Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

Department of History

The Graduate Program
MA in History
PhD in History
Seminars
Lecture Courses
Teaching Fellow Training
Dissertation Workshop
Directed Study
Directed Research

The following list reflects the 2006/2007 faculty.

Chairman Charles Dellheim

Faculty

Betty S. Anderson Assistant Professor of History, College of Arts and Sciences. BA, Trinity College; MA, PhD, University of California, Los Angeles

Andrew J. Bacevich Professor of History and International Relations, College of Arts and Sciences. BS, United States Military Academy; MA, PhD, Princeton University

Clifford R. Backman Associate Professor of History, College of Arts and Sciences. BA, MA, University of Minnesota; MA, PhD, University of California, Los Angeles

Allison Blakely Professor of History, College of Arts and Sciences. BA, University of Oregon; MA, PhD, University of California, Berkeley

Brooke L. Blower Peter T. Paul Assistant Professor of History, College of Arts and Sciences. BA, University of California, Berkeley; MA, PhD, Princeton University

Charles Capper Professor of History, College of Arts and Sciences. BA, Johns Hopkins University; MA, PhD, University of California, Berkeley

Houchang Chehabi Professor of History and International Relations, College of Arts and Sciences. Licence, Université de Caen (France); Diplôme, Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (France); MA, PhD, Yale University

Adrianne J. Chernock Assistant Professor of History, College of Arts and Sciences. BA, Brown University; MA, PhD, University of California, Berkeley

Charles Dellheim Chairman, Department of History; Professor of History, College of Arts and Sciences. BA, State University of New York, Binghamton; MA, PhD, Yale University

Barbara B. Diefendorf Professor of History, College of Arts and Sciences. AB, MA, PhD, University of California, Berkeley

Louis A. Ferleger Professor of History, College of Arts and Sciences. BBA, MA, PhD, Temple University

David Fromkin Professor of History and International Relations, College of Arts and Sciences. BA, JD, University of Chicago

Anna Geifman Professor of History, College of Arts and Sciences. BA, MA, Boston University; MA, PhD, Harvard University

Thomas F. Glick Professor of History and Geography and Environment, College of Arts and Sciences. AB, Harvard College; MA, Columbia University; PhD, Harvard University

Erik Goldstein Professor of History and International Relations, College of Arts and Sciences. BA, Tufts University; MA, MALD, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy; PhD, University of Cambridge (England)

Marilyn Halter Director, American and New England Studies, Graduate School; Professor of History, College of Arts and Sciences; Research Associate, Institute on Culture, Religion, and World Affairs. AB, Brandeis University; EdM, Harvard Graduate School of Education; PhD, Boston University

Linda M. Heywood Professor of History, College of Arts and Sciences. BA, Brooklyn College; MA, PhD, Columbia University

James H. Johnson Assistant Dean and Director, Core Curriculum, College of Arts and Sciences; Associate Professor of History, College of Arts and Sciences. BA, University of Oklahoma; MA, PhD, University of Chicago

William R. Keylor Professor of History and International Relations, College of Arts and Sciences; Director, International History Institute, College of Arts and Sciences. AB, Stanford University; MA, PhD, Columbia University

Richard A. Landes Director, Center for Millennial Studies; Associate Professor of History, College of Arts and Sciences. BA, Harvard University; MA, PhD, Princeton University

Igor Lukes University Professor; Professor of History and International Relations, College of Arts and Sciences. BA, MA, PhD, Charles University (Czech Republic); MALD, PhD, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University

James C. McCann Professor of History, College of Arts and Sciences; Research Associate, African Studies Center, Graduate School. BA, Northwestern University; MA, PhD, Michigan State University

Brendan McConville Professor of History, College of Arts and Sciences. BA, Reed College; MA, PhD, Brown University

Herbert W. Mason Jr. University Professor; Professor of History and Religion, College of Arts and Sciences. AB, Harvard University; AM, PhD, Harvard University

