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Direct inquiries to: Chair, Committee on Admission and Aid, (215) 204-7839, 9th floor, Gladfelter Hall, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122.
The M.A. and Ph.D. Programs
The Department of History offers graduate work leading to the Master of Arts and the Doctor of Philosophy degrees. The M.A. program is self-contained. Although students who have completed the M.A. program can apply for the Ph.D. program, there is no necessary connection between the M.A. and Ph.D. programs. The M.A. program offers courses which deepen and expand students' awareness of historical information. Emphasis upon the technicalities of historical research is less than upon substance, conceptualization, and evaluation. The Ph.D. program emphasizes the intellectual and cultural breadth and expertise necessary for college and university teaching and for creative, effective scholarship.
Graduate Study in History at Temple University
Students who enroll in the graduate program in History at Temple University may pursue the Ph.D. or the M.A. degree in a wide array of fields. The categories presented below present a general picture of the areas of faculty strength, and students are encouraged to draw on a range of regional specializations while framing their scholarly training. The department also has considerable strengths in world history and in public history; more information about the department's M.A. programs in those fields van be found elsewhere on this site.
American History
The history department at Temple University possess an unusually large cohort of scholars whose work focuses on the history of the United States. Those scholars have earned national and international renown; they are engaged in creative research in a broad array of fields including cultural history, political history, social history and the history of sexuality and gender.
Graduate Faculty
Michael Alexander - Jewish History, Religious History, Cultural History
Beth Bailey - Gender and Sexuality, Cultural and Social History, 20th-century U.S.
Bettye Collier-Thomas - African American History, Women's History, Religious History
William W. Cutler III - History of Education, History of the Family
Herbert J. Ershkowitz - 19th-Century U.S. Political History
David Farber - 20-Century U.S., State and Society, Social Change Movements, Political Culture Petra Goedde - 20th-Century U.S. Foreign Relations, Gender and Sexuality
Mark H. Haller - U.S. Social History, Urban History
James Hilty - 20th-Century U.S. Political History
Richard H. Immerman - U.S. Foreign Relations, 20th-Century U.S.
Andrew Isenberg - 19th-Century US, American Environmental, US West
David M. Jacobs - 20th-Century U.S. Cultural History
Wilbert L. Jenkins - African American History, Social History, Political History
Susan Klepp - The British Colonies in North America, Women's History, Social History
Kenneth L. Kusmer - Social History, Urban History, Ethnic History
Bryant Simon - 20th-Century U.S., Urban History, Cultural History
Gregory J. W. Urwin - Military History, U.S. Civil War, World War II
Elizabeth Varon - 19th-Century U.S. History, U.S. Civil War, Women's History
David Waldstreicher - 18th and 19th Century U.S History, Political and Cultural History, Slavery and Race
David Harrington Watt - Cultural History, Religious History, 20th-Century U.S.
Resources in Philadelphia
Temple's program in American history is enriched by the extraordinary archival resources of the city of Philadelphia and its surroundings. The History Department maintains close working and scholarly relations with these and other prominent Philadelphia institutions:
The American Philosophical Society
The Blockson Collection of Temple University
The Chemical Heritage Society
The College of Physicians
The Free Library of Philadelphia
The Historical Society of Pennsylvania
The Library Company of Philadelphia
The Society for Historians of the Early American Republic
The Urban Archives, Temple University
European History
Temple's History Department offers graduate training in European history, with particular strengths in the modern period and the twentieth century. The faculty include specialists in the history of France, Britain, Germany, Eastern Europe, Russia and the Soviet Union, as well as medieval history, European Jewish history and European women's history.
Graduate Faculty
Kathleen Biddick - Medieval Europe, Gender, Historiography and Historical Methods
Harriet Pass Freidenreich - Eastern Europe, Jewish
Barbara Day-Hickman - Europe, Visual Culture, France
William I. Hitchcock - International History, 20th-century Europe
Rita Krueger - Habsburg, Modern Eastern Europe, European Gender
Jay B. Lockenour - Modern Europe, Germany, European Military
Todd Shepard - 20th-century France, Modern Imperialism, Sexuality
Vladislav Zubok - Russia, Cold War, International History
History of Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and Latin America
The History Department offers graduate training in the fields of Asian, African, Carribean and Latin American history, with particular emphasis on comparative history, imperial enterprises, varieties of resistance to imperialism, and on the creation of the third world.
