Marshall, and other fellowships to carry on their doctoral research abroad. The University also has several of its own fellowships for study abroad, including an annual exchange program with the Ecole Normale Supérior in Paris.
South Asia—The study of South Asia and India is enhanced by strong supporting faculties in anthropology, religious studies, and languages, all associated with the University's Center for South Asian Studies and one of the country's leading South Asian libraries.
East Asia—There is a growing East Asia program with courses on Japan, China, and Korea. Students train in languages and related disciplines. The department brings scholars from around the world to participate in the instructional program.
Latin America—Two historians of Latin America, along with a large Spanish and Portuguese department, offer opportunities for study of the colonial and modern periods, with special attention to social and intellectual history, Spanish South America, and Brazil.
Africa and the Middle East—Three historians of sub-Saharan Africa cover the modern and pre-colonial periods, with support from area specialists in other disciplines and from the Carter G. Woodson Institute for African-American and African Studies. The department is currently expanding its offerings in Middle Eastern history as well.
For additional information, see Fields of Study.
Resources and Advisors
All history graduate students draw heavily on Alderman Library, a research library of four million volumes, with a working collection suitable for advanced studies and research. Alderman, an open-stack library, is easy to use and is located at the center of the University grounds. The Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library holds about ten million manuscripts and rare books; the collection of material on American southern history is among the richest in the country, as is the collection in American literature. In addition, many history students take advantage of the immense resources of the nearby Library of Congress and of other unique historical depositories in Washington, D.C., such as the Folger Shakespeare Library and the United States National Archives.
A graduate student entering the department will probably note first that the moderate size of the student body and the relatively large size of the faculty has created an informal and mutually supportive scholarly community. Each entering student is assigned a faculty advisor but is encouraged to seek advice from other teachers and ultimately to choose a thesis advisor on the basis of individual interest. Ultimately, all students work with a committee of selected advisors. And because classes include students at all stages of their graduate careers, beginning students quickly meet advanced students and learn to benefit from their experience.
Applying
It is wise to begin planning for graduate study at least a year before one's intended date of entry. Initial inquiries in the spring, summer, or early fall entrant, bring information in time to take the Graduate Record Examinations in October and to have scores forwarded to chosen universities well in advance of the December 1 deadline for applications (scores from the December test rarely arrive in time). Requests for transcripts and letters of reference should also be made early to allow time for confirmation from the Department and for follow-up if necessary. Notice of admission and awards of financial aid are made once each year, in spring, for the coming full academic term. The Department will notify applicants of missing elements of their application files, but responsibility for submitting a complete application eligible for review rests with the applicant. For additional information, see Application Procedure.
Financial Aid
Financial aid is a major concern of nearly all students, and often a major factor in the speed at which they can move through the graduate program. (See Financial Aid, Part VI.) In an era of declining state and federal aid to education, sound financial planning is more essential than ever to the ability to attend graduate school. The History Department does what it can to assist its graduate students with its limited resources, but students have had to become increasingly resourceful in order to finance their graduate education. As they begin thinking about going to graduate school, they should already be evaluating sources of funds they might be able to draw upon to help them meet expenses.
That said, fellowship funds are available; they are enough to support about half of all students who enter the graduate program in a given year. The department and Graduate School award multi-year fellowships with stipends ranging from $12,000 to $16,000, in addition to tuition and health insurance coverage, to approximately twelve students per year. In addition to fellowships, the chief source of financial aid is the award of teaching assistantships; these normally go to Ph.D. students in their second, third, and fourth years of graduate study. Besides providing income, tuition, and insurance coverage, these positions provide important teaching experience for doctoral candidates. Students can also apply to teach their own courses once they are beyond their comprehensive exams. Funding also exists for foreign language study, travel to professional conferences to present scholarly papers, and dissertation research travel both within the United States and abroad. For additional information, see Financial Aid.
Housing and The Student Body
The University itself is cosmopolitan. About a third of the undergraduates in the College of Arts and Sciences come from outside the state, as do the great majority of the students in the graduate school. An assiduous recruiting program has resulted in a significant and gratifying increase in minority enrollments as well as international students.
Student housing includes dormitories for single men and women and married-student units constructed by the University. There are also many apartment units and townhouse complexes within convenient walking distance of the University. Most graduate students live in off-grounds housing. Applications and information for on- and off-grounds housing can be found on the Housing Division web page.