David A. Mayers Chairman, Department of Political Science; Professor of History and Political Science, College of Arts and Sciences. BA, Oberlin College; MA, PhD, University of Chicago

Eugenio Menegon Assistant Professor of History, College of Arts and Sciences. BA, University of Venice (Italy); MA, PhD, University of California, Berkeley

Cathal J. Nolan Associate Professor of History; Executive Director, International History Institute, College of Arts and Sciences. BA, University of Alberta (Canada); MA, PhD, University of Toronto (Canada)

Ronald K. Richardson Director, African American Studies Program, Graduate School; Associate Professor of History, College of Arts and Sciences. BA, MA, PhD, State University of New York, Binghamton

Jon H. Roberts Professor of History, College of Arts and Sciences. AB, University of Missouri; AM, PhD, Harvard University

Jeffrey W. Rubin Associate Professor of History, College of Arts and Sciences; Research Associate, Institute on Culture, Religion, and World Affairs. AB, Harvard College; PhD, Harvard University

James Schmidt University Professor; Professor of History and Political Science, College of Arts and Sciences. BA, Rutgers University; PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Bruce J. Schulman Professor of History, College of Arts and Sciences. BA, Yale University; MA, PhD, Stanford University

Nina Silber Associate Professor of History, College of Arts and Sciences. BA, MA, PhD, University of California, Berkeley

John K. Thornton Professor of History, College of Arts and Sciences. BA, University of Michigan; MA, PhD, University of California, Los Angeles

Jon Westling Professor of History and Humanities, College of Arts and Sciences. BA, Reed College

Diana Wylie Professor of History, College of Arts and Sciences; Research Associate, African Studies Center, Graduate School. BA, Goucher College; MLitt, University of Edinburgh (Scotland); PhD, Yale University

Jonathan R. Zatlin Assistant Professor of History, College of Arts and Sciences. BA, Yale University; MPhil, St. Antony’s College, University of Oxford (England); PhD, University of California, Berkeley

Julian E. Zelizer Professor of History, College of Arts and Sciences. BA, Brandeis University; MA, PhD, Johns Hopkins University

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Emeriti

Norman R. Bennett Professor Emeritus of History, Research Associate, African Studies Center, College of Arts and Sciences. AB, AM, Tufts University; PhD, Boston University

Joseph Boskin Professor Emeritus of History, College of Arts and Sciences. BA, State University of New York, Stony Brook; AM, New York University; PhD, University of Minnesota

Robert V. Bruce Professor Emeritus of History, College of Arts and Sciences. BS, University of New Hampshire; MA, PhD, Boston University

Saul Engelbourg Professor Emeritus of History, College of Arts and Sciences. BA, City University of New York, Brooklyn College; MA, Yale University; PhD, Columbia University

John G. Gagliardo Professor Emeritus of History, College of Arts and Sciences. BA, MA, University of Kansas; PhD, Yale University

Merle Goldman Professor Emerita of History, College of Arts and Sciences. BA, Sarah Lawrence College; AM, PhD, Harvard University

Aileen S. Kraditor Professor Emerita of History, College of Arts and Sciences. BA, Brooklyn College; MA, PhD, Columbia University

Fred M. Leventhal Professor Emeritus of History, College of Arts and Sciences. AB, Harvard University; PhD, Harvard University

Stephen R. Lyne Professor Emeritus of History and International Relations, College of Arts and Sciences. BA, Amherst College; MA, PhD, Stanford University

Dietrich Orlow Professor Emeritus of History, College of Arts and Sciences. AB, Ohio University; AM, PhD, University of Michigan

Reinhold S. Schumann Professor Emeritus of History, College of Arts and Sciences. AB, AM, PhD, Harvard University

Claudio Véliz Director Emeritus and University Professor Emeritus, The University Professors; Professor of History, College of Arts and Sciences. BSc, University of Florida; PhD, London School of Economics and Political Science (England)

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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 and 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 Department of 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.

