history phd europe

Department of History

European history doctoral studies.

Three Chronological Fields  –   Areas of Strength  –   Language Requirements Examination Fields  –   The Qualifying Examination

In the past decade the graduate program in European History has expanded in new directions offering students a wide variety of concentrations — from late antiquity to the twentieth century and from medieval archaeology to modern Jewish history, to name just a few.  Students may work with professors in traditionally defined chronological periods, like medieval, early modern or modern Europe.  Within this framework, students have the opportunity to study more traditional western European history with a focus on such areas as medieval Spain or modern Britain, France, or Germany.  Within their chronological or geographic  area of focus, students also have the opportunity to develop topical or comparative subfields.

Three Chronological Fields

For doctoral students European History is subdivided into three chronological fields representing the periods of history in which students will pursue their dissertation research and seek academic employment:

Modern Europe (including Britain and British Empire)

Medieval / Early Modern – See also our Medieval & Early Modern Europe  faculty cluster page.

Late Antique / Medieval (including Byzantium) – See more at our Late Antique, Early Medieval & Byzantine History page .

For EUH doctoral students their particular chronological field is equivalent to their Major Field of Study.  The language requirements for the three chronological fields differ, but requirements for examination subfields and the qualifying examination are the same.

Areas of Strength

The European section also has distinctive configurations of faculty, whose current research interests enable students to pursue more focused study in certain areas.  These are not fields but rather current areas of strength around which students may construct examination subfields within European history or minor fields:

Religious History / Central and East-Central Europe

Europeanists at the University of Florida are also represented in trans-national, thematic areas of study that draw on faculty from across the Department of History, including the Atlantic World , Gender History, World History, and Religion .

Strong links with other UF departments and centers reinforce the graduate program in European History. Graduate students receive language training in modern European languages, African and Asian Languages and Literatures, and Classics. They are exposed to the theories and methodologies of other disciplines while working with faculty in the departments of Anthropology, Classics, English, Political Science, Religion, and Sociology. Finally, they may take advantage of the programs, funding opportunities, and intellectual communities offered by several interdisciplinary centers on campus.

Language Requirements

PhD students in European history must demonstrate proficiency in two languages other than English, one of which is normally either French or German. Students in British history must demonstrate proficiency in at least one language other than English. Depending on the student’s field of research, other languages may meet the requirement. Students in Late Antique or Medieval History must demonstrate proficiency in Latin, Greek, and/or Church Slavonic in addition to two modern European languages.

Students may fulfill the language requirement in three ways:

1) A translation exam to be administered by the Language Coordinator for the given academic year. This exam, a 500-1000-word translation of a secondary source article, will normally be reviewed by a member of the European section.

2) a grade of B or better in an intensive summer or yearlong language for reading course aimed at graduate students seeking reading competence in a given language. If this course is taken at another university, approval must be obtained from the Language Coordinator before the student enrolls, and proper documentation must be provided. A student can satisfy the language requirement before entrance to the program if s/he is able to provide documentation that s/he received a B or better in a graduate reading language course.

3) a grade of B or better in a 3000-level course (literature in the language).

All language requirements must be completed before admission to candidacy, and preferably by the end of the first year of study in the PhD program.

Examination Fields

The doctoral program in European History is designed to maximize flexibility while providing students with a combination of depth and breadth in their studies. Through course work in their major and minor fields, students prepare three examination subfields. The subfields are defined as follows:

• Two subfields will be prepared within the major chronological field. Normally one of these will be defined in chronological/geographical terms (Reformation Europe, Medieval Spain) and the second in thematic/comparative terms (comparative genocides, religion in Late Antiquity) within the chronological field.
• The third subfield is the  Minor Field , required of all PhD students in history.  For Europeanists the minor field may be developed in a different chronological period within European history, in another geographic area, or in a trans-national thematic area of strength.

Students should take coursework appropriate to each of these subfields. In the Qualifying Examination (discussed below) the student will be examined based on reading lists – of roughly 50 titles – prepared for each subfield in consultation with their Supervisory Committee.

The Qualifying Examination

After completing their course work, doctoral students in European History must demonstrate proficiency in their three subfields (two within the major chronological field and one minor field) before entering the dissertation stage. The Qualifying Examination consists of written and oral examinations in the major and minor fields and often includes defense of the Dissertation Prospectus. The qualifying examination ensures that a student has acquired the necessary breadth and depth for scholarship and teaching in the discipline of history.

The written examination will be composed of three parts, testing the student’s knowledge of the student’s subfields. Bibliographies of approximately 50 books and/or scholarly articles for each of the examination subfields will be constructed by the student in consultation with the individual faculty members who will examine the student in the given field.

