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Graduate Research Fields

"The writing of history liberates us from history.” – Benedetto Croce

Faculty and graduate students in the Department of History conduct research across a number of fields of historical study that include a range of geographic, cultural, and thematic areas.

PhD Research Fields

PhD students should choose from among the research fields listed in the accordion tabs below for Research Fields for Graduate Studies. Information about each research field, including faculty and recent research, is listed in the accordion tabs below. The tabs are linked to pages describing each research field in more detail.

Complete information about the requirements for the PhD program can be found on the History PhD page.

For more information about the PhD and other graduate programs, please visit the Graduate Programs page.

Europe

The members of our European History faculty work together, crossing chronological, geographical and thematic boundaries, to train undergraduate and graduate students rigorously to rethink European History and Europe’s historical role in all its dimensions.

At both the undergraduate and graduate level, the faculty specialize in many fields:  Ancient Mediterranean; Medieval and Early Modern Europe; Modern Europe (from 1700); Britain and British Empire; Russia and Eurasia; Jewish History; Women and Gender; Military History; Science, Technology, and the Environment; and Europe and the World.  Eclectic in their interests, many members of the faculty are social and cultural historians;,others are interested in politics and political culture, while still others focus on intellectual developments. 

To learn more, visit the Europe research field page.

Global Interaction and Exchange

The Global Interaction and Exchange field (GIE) engages topics that transcend nations, regions, and single civilizations. By disciplinary convention, most of the Department of History's graduate research fields are defined by region and geography. In 2010 the Department introduced the GIE field in order to enhance the graduate program’s curriculum and to foster a collaborative learning environment for graduate students whose research interests span beyond the traditional frameworks of nation and region. A number of our faculty conduct research, publish works, and teach courses that investigate processes that cross boundaries and seek to make connections between and across far-flung locales.  

The GIE curriculum is flexible by design. It seeks to accommodate the differences in scope and method appropriate to global, trans-regional, and/or comparative scholarship while providing the depth of study to demonstrate expertise both within and beyond traditional national/geographic fields. At the same time, the GIE curriculum requires specific seminars that train students in the major works, methodologies, and theories related to transnational, trans-regional, global, comparative, international, borderlands, and transoceanic approaches.

To learn more, visit the Global Interaction and Exchange research field page.

Jewish History

The study of the social, political, cultural, and religious history of the Jewish people is one of the most dynamic areas of modern historical research and teaching.  At the University of Maryland, our courses range chronologically from biblical to rabbinic, from medieval to modern and contemporary.  Faculty specialties include the Land of Israel in late antiquity; Italy in the early modern period; the Jews of Central Europe in the nineteenth and twentieth century; and the Holocaust.  Both at the undergraduate and graduate levels, students can study such issues as the relationships between Jews and non-Jews; the changing nature of Jewish identity; how Jews have functioned as a minority group in diverse cultures in the Middle East, Europe, and the Americas; and how Jews have transformed Jewish culture in response to the challenges posed by the societies in which they have lived. Students can draw on the rich resources of the University’s Joseph and Rebecca Meyerhoff Program and Center for Jewish Studies (with which Jewish History faculty are affiliated) and the Joseph and Rebecca Meyerhoff Program and Center for Jewish Studies, which offer courses on the Hebrew Bible; the Dead Sea Scrolls; medieval and modern Jewish philosophy; Hebrew and other Jewish literatures and film; and Israeli society, culture, and politics.  Rich library holdings at the University, as well as libraries, archives, and research centers in the Washington area, make the University of Maryland an exciting place to study and do research in Jewish history.

To learn more, visit the Jewish History research field page.

Latin America

The graduate program in Latin American History has emerged as one of the top programs in the United States, led by nationally-ranked faculty who have attracted highly qualified students from throughout the Americas.  Our faculty is diverse in scope and area of interests, covering the most important aspects of the history of Latin America since the conquest and establishment of the Iberian empires to the most contemporary issues and from the Southern Cone to the Caribbean. The program also benefits from close connections with faculty and students from other fields such as Global Interaction and Exchange (GIE); the medieval and early modern world; women, gender and sexuality; and US history.

To learn more, visit the Latin America research field page.

Middle East

The Middle Eastern field at University of Maryland offers instruction in the history of the region stretching from Islamic Iberia in the west through North Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean basin to Iran in the east from the period of late antiquity (fourth-seventh centuries) to the present day. The faculty consists of Antoine Borrut (late antique and early Islamic), Ahmet T. Karamustafa (medieval and early modern), Madeline Zilfi (early modern), and Peter Wien (modern Middle East), with special research strengths in early Islamic history, historiography, and cultural memory; social and intellectual history of medieval and early modern Islamic piety; social and religious movements in urban contexts; law and legal practice; slavery and freedom; women's experience; and the role of nationalism and religion in the cultural and political transformation of modern Arab societies. In line with the focus of the Department of History on trans-regional and global themes and questions, the Middle East faculty offers expertise in exchanges between various regions of Europe, the Mediterranean, Iran and South Asia.

To learn more, visit the Middle East research field page.

Technology, Science, and Environment

Graduate students may concentrate in this field while pursuing an MA or PhD in history. 

Ours is a lively and flourishing community of students, distinguished faculty members, affiliated scholars within the University of Maryland, visiting fellows, and guest speakers. Institutional resources in the field, both on campus and in the greater Washington/Baltimore area, are outstanding.

The key strengths and interests of the College Park group are in nineteenth and twentieth century developments, particularly in the United States and Europe. We also encourage interests that extend beyond this range, both geographically and chronologically, although instructional offerings may be limited.

To learn more, visit the Technology, Science, and Environment research field page.

United States

Our curriculum serves many different communities, from students who want to take a single introductory course, to undergraduate majors seeking seminar work and a chance to do guided research and writing, to MA.and  PhD students desiring advanced study and preparation for professions in historical inquiry.  Many of our PhDs have gone on to careers in university teaching, government service, and business.  US History is also a particularly significant component of the joint history and library science MA program (HiLS), and many of our graduates now hold positions in libraries and archives across the country.

While students may explore any era of US History and virtually any issue, the Department of History has traditionally been strong in cultural, political, and legal history.  It has established noteworthy concentrations in the study of slavery; African-American History; diaspora studies; labor, women, gender, and sexuality; early America; and the history of business and technology.  Scholars in our department have pioneered the emerging transnational study of the early modern Atlantic World as well as twentieth century labor relations and cultural exchange.

To learn more, visit the United States research field page.

MA/HiLS Research Fields

MA and HiLS students can choose to study in any of the PhD Research Fields listed above as their major field and write a thesis or take examinations in that field. 

Complete information about requirements for the MA can be found on the History MA  page.

Complete information about requirements for the HiLS program can be found on the History and Library Science MA (HiLS) page.