MA in History

The MA in History is intended as either a terminal degree or a preliminary degree for those students who will continue to the PhD degree. Admission to the MA program does not guarantee, however, that a student will later be allowed to advance to doctoral studies; all MA students will be reevaluated by the Graduate Studies Committee before being admitted to the PhD program.

Course Requirements Of the eight semester courses (32 credits) needed to satisfy the requirement of work in residence, all students must take the following four courses: GRS HI 700 (European Historiography), HI 750 (American Historiography), HI 770 (African Historiography), and HI 701 (The Historian’s Craft). HI 700, 750, and 770 are reading courses focusing on historiographical issues and approaches in the areas where the department has special strengths and a sizable array of courses. HI 701 is a course intended to provide students with the necessary range of analytical, research, and expository skills and methods that are associated with the historian’s craft. Toward that end, the course is designed to move from the original conception of a problem to a publishable article. Within the context of this course students will write a major research paper, which will be separately certified by the Graduate Studies Committee as the student’s capstone experience. At least one of the reading courses (HI 700, 750, or 770) must be taken prior to taking HI 701, which will be offered every year in the spring semester. Candidates for the MA may count only two courses designed primarily for undergraduates (these courses are offered at the 800 level and ordinarily have 300-level equivalents) for the degree.

Language Requirement The candidate must demonstrate a reading knowledge of one relevant foreign language. This requirement reflects the need for genuine ability to use foreign languages in advanced courses and in certain kinds of research. Language examinations are normally given in September and twice during the second semester. Students are expected to qualify at the start of their work in residence (except in cases where, for a language such as Russian or Arabic, it is recognized that additional time may be required). Candidates may also fulfill the language requirement by passing a reading course for graduate students offered by the Department of Modern Foreign Languages at Boston University.

Grade Requirement To be awarded the master’s degree, the candidate is expected to earn a grade point average of 3.3 or above.

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PhD in History

Course Requirements All students in the PhD program are required to take the following four courses: GRS HI 700 (European Historiography), HI 750 (American Historiography), HI 770 (African Historiography), and HI 701 (The Historian’s Craft). HI 700, 750, and 770 are reading courses focusing on historiographical issues and approaches in the areas where the department has special strengths and a sizable array of courses. HI 701 is a course that focuses on research and is designed to enable students to move from the original conception of a problem to a publishable article. At least one of the reading courses (HI 700, 750, or 770) must be taken prior to taking HI 701, which will be offered every year in the spring semester. Students entering the program with a bachelor’s degree take 64 credits, 56 of which should be taken in seminars, lecture courses, directed research, and directed study prior to taking the qualifying oral examination, preferably over a period of four or five semesters. Students entering with an approved master’s degree take 24 credits prior to taking the qualifying oral examination, preferably over two or three semesters. Under ordinary circumstances students are required to take two graduate-level courses in a single discipline other than history that is related to their interests. These courses must be selected in consultation with the student’s advisor. Candidates for the PhD may count only 16 credits in courses designed primarily for undergraduates (these courses are offered at the 800 level and ordinarily have 300-level equivalents) for the degree. In each year of full-time residence, every student must write at least one major research paper and submit it to the Graduate Studies Committee. The paper completed in GRS HI 701 (The Historian’s Craft) counts as one of the research papers; students entering the program with a bachelor’s degree must complete a second paper. After completing all other course requirements and the qualifying oral examination, every doctoral student is required to complete four semesters of a two-credit Dissertation Workshop course (GRS HI 900). The eight credits count toward the 64-credit requirement for PhD students. This course, presided over by a departmental faculty member, meets every two weeks for a presentation of a significant piece of dissertation research by a current graduate student, a roundtable discussion of an important research issue, or a topic relating to a career in college teaching. Although students in Boston are expected to attend the course regularly, students need not be in residence to enroll in HI 900. However, every dissertation student must present his or her research once a year, either in person or by some other means when appropriate.