The written examination will include questions set by members of the student’s committee. The student’s advisor serves as the chair of the committee, solicits questions from the other examiners, drafts the examination, and circulates it to the committee for suggestions or possible modifications. The chair then submits the final version of the examination to the Graduate Coordinator for administration. All members of the committee will read the entire examination and will jointly conduct the oral examination. During the oral examination committee members may follow up on the written examination and pose additional questions relevant to their fields.

When the defense of the dissertation prospectus is not part of the qualifying examination process, it must be scheduled and completed within four months of the oral examination.

Faculty in European History

Harry Rich Professor of Holocaust Studies

Associate Professor, Soviet and Post-Soviet History

Associate Professor, Medieval Jewish History, Medieval History

Professor, Carolingian Europe, Byzantium, Archaeology, Medievalism

Assistant Professor, Colonial Latin America and Early Modern Spain

Professor, Norman and Irma Braman Chair in Holocaust Studies, Modern Europe

Associate Professor, Modern Britain and British Empire, Atlantic World

Professor, Modern Germany, Modern Jewish History, History of Social Science

Associate Professor, Modern France, Europe

Associate Professor, Early Modern Europe

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Institute for History

PhD Programme

The PhD programme at the Leiden University Institute for History is characterised by a strong international orientation, a broad variety of disciplinary perspectives and methodological approaches, and a focus on the use of primary sources. The institute welcomes employed, contract and external PhD candidates.

The PhD programme

The PhD programme of the Leiden University Institute for History is embedded in the Graduate School of Humanities  which provides the opportunity to study not only the languages, societies and cultures of Europe, but also those of Africa, Asia, America and the Caribbean. Under the overall motto ‘Global Questions, Local Sources’ the research of the Institute for History is subdivided into six  research programmes . PhD candidates primarily focus on writing their dissertation under the guidance of two supervisors of whom one is a full professor. At least the full professor is connected to one of the research programmes. 

The Institute for History offers three different types of PhD affiliation. There are employed PhD candidates, contract PhD candidates, and external PhD candidates.

Employed PhD candidates

Employed PhD candidates are selected by the PhD committee of the Institute or by an ad hoc committee in case their PhD research is sponsored by an external funding agency (for example NWO or ERC) and accountability for the funding is a responsibility of the Institute for History. In all instances the supervisor of the candidate and the director of research  will be part of this committee. PhD candidates employed by the Institute are generally appointed for a period of four years. If there are vacancies for PhD candidates available they are published on the university’s website in Dutch and/or English .

Employed PhD candidates take a number of courses relevant to their field of research. Some of these courses are offered by the Institute, such as the PhD conferences and the practical didactical course. The latter are compulsory components of the PhD training programme of the Institute for History. As a rule PhD candidates take supplementary courses at Leiden University and at one of the Dutch research schools in the field of history . In total, PhD candidates are required to take part in 140 hours of academic education and 140 hours of transferable skills. Finally, the PhD programme offers candidates the opportunity to gain experience in administration and teaching, and provides a timely orientation towards a career after the completion of the PhD dissertation.

Most members of the institute, including employed PhD candidates, are housed in the Johan Huizinga building, creating a stimulating intellectual environment and a genuine academic community. Members of the Institute frequently organize conferences, workshops, lectures and book presentations which are open to anyone interested in the topic under discussion. The workplaces available for PhD candidates in the Johan Huizinga building and adjacent locations include all the necessary facilities (desk, computer and library access).

Fee During their appointment employed PhD candidates do not pay a fee. In case they need to finish their dissertation after their contract has expired, formerly employed PhD candidates will be registered as external PhD candidates up until the date of their PhD defense. They are required to pay the fee for external PhD candidates (€400 per year) from a year after their employment as a PhD candidate ended.

Contract PhD candidates

Contract PhD candidates are directly funded by external funding agencies through a scholarship or grant for a period of at least three years (full-time). Those who are not residing in the Netherlands can conduct their PhD research in their country of origin or can move to the Netherlands and join the Institute for History in Leiden. Basically contract PhD candidates are required to take part in 140 hours of academic education and 140 hours of transferable skills.

Contract PhD candidates pay a fee of €2850 per year. The fee entitles the PhD candidate to facilities like a shared workspace, a copy card, participation in 140 hours of academic education and 140 hours of transferable skills, and a small budget (max. 500 euro per PhD trajectory) for conference visits and/or research (abroad). If a contract PhD candidate works on his/her PhD research from abroad and does not require such facilities, (s)he can, with the approval of their supervisor, request the director of research to pay the flat fee for external PhD candidates (€400 per year).

Following the termination of their scholarship contract PhD candidates, as long as they have not defended their PhD thesis, will pay a flat fee of €400 per year.

External PhD candidates

External PhD candidates receive their funding from other sources than Leiden University or PhD grants. They are self-funded and usually conduct their PhD project next to a (full-time or part-time) job in the Netherlands or outside the Netherlands. They are not required to take part in an educational programme. However, external PhD candidates who enrolled on or after 1 January 2019 are required to attend or watch the plenary lecture on Academic Integrity  organized by the Graduate School.