Graduate Faculty
Peter Gran - Middle East, Comparative and Political Economy
Harvey Neptune - Transnational, Caribbean, African Diaspora, Latin America
Nguyen Thi Dieu - Southeast Asia
Arthur Schmidt - Latin American History
Todd Shepard - 20th-century France, Modern Imperialism, Sexuality
Howard Spodek - South Asia, World, Urban
Teshale Tibebu - Africa
Kathleen Uno - Modern Japanese Social, Comparative Gender, Third World
Kathy LeMons Walker - Modern China, Comparative Social, Third World and Global
International History and Military History
Temple's history department has an extraordinary concentration of international, diplomatic and military historians, and its training in these fields is nationally recognized. The department has developed curricular innovations such as its popular War and Society survey course, in which graduate students often teach, and offers graduate study in all aspects of modern military history and the history of international relations. The outstanding program in Cold War history at Temple is notable for its emphasis on the new theoretical and methodological approaches to international history. The department also hosts the Center for the Study of Force and Diplomacy (see www.temple.edu/cenfad).
Graduate Faculty
Beth Bailey - War and Society
David Farber - America in the World in the post-1945 era
Petra Goedde - Gender and International Politics of the Twentieth Century; Cold War
Peter Gran- The Middle East
William I. Hitchcock -International Politics, Cold War, Twentieth Century Europe, France
Richard Immerman - US Foreign Relations, Cold War
Rita Kruger - Empire, Gender, War and Society
Jay Lockenour: - War and Society, World War II, Nazi Germany
Harvey Neptune - Transnational History, African Diaspora
Nguyen Thi Dieu - Vietnam War
Todd Shepard - Algerian War
Bryant Simon - globalization
Gregory Urwin - US Military History, World War II, British Imperial History
Elizabeth Varon - U.S. Civil War
Vlad Zubok - Soviet Union in the Cold War
The M.A. in History at Temple University
Taking the Past in a New Direction
The History Department at Temple University invites applications to its M.A. program. Our master's students have three exciting options. They may construct an individualized program of study or choose the curriculum in either Public History or World History. If you are interested in archives management or museum-based historical interpretation, take a look at our Public History track. If you teach history or love to study it, consider our new World History curriculum.
Public History
Philadelphia, one of America's leading centers of culture, history, and scholarship, boasts a wide variety of world-class historical and cultural institutions. Temple's Public History program utilizes this extraordinary assemblage of museums, archives, libraries, learned societies, and historical sites as teaching and learning laboratories for developing the professional competencies of our students in interpreting America's past to the general public. Our Public History program combines a solid grounding in American social, cultural, and political history with practical training in accessible historical writing and editing, historical memory, oral history, the management of historical resources, material culture, and archival methods. Students may take internships in the shadow of Independence Hall, learn archival skills in one of more than 100 regional depositories, interpret American diversity at one of dozens of museums, or learn heritage management at some of the most historically significant sites in the United States. In summary, the combination of Philadelphia's rich historical legacy and the Public History program's system of on-site internships and rigorous graduate study offers students exceptional opportunities for the preparation of careers in Public History.
The Allen F. Davis Fellowship in Public History is awarded annually to a qualified applicant. Honoring one of the Department’s most distinguished emeritus faculty members, the fellowship supports a student whose interests encompass public history, a field in which Professor Davis has been an important pioneer. Graduate students awarded this competitive fellowship will spend their second year in residence in a supervised internship at a public history institution in the Philadelphia region. Davis Fellows also carry responsibilities as teaching assistants in their first and third years.
Faculty: James Hilty, William Cutler, Richard Immerman, David Farber, Beth Bailey, Bryant Simon, Andrew Isenberg, and Howard Ohline.
Affiliated Faculty: Martin L. Levitt (American Philosophical Society) and John Alviti (Franklin Institute),
World History
As global interconnectedness continues to knit the peoples of the earth together, World History has become a dynamic and vitally important field of study. It includes all the regions and cultures of the world and examines how they interact with each other. It seeks to overcome the bias of any single geographical or group perspective by listening to many different voices and comparing them with one another. In addition to an introductory course in World History, students in the program will take work in both thematic studies and regional or national studies. Particular areas of emphasis include sexuality and gender, race and class, and the relationship between the First and Third Worlds.
Faculty: Barbara Day-Hickman, Peter Gran, Susan Klepp, Jay Lockenour, David Rosenberg, Arthur Schmidt, Howard Spodek, Teshale Tibebu, Kathleen Uno, and Kathy Walker.
Master's application deadline for fall admission: March 15th
For more information contact:
Graduate Secretary
Department of History
Gladfelter Hall (025-24)
Temple University
Philadelphia, PA 19122-6089
(215) 204-7839
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Resources of Temple and Philadelphia for Historical Study and Research
Libraries
Temple's Paley Library is a major modern research facility with about two million volumes, including substantial holdings in history. It is equipped with state-of-the-art search capabilities, both for Paley's own holdings and for those of other libraries across the nation. In addition, Temple graduate students have ready access to the multi-million volume collections of the many private, public, and university libraries which make Philadelphia an exceptional center for historical studies. Libraries and collections in other cities along the northeast corridor are also convenient to Philadelphia.