Fields of Specialization Doctoral candidates elect fields of specialization that will determine their subsequent programs of study and will lead to suitable dissertation topics. Selection is made from the following fields of history: African, U.S., or European (medieval; early modern, 1500 to 1815; or modern, 1789 to present). Within the European fields, there is the option of a topical emphasis, such as social, intellectual, or economic history, or of a national emphasis chosen from the following: French, British, German, Russian, or Spanish history. The major field in African history requires regional specialization plus knowledge of a related discipline, such as anthropology or economics. For information on the doctoral program in American and New England Studies, see the appropriate section of this site.

Language Requirements See “Language Requirement” in the “MA in History” section above. The doctoral candidate must demonstrate a reading knowledge of two relevant foreign languages. (1) A candidate beginning postbachelor’s doctoral work must qualify during the first year in at least one of the languages required, and is urged to do so in both. Beyond the end of the third semester of full-time study, financial aid may be discontinued and/or the student may be required to take a reduced course load until the language requirement is fulfilled. (2) A candidate beginning at the post-master’s level must fulfill the requirement in both languages during the first semester of full-time study (for a teaching fellow, during the first or second semester of half-time study) or be subject to the same conditions noted above. (3) Candidates in certain areas of concentration may substitute a two-semester course in statistics or in another tool subject for the second of the two foreign languages. For details, consult the Graduate Studies Committee. If the candidate has passed a reading examination at another accredited graduate school and submits evidence to that effect to the chairman of the Graduate Studies Committee, the departmental requirement will be waived in most instances.

Qualifying Examination Each candidate must pass an oral examination in a major field and in one minor field of history. The examination must be taken no later than one year after the completion of coursework. Subject to the approval of the Graduate Studies Committee, the student selects an examining committee of four: three for the major field, and one for the minor field. The examination shall be comprehensive and cover any and all phases of the subject. A unanimous vote of the examining committee is required to pass the qualifying oral examination. Qualifying examinations are scheduled only during the two regular semesters of the academic year. The chairman of the examining committee, in consultation with the candidate and the members of the committee, is responsible for arranging the time and place of the examination.

Prospectus (Dissertation Outline) See General Requirements for the PhD in this site. Each student is required to submit a detailed prospectus or dissertation outline to the Graduate Studies Committee for approval within four months of the successful completion of the qualifying oral examination. This prospectus may be prepared in a Directed Study with the prospective dissertation advisor during the last semester of coursework, or it may be prepared after all coursework has been completed. The prospectus, distributed in written form, must be approved and signed by the prospective first and second readers of the dissertation before submission to the Graduate Studies Committee. The prospectus is normally six to ten double-spaced pages in length and explores succinctly three aspects of the dissertation topic: the issue to be addressed, the methods to be employed, and the sources to be consulted.

Dissertation Candidates select the subject of their dissertation in consultation with their advisors, subject to the approval of the department. Students are expected to show ability to look for suitable subjects as soon as possible and to keep in touch with the supervisor of the dissertation while working on it. The dissertation must be based upon a detailed, thorough, and critical study of a historical subject. It must demonstrate the candidate’s ability to assemble all the available historical material bearing on the subject, to analyze and evaluate the material critically, and to interpret the evidence with impartiality and insight. The candidate is expected to demonstrate not only industry in research but also marked ability in the interpretation of historical data and in the presentation of the results in readable fashion.

Final Oral Examination A final examination follows the successful completion of the dissertation. The examiners test the candidate’s scholarly attainments within the special period to which the dissertation or the major part of it belongs and lay stress upon the candidate’s ability to discuss important historical issues and problems at length and in a clear and orderly fashion.

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Seminars

CAS HI 537 World War II: Causes, Course, Consequences

Begins with the origins of World War II in Asia and Europe, follows its major campaigns, and ends with its main consequences. Topics include diplomacy, grand strategy, command decisions, conditions of battle, and civilians in occupation and resistance. Nolan. 4 cr, 2nd sem.

CAS HI 580 The History of Racial Thought

Study of racial thinking and feeling in Europe and the United States since the fifteenth century. Racial thinking in the context of Western encounters with non-European people and Jews; its relation to social, economic, cultural, and political trends. Richardson. 4 cr, 1st sem.