External PhD candidates pay a flat fee of €400 per year for a minimum period of two years .  They will be receiving an account, access to the library and supervision. Fees are to be paid annually and the first payment will be done in the year the external PhD candidate registers at the Graduate School of Humanities.

Admission to the Graduate School of Humanities

All PhD candidates at the Leiden University Institute for History are subject to admission through  a specific procedure  at the  Graduate School of Humanities . Before you can apply for admission through the graduate school, it is important to  find a supervisor  within one of the six research programmes of the Institute for History. Candidates can approach a potential supervisor themselves.

Admission mainly depends on candidates having: - formulated an excellent dissertation proposal; - found a supervisor at the Institute for History; - successfully completed a (research) MA degree in history (or equivalent discipline). Excellence being a major selection criterion, supervisors focus on applicants who have obtained a (research) MA or MPhil diploma with high marks, including a substantial thesis that was evaluated with at least an 8.0 (on a 10-point scale) or equivalent. 

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PhD History / Overview

Year of entry: 2024

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• Bachelor's (Honours) degree at 2:1 or above (or overseas equivalent); and 
• Master's degree in a relevant subject – with an overall average of 65% or above, a minimum mark of 65% in your dissertation and no mark below 55% (or overseas equivalent) 
• Any strong relevant professional experience will be considered on a case by case basis.

Full entry requirements

Apply online

Please ensure you include all  required supporting documents at the time of submission, as incomplete applications may not be considered. 

Application Deadlines 

For consideration in internal funding competitions, you must submit your completed application by  12 January 2024. 

If you are applying for or have secured external funding (for example, from an employer or government) or are self–funding, you must submit your application before the below deadlines to be considered. You will not be able to apply after these dates have passed. 

• For September 2024 entry:  30 June 2024 
• For January 2025 entry:  30 September 2024 

Programme options

Programme overview.

• Our interests span from the early Medieval to the present day, across Britain, continental Europe, South and East Asia, Africa and the Americas.
• Join a large and lively PhD researcher community, with over 40 established members of research-engaged staff.
• Top 5 History department in the UK for research (overall GPA, REF2021).
• We are committed to investing in our History department, and have welcomed 20 new academic staff in the last four years.

We will be conducting our PGR virtual open week in October 2024. Find out about future events and postgraduate research sessions by signing up for our email alerts.

For entry in the academic year beginning September 2024, the tuition fees are as follows:

• PhD (full-time) UK students (per annum): £4,786 International, including EU, students (per annum): £21,500
• PhD (part-time) UK students (per annum): £2,393

Further information for EU students can be found on our dedicated EU page.

Please note for the majority of projects where experimentation requires further resource: higher fee bands (where quoted) will be charged rather than the base rate for supervision, administration and computational costs. The fees quoted above will be fully inclusive and, therefore, you will not be required to pay any additional bench fees or administration costs.

All fees for entry will be subject to yearly review and incremental rises per annum are also likely over the duration of the course for UK/EU students (fees are typically fixed for International students, for the course duration at the year of entry). For general fees information please visit: postgraduate fees . Always contact the department if you are unsure which fee applies to your project.

Scholarships/sponsorships

There are a range of scholarships, studentships and awards to support both UK and overseas postgraduate researchers, details of which can be found via the links below.

To apply University of Manchester funding, you must indicate in your application the competitions for which you wish to be considered. The deadline for most internal competitions, including AHRC NWCDTP and School of Arts, Languages and Cultures studentships is 12 January 2024. 

All external funding competitions have a specified deadline for submitting the funding application form and a separate (earlier) deadline for submitting the online programme application form, both of which will be stated in the funding competition details below.

For more information about funding, visit our funding page to browse for scholarships, studentships and awards you may be eligible for.

• ESRC North West Social Science Doctoral Training Partnership (NWSSDTP) PhD Studentships - Competition Closed for 2024 Entry
• AHRC North West Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership (NWCDTP) PhD Studentships - Competition Closed for 2024 Entry
• School of Arts, Languages and Cultures PhD Studentships 2024 Entry - Competition Closed for 2024 Entry
• China Scholarship Council - The University of Manchester (CSC-UoM) Joint Scholarship Programme - Competition Closed for 2024 Entry
• School of Arts, Languages and Cultures New Generation PhD Studentships - Competition Closed for 2024 Entry
• President's Doctoral Scholar (PDS) Awards - Competition Closed for 2024 Entry
• Trudeau Doctoral Scholarships 2024 Entry
• Commonwealth PhD Scholarships (High Income Countries)
• Humanities Doctoral Academy Humanitarian Scholarship 2024 Entry

Contact details

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Programmes in related subject areas

Use the links below to view lists of programmes in related subject areas.