The Rich Intellectual Climate of Philadelphia
Institutions such as the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Library Company of Philadelphia, the American Philosophical Society, the Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies, the Hagley Museum, and many other archives and museums of Greater Philadelphia contribute to make this city internationally recognized as one of the liveliest centers in which to study history today. Students can make use of: the ethnic newspaper holdings and immigration archives of the Balch, the unrivaled collections on early American science and culture at the Philosophical Society and the Library Company, the Hagley's resources for the study of business and technology, and the unequalled materials for biographical work at the Historical Society, which also holds the largest and most important manuscript collection for the study of the region.
History students at Temple benefit not only from the research opportunities provided by these institutions, but from the sense of community among historians in the Philadelphia area, who interact with each other in a way envied by historians from other metropolitan centers. The Philadelphia Center for Early American Studies, to give only one example, regularly provides seminars, study groups, and conferences dealing with American history of the colonial, Revolutionary, and pre-Civil war era.
Affiliated Organizations
Archives, computer facilities, and research organizations related directly to Temple University include:
Graduate Admissions
Admission to the M.A. or the Ph.D. program is granted by the College of Arts and Sciences and the Graduate School on the recommendation of the History Department's Committee on Admissions. All correspondence should be directed to the graduate secretary. Questions should be directed to the graduate secretary at 215-204-7839.
The following is provided as a convenience for information only. Applicants should contact the graduate secretary for up-to-date application information and materials.
Application Deadlines
M.A. program: For September admission, March 15th; for January admission, October 15th.
Ph.D. program: For September admission only, January 1st.
International Students applying to the Ph.D. program should have all materials submitted by December 15th.
Admission Requirements
Applicants must submit the following credentials:
- Graduate Record Exam (GRE) scores for the Verbal and Quantitative examinations;
- transcripts from all institutions of higher education attended;
- two letters of recommendation from persons in a position to evaluate the applicant's scholarly potential;
- a brief statement (500-700 words) of professional goals;
- native speakers of a language other than English must submit TOEFL exam scores;
- (doctoral applicants only) a writing sample, preferably an historical essay prepared for an undergraduate or graduate class during the last two years of the applicant's most recent academic program.
The Admissions Committee will base its decision on the applicant's academic record as a whole. Applicants should consider the following expectations as guidelines:
- GRE: 600 Verbal for Ph.D.,
- Undergraduate GPA: 3.2 with 3.5 in the major or 3.5 overall for the last two years of undergraduate work,
- Graduate GPA in History or related field (where applicable): 3.5,
- TOEFL: 600 (where applicable).
None of these guidelines is absolute. No single criterion is more important than any other. The department wants a diverse group of students and recognizes that weakness in one area can be balanced by strength in another. Applicants should understand that the graduate program in History can accept only a limited number of those who apply, and there is strong competition for the places that are available.
Graduate Financial Aid
Financial aid is awarded in late March for the semester beginning in September. The deadline for submission of the completed application for financial aid (if applying) is January 15.
Students admitted to the doctoral program, if they apply for aid, will be considered for teaching assistantships, research assistantships, academic internships or readerships, each of which carries a stipend ($13,091), plus waiver of tuition and most fees. Either partial or full tuition scholarships are also awarded. On a university-wide competitive basis, there are also available Presidential Fellowships ($20,000), and University Fellowships and Future Faculty Fellowships ($18,000 each); each of these fellowships is for two years and carries full waiver of tuition. Stipend amounts are subject to change. Presidential, University, and Future Faculty Fellows will also serve as teaching assistants for two years.
The Department of History each year offers three special fellowships for qualified applicants who receive a teaching assistantship, research assistantship, or academic internship: the Allen F. Davis Endowed Fellowship in Public History; the Thomas J. Davis Endowed Fellowship in Diplomacy and Foreign Policy, and the Sergeant Major William F. Berger Endowed Fellowship in War and Society.
Those selected as fellows will receive an additional stipend during their first year as students in the Ph.D. program. Allen Davis Fellows will spend that year in residence in a supervised internship at a public history institution in the Philadelphia region. Thomas Davis Fellows will devote that initial year assisting the Center for the Study of Force and Diplomacy (CENFAD). Berger Fellows will be assigned to assist the Core course War and Society and otherwise help to develop the program. In all three instances, the fellows will carry responsibilities as teaching assistants in subsequent years, primarily in courses related to their specific programs of study.
To apply for financial aid complete and submit the following form at the same time as your application. The deadline for both is January 15. Download Financial Assistance Application
Graduate Degree Requirements
Master of Arts
Universal Requirements
All students are required to complete ten (10) courses in the History Department and to complete EITHER a comprehensive examination OR an M.A. thesis. All coursework and other requirements must be completed within three years from the date of admission.