CAS HI 584 Comparative Slavery

The institution of slavery in history with a special focus on slavery and the slave trade in Africa and the Americas in the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries. Attention to cultural and political issues as well as economic and social aspects of slavery. Thornton. 4 cr, 1st sem.

CAS HI 588 Women, Power, and Culture in Africa

Understanding the role of women in African history. Topics include the Atlantic slave trade, power, religion, the economy, resistance movements, health, the state, and kinship. Emphasis on the period before independence. Heywood. 4 cr, 2nd sem.

CAS HI 590 The World and the West

This course explores relations between the West and the Third World from 1850, focusing on national and cultural movements in the Third World. It places the African American struggle for freedom in the United States in global and comparative perspective. Richardson. 4 cr, 2nd sem.

CAS HI 591 The Making of the Modern Middle East

Examines the modern Middle East, with its new and old states and its current contested frontiers, as a product of European rivalries in the region in war and peace, 1798–1922. Fromkin. 4 cr, 2nd sem.

CAS HI 592 The Birth of a State: Israel 1945–1955

Establishment of the State of Israel, 1945–1955. Immediate context following World War II and the Holocaust, out of which the State of Israel was created. Considers the War of Independence and relations with Israel’s Arab neighbors and internal political developments. Kabalo. 4 cr, 1st sem.

CAS HI 593 Youth on the Agenda: Roles and Images of Young People in the Jewish Nation

Youth in modern revolutionary movements, including Zionism and the creation of the State of Israel. What it means to grow up in a Jewish state, to consider the military experience, and to deal with the influence of American and other foreign cultures. Kabalo. 4 cr, 2nd sem.

GRS HI 700 European Historiography

Examines changes in historical thought and practice from the early nineteenth century to the present. Dellheim. 4 cr, 1st sem.

GRS HI 701 The Historian’s Craft

Intensive training in the best practices of historical research, writing, publication, and oral presentation. Culminates in the production of a publishable journal article. McCann. 4 cr, 2nd sem.

GRS HI 750 American Historiography

Examines the methodological and professional development of American historians since the 1880s, changes in the field since the founding period, and new directions in U.S. history. Blower. 4 cr, 2nd sem.

GRS HI 751 Recent American History

Schulman. 4 cr, 1st sem.

GRS HI 752 Readings in American Political History

Introduces students to the field of U.S. political history. Readings are divided into four primary areas of scholarship: government institutions, public policy, social movements, and political culture. Zelizer. 4 cr, 2nd sem.

GRS HI 763 American Intellectual History

Capper. 4 cr, 1st sem.

GRS HI 770 African Historiography

Examines historical writing on the African continent through key trends in the study of themes and regional historiographies. Also highlights recent important works in the field. Wylie. 4 cr, 1st sem.

GRS HI 781 Readings in Food History

Survey of food history: how food influences, and is influenced by, politics, economics, climate, geography, technology, and culture. Considers the ways food history interconnects with other disciplines and raises important issues for an era of globalized food production, processing, and consumption. Glick. 4 cr, 1st sem.

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Lecture Courses

GRS HI 810 Heresy and Persecution in the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries

Around the millennium radical Christian movements appeared in and outside the Church, which, despite sharing ideals, became mutually antagonistic. The course studies multiple sources of the conflict and traces the emergence of Crusade and Inquisition to combat this “popular heresy.” Landes. 4 cr, 1st sem.

GRS HI 811 Renaissance Europe

The main political, socioeconomic, intellectual, and artistic currents in Italy (c. 1350–1530) and northwestern Europe (c. 1500–1560); emphasis on leading thinkers (Petrarch, Bruni, Machiavelli, Erasmus, More, Montaigne) as creators of the modern Western mind. Diefendorf. 4 cr, 1st sem.