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European History Ph.D.

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We're so glad you're interested in UNT! Let us know if you'd like more information and we'll get you everything you need.

Why Earn a European History Ph.D.?

Our faculty members possess internationally recognized professional expertise and firsthand experience to guide doctoral research in thematic fields of military, gender, political, social, cultural, economic history and Jewish studies, as well as geographic areas from Classical Greece and Rome to Russia, Britain, France and Germany.

Areas of study for doctoral students:

1. Chronological

• Renaissance
• Reformation
• 17th- and 18th-century Europe
• Revolutionary Europe
• 19th-century Europe
• 20th-century Europe
• Classical Greece and Rome
• 17th- and 18th-century Britain
• Modern Britain
• Early Modern France
• Modern France
• Modern Germany
• Women and gender
• Synthesize/interpret large amounts of data
• Pedagogical practices
• Mastery of the historical literature
• Expertise in the history of specific topics/regions
• Research/write studies based on primary sources

European History Ph.D. Highlights

What can you do with a european history ph.d..

The knowledge and skills students gain while earning a history degree offer excellent preparation for a seemingly endless variety of occupations. Students of history learn to analyze and evaluate evidence with care, to communicate persuasively and clearly, and to understand diverse perspectives and experiences. Many history majors directly apply course content to fulfilling careers as historians, museum professionals, historical interpreters, researchers, writers, filmmakers, and educators. According to the American Historical Association, history graduates work in almost every field imaginable, ranging from financial services to healthcare to community and social services and beyond. Particularly large numbers of history majors leverage their critical thinking and communication skills for careers in business administration or management, sales, and in the legal profession. Earning an undergraduate degree in history also offers students excellent preparation for graduate school, launching them on pathways toward careers in fields such as higher education, journalism, law, and public policy.

European History Ph.D. Courses You Could Take

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U.S. History Ph.D.

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Department of History

• PhD Program

European History Concentration

The Department of History offers PhD students a rigorous graduate program in European History with overarching geographical and thematic breadth. Chronologically this concentration covers history of the European civilization from Ancient and Medieval times to Renaissance and Reformation, and then to the revolutionary 17th, 18th and 20th centuries, extending exploration to the 21st century. Our faculty members possess internationally recognized professional expertise and first-hand countries experience to guide doctoral research in thematic fields of military, gender, political, social, cultural, economic history, and Jewish studies as well as geographic areas from Classical Greece & Rome to Russia, Britain, France, and Germany. Students have exiting opportunity to hone their proficiency in study trips to Europe under guidance of our professors.

Areas of study for doctoral students: European History

Chronological

• Medieval Beebe
• Renaissance
• Reformation
• 17th- and 18th-Century Europe Chet , Leggiere
• Revolutionary Europe Leggiere , Wawro
• 19th-Century Europe Leggiere , Mierzejewski , Velikanova , Wawro
• 20th-Century Europe Majstorovic , Mierzejewski , Velikanova , Wawro
• Classical Greece & Rome
• Military Chet , Leggiere , Majstorovic , Mierzejewski , Wawro
• Russia Majstorovic , Velikanova
• Early Modern France Leggiere , Wawro
• Modern France Leggiere
• Modern Germany Majstorovic , Mierzejewski , Wawro
• Austria-Hungary and the Balkans Majstorovic , Wawro
• Women and Gender
• Economics & the Welfare State Mierzejewski

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Early Modern Europe

Stanford’s graduate program in Early Modern European History offers comprehensive training in the methods and tools of historical analysis, providing a strong foundation for advanced careers in teaching, research, and public humanities.  Our primary focus is western Europe, Britain, and the Mediterranean, as well as the history of early modern science and medicine, with opportunities to connect these fields to allied subjects, including the history of the Ottoman empire, Russia and Eastern Europe, East Asia, colonial Latin America, North America, and the Caribbean.  We encourage students who wish to explore cross-cultural and global aspects of early modern history to work across fields and consider doing the department's World History teaching certificate, or potentially apply through the Transnational, International, and Global History (TIG) field.

We have a distinguished tradition of early modern history at Stanford with a very strong record of fellowships and placements.  Our graduates can be found in many different institutions, public and private, and we encourage students to explore a wide variety of career opportunities with the PhD and work with each of them to create an individualized program to suit their specific interests and goals.

Beyond the History Department, graduate students find a vibrant and exciting focal point for medieval and early modern studies in Stanford’s Center for Medieval and Early Modern Studies (CMEMS), which brings together faculty and graduate students from a wide range of disciplines, including Art & Art History, Classics, Comparative Literature, Economics, English, German Studies, French & Italian, Iberian and Latin American Studies, Music, Religious Studies, and beyond. CMEMS hosts weekly lunchtime seminars at which visiting faculty and advanced graduate students present their work, as well as public lectures, and symposia. Students interested in science, technology, and medicine can similarly take advantage of seminars, workshops, and funding opportunities through the Suppes Center for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology.  

