Top Masters Programs in History

The history Ph.D. program values a method of scholarship that is rooted in the specific while maintaining an awareness of the big picture. In order to foster a broad understanding of the past, the professors encourage students to adopt the broadest perspective on history feasible. Students gain the expertise needed to carry out discipline-defining research throughout their enrollment.

The Program in the History of Science and Medicine (HSHM) offers a master’s degree designed for students who plan to combine teaching or scholarship with a professional career in medicine or science. Students who enroll in the terminal M.A. in History of Science and Medicine are expected to complete six courses during two terms of study and submit an acceptable master’s paper. Course work normally includes the three core HSHM “Problems” seminars and one additional graduate seminar in history of medicine or science. The remaining courses are chosen in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies or a faculty adviser.

The History of Science and Medicine Program (HSHM) is a semi-autonomous graduate track within the Department of History. HSHM students are awarded degrees in History with a concentration in the History of Science and Medicine, and they are fully fledged members of the History Department. Most students in the HSHM program are pursuing a PhD, which may be combined with concurrent enrollment in an MD or JD program (at Yale or elsewhere). A one-year MA degree is also available.

The HSHM program allows students to explore topics spanning the full range of the history of science, medicine, and technology, and science and technology studies. Instruction is offered in small seminars, and students receive advice and guidance from faculty advisers throughout their entire period of enrollment. The program incorporates many opportunities for professional development in teaching, research, publication, and presentation, and Yale also offers additional ways for students to explore other skills and fields such as exhibit curation, digital humanities, and public policy.

The methodological training provided by the HSHM program is expansive and interdisciplinary. The faculty have backgrounds in a variety of fields, including history, the natural and the social sciences, and the performing arts, and they have deep commitments in anthropology, indigenous studies, geography, race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, material and visual culture, and museum studies. Students work with all kinds of sources—texts, artifacts, interviews—and incorporate social, cultural, political, geographic, environmental, and economic analysis. Students are also encouraged to draw on other disciplines and they may take classes or work with faculty in other departments.

The goal of the doctoral program is to train students to become both skilled scholars and conscientious teachers. Throughout the program students work with advisors and other faculty members as they engage in coursework, prepare for and take the general exam, work as teaching fellows, and research and write the dissertation. On average it takes seven years to receive the doctoral degree. Most graduates have pursued academic careers at universities and colleges in the United States and abroad, while others have gone on to successful careers in law and in government.

As a large research university, Harvard offers many resources and opportunities for its students in the form of lectures, conferences, research centers, fellowships, and grants. Students have access to the more than 80 libraries and 15 million volumes that comprise the Harvard University Library, the largest university library in the world.

Additionally, students may take courses offered by other departments in the Faculty of Arts & Sciences, or at other Harvard schools, such as Harvard Divinity School, Harvard Law School, Harvard Graduate School of Education, and Harvard Kennedy School.

In coordination with Harvard Law School, students may pursue both a PhD in history and a JD at the Law School.

Stanford University's history M.A. students work closely with the department's teachers to complete nine graduate-level courses. There are 14 distinct subfields in which students can choose to specialise, including: Africa, Britain, Early Modern Europe, East Asia, Eastern Europe/Russia, History of Science, Medicine, and Technology, Latin America, Medieval Europe, Modern Europe, Ottoman Empire and Middle East, South Asia, Transnational, International, and Global History, and United States.

At University of Illinois Chicago students pursuing Master of Arts in History (MA) are provided introductory classes in established disciplines (US history, European history), and promote interdisciplinary approaches to history.

The history of racial, religious, gendered, and class relations as well as the history of sexuality in early America and the United States, as well as the history of imperial, colonial, ethnic, and environmental relations in early modern Europe, Africa, Asia, and Latin America, are the main areas of scholarly focus.

The goal of the PhD program in history of art at Johns Hopkins University is to provide candidates for the degree with a thorough knowledge of the history of art as well as a profound awareness of the theories and methods used in art historical inquiry. In seminars, the curriculum places a strong emphasis on teamwork among students and instructors.

At the University of Pennsylvania, there is a distinguished history of the Graduate Program in History. It is intended for self-funded students with certain goals in mind, such as community college or secondary school teaching, archival management, library or public sector work, personal gratification, etc.

The history Ph.D. program at Northwestern credits its stellar faculty of scholar-teachers, adaptable and well-articulated course of study, and track record of enlisting, preparing, and placing talented and diverse graduate students for success in the nation.

At Duke University, students pursuing a Master of Arts in History receive training in a wide range of topics, including early America, modern american history, african american history, military history, mediaeval and early modern european history, south asia, imperial and Soviet russia, traditional and modern china, modern japan, and history of medicine and science and technology.

The Ph.D. program offers courses to help students advance their critical reading, research and writing skills as they increase familiarity with different approaches to the past, build comparative understanding of major historical developments and gain competence in the literature and sources of their fields of specialization.

Students are encouraged to adopt a thematic approach to research backed by theoretically sophisticated comparative and interdisciplinary perspectives.

Teaching is an indispensable part of graduate training, and each of our graduate students works as a teaching assistant for a minimum of four semesters. Brown University's summer school offers advanced students an opportunity to develop and teach their own courses.

The department tries to admit students with diverse backgrounds and academic interests who can work harmoniously together. The department's low graduate student-faculty ratio combines with the relatively small size of each cohort to create a vibrant academic environment for students and faculty.