GRS HI 812 The Reformation Era: Sixteenth-Century Europe

Not offered 2007/2008

GRS HI 816 Intellectual History of Europe in the Twentieth Century

Not offered 2007/2008

GRS HI 831 French Feudal Society: 496 –1339

Not offered 2007/2008

GRS HI 832 Early Modern France

Not offered 2007/2008

GRS HI 833 French Revolution and Napoleon

Not offered 2007/2008

GRS HI 838 Germany, 1914 – Present

German history from the beginning of World War I to the present, with emphasis on the politico-social developments, the Nazi attempt to control Europe, the growing division of Germany, the integration of West and East Germany into power blocs, and German reunification. Zatlin. 4 cr, 1st sem.

GRS HI 845 History of Russia, 1689 – 1917

Not offered 2007/2008

GRS HI 846 History of the Soviet Union and Post-Communist Russia, 1917 – Present

Not offered 2007/2008

GRS HI 848 Communications Revolutions from Language to Cyberspace

History of communications revolutions from origin of language through writing to current global revolutions. Focus on the socio-political matrix of communications technology, implications for both cognitive and social relations, and dilemmas created for cultures by the increased flow of information. Landes. 4 cr, 2nd sem.

GRS HI 854 Religious Thought in America

This course surveys many of the strategies that American religious thinkers have adopted for interpreting the cosmos, the social order, and human experience and examines the interaction of those strategies with broader currents of American culture. Roberts. 4 cr, 1st sem.

GRS HI 866 History of American Foreign Relations Since 1898

Analysis of the history of American foreign policy from the perspective of the changing world and regional international systems; emphasis on the effect of these systems and the impact of America on the creation and operation of international systems. Mayers. 4 cr, 2nd sem.

GRS HI 868 Science and American Culture

Not offered 2007/2008

GRS HI 869 Science and Christianity in Europe and North America Since 1500

Examines the relationship between science and the Christian tradition in Europe and North America since 1500. Considers the epistemological and metaphysical foundations of both science and Christian thought as they have evolved over time. Roberts. 4 cr, 2nd sem.

GRS HI 871 African American History

The history of African-Americans from African origins to present time; consideration of slavery, reconstruction, and ethnic relations from the colonial era to our own time. Heywood. 4 cr, 1st sem.

GRS HI 873 Intellectual History of the United States, 1776 –1900

Major thinkers and movements in intellectual and cultural history from the Revolution to 1900. Topics include Revolutionary republicanism, evangelical theology and democratic theory, Transcendentalism and Romantic culture, antislavery and nationality, Victorian realism, liberal Protestantism and Darwinism, and evolutionary social science. Capper. 4 cr, 1st sem.

GRS HI 874 Intellectual History of the United States, 1900 to the Present

The reconstruction of American thought following the Civil War. Victorian realism; liberal Protestantism and Darwinian science; evolutionary thought and progressive reform; pragmatism and cultural pluralism; literary modernism and modernization theory; 1960s and post-1960s discourses on race, gender, neoconservatism, and postmodernism. Capper. 4 cr, 2nd sem.

GRS HI 885 History of the Atlantic World, 1500 –1825

Examines the various interactions that shaped the Atlantic World, connecting Europe, Africa, and the Americas between 1500 and 1800. After defining the political interaction, there is special emphasis on cultural exchange, religious conversion, and the revolutionary era. Thornton. 4 cr, 2nd sem.

GRS HI 894 Environmental History of Africa

Not offered 2007/2008

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Teaching Fellow Training

GRS HI 699 Teaching College History

The goals, contents, and methods of instruction in history. General teaching-learning issues. Required of all teaching fellows. Staff. 2 cr, both semesters.

Dissertation Workshop

GRS HI 900 Dissertation Workshop

A course designed for students writing a dissertation that will provide them with critical responses to their work and address important issues associated with becoming a professional historian. TBA. 2 cr, both sem.

Directed Study

Advanced study in history, not necessarily resulting in a formal research paper. Hours arranged. Variable cr.

Directed Research

Advanced study in history leading to a formal research paper. Hours arranged. Variable cr.

Published by Trustees of Boston University
One Sherborn Street
Boston, MA 02215

31 October 2007
Boston University
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