Stanford University Libraries house a considerable collection of early modern books, manuscripts, and digital archives.  Students interested in curatorial work are encouraged to work with curators, artifacts, and exhibitions in Special Collections and the Cantor Arts Center.  We also encourage students to explore the transformative potential of the Digital Humanities through the Center for Spatial and Textual Analysis (CESTA).

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Modern Europe

Clare Anderson

Lauren Bohm

Jan Burzlaff

Sonja Grassmugg

Sonja Grassmugg entered the Modern European History PhD program in Fall 2017. Her research interests include aspects of British nineteenth-century...

Ailish Lalor

Tsiona Lida

Tsiona entered the History PhD program in the fall of 2020. Her general scholarly interests include emotions history, intellectual history, and Israeli...

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Noah Pinkham

Noah Pinkham (they/them) is a PhD candidate in the History Department with a secondary field in Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality. They study the...

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Kabl Wilkerson

Kabl Wilkerson (they/them) is an enrolled member of the...

Jiajia Zhang

Jiajia Zhang is a historian of Asian America specializing in laborers, veterans, seamen, and socialist internationalism in the 19th and 20th...

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Grad Students By Specialty:

• Eurasia (1)
• Eastern Europe (1)
• African American (1)
• Disability (1)
• Environmental (1)
• Native American (2)
• Social History (1)
• Ancient (1)
• British (3)
• Byzantine (2)
• Early Modern Europe (9)
• East Asia (23)
• International (9)
• Latin America (10)
• Medieval and Renaissance (9)
• Mediterranean (1)
• Middle East (18)
• Modern Europe (11)
• South Asia (6)
• United States (21)

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Applications Open for New Programs Starting in 2024! Read more .

• Doctoral Programs
• Doctoral Program in Comparative History

PhD in Comparative History

• MA Programs for Prospective Students (2024)
• Dissertations Defended
• Frequently Asked Questions: PhD Program
• Doctoral Program Regulations
• Study Abroad
• Doctor of Philosophy in Late Antique, Medieval and Early Modern Studies
• Certificates and Specializations
• Source Language Teaching
• Exchange Programs
• Information for Current Students (2023)
• 2023-2024 Course Schedule

Outline and Rationale of the Doctoral Program

The purpose of the program is to offer doctoral education matching the highest international standards in the field of Comparative History for prospective scholars and teachers. The particular - indeed unique - feature of the history doctoral program at CEU is that it focuses on the comparison of four distinct geo-cultural regions: Central, Southeastern, and Eastern Europe, and the Eastern Mediterranean area, in close relation to the history of other historical regions, most notably with Western Europe and the Middle East.

Comparative history is often preached and seldom practiced in advanced historical studies. When it finds its way onto the agenda of Ph.D. programs, the emphasis falls mainly on distinctive regional-national fields with no connecting tissue. The doctoral program at CEU seeks to root the comparative dimension in the historical experience of the four distinct geo-cultural regions of Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe, and the Eastern Mediterranean area. We acknowledge that these regions are themselves constructions representing symbolic as well as physical and human geographies. But we endeavor to find the loci of these representations in both intra-regional and extra-regional perceptions. We seek to avoid the dual methodological trap of seeing the region only from the outside as something "other" than the higher cultural level and material development of the West or alternatively only from the inside as a unique and therefore incomparable expression of indigenous factors. In this way, the comparative program will come to grips with one of the abiding intellectual and methodological problems of writing the history of these regions: namely, the tension between "Westerners" or externals and nativists or internals, between the conflicting metaphors of orientalism and nationalism.

A comparative study of the four regions poses several methodological problems for historians working in the early modern period or even up to the nineteenth century and early twentieth century. The political domination of the region by multi-cultural empires employing hegemonic languages (German, Russian and Ottoman Turkish) facilitates cross-cultural comparisons, particularly of institutional structures and treatments of subaltern ethnic groups. The rise of nation states, first in southeastern Europe in the nineteenth century, then in Central Europe in the twentieth century and finally in Eastern Europe after 1991 increases the complexity of the comparisons. Currently, comparative perspectives for the modern period offered in the department focus on theories of fascism and communism, methodological approaches adapted from modernization and development theories, and cross-disciplinary approaches from anthropology and sociology that allow for innovative approaches to the problems and legacies of the communist era in the region.

In sum, the goals of the program are to build upon a unique approach to comparative history, multidisciplinary methods, an ideal geographical location, a highly diverse student body, an international faculty, and up-to-date facilities and resources in order to provide new ways of investigating the historical problems of these key regions in world history. The research being undertaken by our  current PhD students   and the successful  dissertations  already defended give the best idea of what is possible in the CEU History doctoral program.