Students taking a comprehensive exam must complete 30 semester hours of course work in order to graduate. (Example: 10 courses @ 3 s.h. each = 30 s.h.)
Students writing an M.A. thesis must complete 24 semester hours of course work AND register for a minimum of two one-semester hour courses of History 960: MA Thesis.
(Example: 8 courses @ 3 s.h. each + 1 s.h. 960 + 1 s.h. 960 = 10 courses = 26 s.h.)
All students' course work must also meet the following requirements:
15 semester hours in a primary field of study
9 semester hours in a secondary field of study
At least one introductory graduate course (#s 401, 402, 408, 409)
One research seminar in the primary area
6 semester hours of electives (if appropriate)
Students must choose a member of the faculty as their primary advisor by the end of their second semester and make the Graduate Secretary aware of their choice.
Specific Program Requirements
M.A. students must choose one of three specific degree programs: Public History, World History, or a General Program in United States, European, or Third World History. Each program imposes certain more specific restrictions that revise, but do not add too, the general requirements outlined above.
1) General Program
The General Program is the most flexible degree program offered. The universal requirements apply to the General Program without alteration. However, the flexibility of the program imposes a special burden on the student clearly to define his/her field of study. Students in the General Program must choose a primary and a secondary field of study in consultation with their primary advisor. They must make this choice by the end of their second semester in the program. Fields can be defined geographically (US, European, Third World), methodologically (Women's History, Labor History, Military History), or in other ways, but the student's coursework must clearly fit into two well-defined and academically defensible areas. Before graduating, students must submit to the M.A. Coordinator a document, drafted in consultation with their primary advisor, briefly detailing how their coursework fits into a primary and a secondary field of study.
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All M.A. students in the general program must take at least six hours of coursework outside of a single geographic area. In order to fulfill the geographic distribution requirement, courses of a comparative nature (including independent studies courses) must deal with readings that are at least 50% outside a student’s primary geographic area.
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2) Public History
The program in Public History imposes more specific requirements on the student in order to prepare him/her for the challenges of working in that field. Notice that the universal requirements have not changed, only been given a more specific shape.
Primary Field: Historical and Contextual Knowledge (15 s.h.)
History 402, Introduction to American History
One Research Seminar in US History
Two Studies Courses in Organizational History
(History 407, 436, 454, 457, 458, 461, 463, 467, 469, 470, 472, 475, 479, 552)
One Studies Course in Public History
(History 406, 418, 433, 437, 438, 638)
Secondary Field: Archival Knowledge (9 s.h.)
Three Required Courses: History 624, 643, 644
Electives (6 s.h.)
3) World History
Similarly, the World History Program shapes the universal requirements to suit the needs of study in this broad and comparative field. Students should develop a meaningful program of study in close consultation with a faculty advisor.
Primary Field: General and Comparative Studies (15 s.h.)
History 401, Introduction to World History
History 650, Seminar in Comparative History
Three Thematic Courses
(History 408, 419, 441, 444, 445, 447, 466, 475, 490, 495, 630, 680)
Secondary Field: Regional or National Studies (9 s.h.)
Three Regional or National Courses
(History 402, 408, 409, 422, 446, 458, 461, 462, 476, 508,
518, 525, 529, 532, 537, 539, 541, 552, 561, 591, 601, 791)
NOTE: Because of the nature of World History, diversity in the choice of regional or national courses is REQUIRED. Courses must be taken in at least two distinct geographic regions and/or nations, and at least one of the three courses must be non-Western (that is, not concerned with Europe or the United States).
Electives (6 s.h.)
Other Requirements and Information
Substituting Courses
With the permission of their advisor and the M.A. Coordinator, students may substitute courses not listed in the specific program requirements above. These substitutions can include appropriate upper-level undergraduate courses. To receive graduate credit for an undergraduate course, students must obtain a special form from the Graduate Secretary.
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctoral student must take at least eleven courses in the History Department. These include
- Two research seminars
- One methodology seminar
- Two historiographic or thematic seminars
- A two-course sequence on U.S. history for those in the U.S. field.
Doctoral students are not required to take courses outside the History Department but may elect to do so; each of these courses will count against 11-course limit. At least ten courses must be completed before the preliminary examinations can be taken. Eligibility for taking the preliminary examination also requires demonstrating competence in at least one foreign language. The preliminary examination will cover three fields. One field must be a general area ; the second should be designed to underpin and support the dissertation research; the third field should be geographically distinct from the first two fields or geographically broader than those two fields. Advancement to Ph.D. candidacy requires the successful completion of the preliminary examination and a public defense of the dissertation prospectus. Following advancement to candidacy the student commences work on the dissertation. The dissertation must be defended orally before it is accepted.
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