History
The Graduate Program
The Department of History offers strong programs at both the master’s and doctoral levels in American and European history and is a national leader in the field of African history. Graduates of the department pursue careers not only in the traditional areas of research and teaching but also in fields as diverse as library and museum work, government service, publishing, and business. The department has a special relationship with the American & New England Studies Program, which provides a range of courses supplementing the department’s American history offerings. In African history, the highly regarded African Studies Center provides an interdisciplinary approach encompassing anthropology, economics, political science, and sociology, as well as history. Other areas of strength include European and American diplomatic, cultural, and intellectual history; early modern Europe and America; and twentieth-century studies. Access to research collections in the Boston area is an important complement to graduate study in a number of fields offered by the department. Moreover, a consortium arrangement with Boston College, Brandeis University, and Tufts University enables students to take courses at these other schools and share library resources.
Further information is available from the Department of History, 226 Bay State Road, Boston, MA 02215; 617-353-2551; and from the department’s website: www.bu.edu/history.
Admissions All applicants for admission to the MA or PhD program in history are required to submit their scores on the Graduate Record Examination. Completed applications for admission should reach the Graduate School office no later than January 15. Students are admitted for fall semester only.
Residency Requirement Candidates for graduate degrees in history are expected to register for full-time study (four courses carrying credit toward their degrees per semester) or part-time study (one or two courses) until basic course requirements are satisfied. For teaching fellows, full-time work is recognized as combining half-time study (two courses for credit per semester) with service in teaching.