Who should apply?

The department especially welcomes students with PhD dissertation research that contributes to:

• the integration of the study of different layers of historical processes (social, cultural, economic, political)
• the integration of history and theory (conscious reflection on the basic approaches of research)
• comparative approaches in historiography 

Doctoral students receive tuition and a living stipend for four years, with opportunities to apply for additional research funds. Students can extend the funded period of their PhD studies by applying for  study abroad . The department also supports this additional study abroad in the form of exchange agreements with other universities and through supporting students applying for external scholarships in European and American universities and research centers for non-degree study. Students from the Department of History have been awarded competitive grants from outstanding institutions, such as the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Columbia, Maryland, Michigan, and Toronto.

Entry Requirements

In addition to meeting the general CEU admissions requirements , applicants should submit letters of recommendation from three professors familiar with their post-graduate work, a three-page research proposal (see sample proposal   1  and sample proposal 2 ), as well as a motivation letter (200-400 words).

The topic of the proposal should fall within the broad thematic focus of the program as described above, and should address issues of method and substance, as well as previous work done in the field, in appropriate detail. Applications are welcome from candidates with a Master's degree that includes a Master's thesis.

Applicants interested in Nationalism Studies or Jewish Studies at the doctoral level can apply for a Ph.D. in History and should follow the general admissions requirements for the History doctoral program; a joint committee reviews applications. The degree received will be a Ph.D. in History.

Program Structure

The first year of the program concentrates on coursework and preparation for the comprehensive examination, which focuses on major topics in the comparative history of two of the three regions mentioned above. A detailed, extensive research dissertation proposal is also prepared, and discussed as part of the comprehensive examination. The second year is devoted to research in relevant archives and libraries. The third year is spent in residence at CEU presenting results in the PhD research seminar, and fulfilling teaching assistantship duties. Students may also apply for support for spending a semester during the their studies at one of the leading international universities or research centers. The dissertation must be submitted within six years from enrolllment in the program.

Professional Training and Career Preparation

From the moment of entering the doctoral program, PhD students are involved in professional research projects organized by faculty and by external institutions. Pasts, Inc., the research institute associated with the History Department, sponsors several annual conferences and various other forms of academic socialization, as well as the journal Journal of East Central Europe. This journal and the European Review of History also secure for our PhD students in-house internship opportunities in academic publishing. In addition, our department initiated (in 2007), and still runs cooperation with the European University Institute in Florence and the University of Vienna, the series Graduate Conferences in European History (GRACEH).

For more information see the Doctoral Program Regulations .

For further questions, see the list of Frequently Asked Questions and/or contact us .

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PhD Program

Specialize in european or american history.

The doctoral program study in 1) European History with specialization in a) Pre-Modern Europe, with particular strengths in Muslim-Christian relations, the Crusades, and religious culture in Mediterranean-facing Europe; b) Modern Europe, with an emphasis on German history; and 2) American history, with special emphasis on Atlantic and transnational history, 19th century history, religious history, southern history, and African-American history.

Office of Graduate Admissions

Concentrations (Required)

American History European History

Admissions Standards/Procedures

Successful completion of a baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution, preferably with a major in history.

Academic Standards

Maintain a 3.00 overall graduate grade-point average in coursework attempted.

Program Requirements

Credit hours required.

72 graduate credit hours

Required Courses

Complete the following course at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

HIST 510 – Foundations of Graduate Study in History

Minimum course requirements outlined by the Graduate School (48 graduate credit hours beyond the BA, or 24 graduate credit hours beyond the MA):

• Students who enter without an MA must complete 18 graduate credit hours in their major doctoral field.
• Nine credit hours of coursework may be taken outside the department.
• Students who enter without an MA must complete two 600-level research seminars.
• Students with an MA from another institution should take not only the 24 post-MA graduate credit hours required by the Graduate School, but also an additional 12 graduate credit hours, for a total of 36 graduate credit hours at UT; if approved by the adviser, these additional 12 credit hours may include non-graduate-level language instruction.
• Students who enter with an MA must complete 9 graduate credit hours in their major doctoral field.
• Students who enter with a non-thesis MA must complete two 600-level research seminars.
• Students who enter with a thesis MA need complete only one 600-level research seminar and  HIST 621 .
• Up to six graduate credit hours may be taken outside the department.
• Alternate teaching field : This entails three graduate courses in a major field other than the student’s own and requires approval from the Director of Graduate Studies, the student’s adviser, and a faculty member in charge of supervising that alternate field, and culminates in a two-hour oral exam conducted by the adviser and two course instructors. No more than one of these courses can be an independent study.
• All 600-level coursework must be completed at the University of Tennessee.
• Except by prior approval of the Director of Graduate Studies in History, a student’s coursework must be at the 500-level or above.
• Original research forms the basis for the dissertation.
• After passing the Comprehensive Examinations, Doctoral candidates must register for a minimum of 3 credit hours per semester of  HIST 600 . Candidates must be engaged in some phase of active research to receive credit for  HIST 600 .
• A final oral defense is given on the dissertation in its historical context.

Non-Course Requirements

• Students in pre-Modern Europe will be required to pass three language exams, including Latin. The other two languages will be determined in consultation with the adviser.
• Students in Modern Europe will be required to pass two language exams, as determined by the adviser.
• Students in US history will be required to pass one language exam.
• The foreign language requirement must be fulfilled before taking the comprehensive examination.
• The comprehensive examination consists of an eight-hour written exam and a two-hour oral exam and must be taken no later than the semester following the semester in which the student completes the residence, coursework, and language requirement (summer excluded).
• Failure to take the comprehensive examination within the required time will be counted as a failure on the examination.
• Only students with an overall graduate grade point average of at least 3.0 will be allowed to take the comprehensive examination.
• A student who fails the exam must repeat it the following semester (summer excluded).
• A second failure on either exam will cause the student to be dropped from the history graduate program.
• A student who does not repeat a failed exam within the required time will likewise be dismissed from the program.

“You have to know the past to understand the present.”

—Carl Sagan

College of Arts & Sciences

PhD Program

Interim Director of Doctoral Studies (Spring 2024) : Professor Alison Games Graduate Programs Manager : Carolina Madinaveitia Student Assistant to the Director of Doctoral Studies : Ashley Mayor

Welcome to Georgetown’s Ph.D. program in History! We are a top-notch program with strengths in multiple fields, including the United States, Early Modern and Modern Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Russia and the Soviet Union, and East Asia. We encourage students with interests that span geographical regions, such as Environmental, Atlantic, and Diplomatic History. Our doctoral student community numbers roughly 100, with new cohorts of 10-12 fully-funded students each year. Our alumni have gone on to distinguished careers as historians in and out of the academy.

Our Ph.D. program has much to offer. In addition to the attention of a distinguished and award-winning History faculty, our students benefit from Georgetown’s many regional studies programs and intellectual centers, where interdisciplinary activity is prized. Opportunities for language training abound. No city has greater resources for historians than Washington, D.C.: the Library of Congress, the National Archives, the National Library of Medicine, the Folger Shakespeare Library, and many other institutions hold an unparalleled wealth of research material.

Our doctoral program is collegial and collaborative, with a vibrant intellectual life. Outside of class, students participate in seminars and conferences along with faculty, share in the activities of our Institute for Global History, grow through professional development workshops, and socialize with each other when the academic day is over. It’s a fun place to be a serious historian.

Department of History

Ph.d. programs.

The Department of History’s doctoral degree program seeks to train talented historians for careers in scholarship, teaching, and beyond the academy. The department typically accepts 22 Ph.D. students per year. Additional students are enrolled through various combined programs and through HSHM.  All admitted Ph.D. students receive a  full  financial aid package  from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. 

History of Science and Medicine

The  Program in the History of Science and Medicine  (HSHM)  is a semi-autonomous graduate track within the Department of History. HSHM students receive degrees in History, with a concentration in the History of Science and Medicine.  There is a separate admissions process for students interested in the History of Science and Medicine. For more information, please see the  HSHM website . 

Combined Doctoral Programs

Joint ph.d. programs.

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University of Lynchburg

May 14, 2024

Senior translates love for European travel into graduate school, career plans

In the spring of 2022, the COVID-19 pandemic was winding down and Samantha Schatzman ’24 was trying to figure out her next steps. The Arlington, Texas, native was taking online classes at Tarrant Community College — law, religion, art history, “stuff like that,” she said — and “trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life.”

Schatzman did know one thing: She wanted to travel. To date, the 26-year-old’s passport has been stamped in Iceland, England, Scotland, Germany, and Italy, and in France — several times.

“I love visiting Europe,” she said. “The history, culture, the arts, the language. There’s something about it. The age of it, compared to anything in the U.S., is just so incredible.”

Most of the time, Schatzman travels alone, staying at hostels and making friends with people from all over the world. “Once I was introduced to solo traveling, I would essentially stay at home with my parents for a while, work and save to buy a trip to Europe, and fly over there and stay for a week or two,” she said.

Eventually, in that spring of 2022, Schatzman’s future started coming into focus. “I wanted to do something international,” she said. “I was becoming more and more interested in international politics and news.”

She started looking for a small university with a degree program that would complement her interests. It wasn’t long before she found the University of Lynchburg.

“[It] was exactly what I was looking for: small, liberal arts, really, really interesting international relations and intelligence programs,” she said.

“So, I emailed the professors who were in charge … and said, ‘Can you get me more information [and] tell me what your undergraduate students are doing once they graduate? Any possibility that I can sit in on a class during my visit?’”

Schatzman visited campus and sat in on classes taught by Dr. Brian Crim and Dr. Dave Richards, professors in the intelligence studies program. That fall, she transferred to Lynchburg — a move that surprised some in her family who had never heard of the small liberal arts college in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

“Everybody was, ‘You’re going to Virginia? Where exactly is this school?’” she said. “Everybody in my family had gone to the big Texas schools. My sister graduated from Texas A&M. Big, big Texas state schools.”

Once at Lynchburg, Schatzman hit the ground running. She declared a major in intelligence studies and participated in the 2023 Model European Union. This past April, she led Lynchburg’s Model United Nations delegation , representing Sierra Leone, to an honorable mention — all while playing “mom” to her flu-stricken team.

“I consider it a success, considering I was also helping everyone battle the flu at the time,” she said, adding that she even helped another team. “I became friends with the Dutch delegation. One of their students came up and said, ‘I have a really bad headache, I’m not feeling good. Sorry, I don’t have anything with me.’

“I pulled out Nyquil and Dayquil and a snack and said, ‘Here you go.’”

The leadership skills Schatzman demonstrated as head delegate weren’t lost on Richards, the Model UN class instructor and chair of Lynchburg’s international relations and security studies program.

In fact, Richards credits Schatzman with much of the success of this year’s delegation. She took on the role “with gusto and really helped everyone have a great UN experience, despite a terrible cold virus that ripped through the delegation,” he said.

He added that she’s “the kind of student you wish you had a dozen of.”

Schatzman, who was diagnosed with epilepsy at age 9, also helped lead Lynchburg’s Neurodiverse Student Alliance, an affinity group for students who identify as neurodiverse or have other disabilities and for peers who wish to serve as allies.

“The club is such a wonderful and supportive group on campus,” Schatzman, the group’s co-president, said. “I’m so incredibly proud of how we’ve grown. There were five or six members attending at first and now we have 12 or 13.”

Being part of the group also benefited a research project Schatzman was doing for an internship with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, a U.S. government agency.

She presented her research, “Neurodiversity in the Intelligence Community,” at the 2023 Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference for Undergraduate Scholarship.

“I was working on that … before I went to the first meeting of the NDA,” she said. “I was able to pull quite a bit of good information from the students there and work it into that research.”

During her time at Lynchburg, Schatzman also interned as a data analyst with the Defense Intelligence Agency.

With these internship experiences, Crim said, Schatzman “is already a far more experienced intelligence analyst than most people she will meet in her career.”

This week, Schatzman will graduate from Lynchburg with a bachelor’s degree in intelligence studies and a minor in international relations. In September, she’ll fly to Geneva, Switzerland, to start a master’s degree in international relations and diplomacy at the International Institute of Geneva.

After she finishes her master’s, Schatzman wants to be an intelligence analyst for the International Criminal Police Organization, or INTERPOL. She plans to apply for a two-year internship in the agency’s Leon, France, office.

While she initially thought about working for the U.S. government, Schatzman believes she can do more good with an international organization. “[INTERPOL] … focuses on human trafficking, drug rings … and all the stuff that spreads across borders,” she said.

“I would have the ability to help as many people as I could. That’s really my goal here: service.”

As for whether or not her disability will pose any challenges, Schatzman feels confident it will. But she hopes, with “the awareness being brought to neurodiversity and the steadily growing understanding of how it affects people’s lives so differently, I will have … support in the workplace.

“I had it at Lynchburg through various people. Everyone from my professors to [Director of the Center for Accessibility and Disability Resources] Julia Timmons have been incredibly understanding and helpful.

“I can only hope that the growing awareness of neurodiversity will continue to spread and increase and I’m going to do my best to be one of the people who works as an ambassador.”

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Congratulations, Class of 2024!

The Center for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies at The Ohio State University is proud of our affiliated students who received their degrees at Spring Commencement on May 5, 2024:

Doctorate: Dr. Christopher Kinley, GIS Student and FLAS Fellow: PhD in History with Graduate Interdisciplinary Specialization in East European and Eurasian Studies Master's: Andrey Ridling, FLAS Fellow: MA in Russian for the Professions

Siobhan Seigne, FLAS Fellow: MA in Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures

Lejla Veskovic, Midwest Slavic Association Student Representative: MA in Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures

Bachelor's:

Connor Fairfield, CSEEES Intern

Aimma Farooqui, FLAS Fellow

Gillian Ginley, CSEEES Intern

Margot Hare, FLAS Fellow

Ella Meyer, FLAS Fellow

Joshua Silver, FLAS Fellow

Bailee Wolfe, FLAS Fellow

Please join us in congratulating these students and wishing them the best of luck in their future endeavors!