Graduate Study Divisions

The African history component of our program focuses on sub-Saharan Africa from approximately 1500 to the present and is mainly designed as a secondary field of graduate study. In the past, graduate students in U.S. and European history (often with interests in the trans-Atlantic slave trade and European colonialism) have done exam fields in African history with an eye towards gaining a non-"Western" teaching competency.

Through seminars, independent studies, and serving as teaching assistants for the department's introductory survey courses in African history, graduate students…

The Ancient History division focuses on the history of ancient Greece, ancient Rome, and Ancient and Late Antique Near East. The Ancient History division is enriched by fine programs in the Departments of Classics, Philosophy, and Art History, as well as in Near Eastern Studies and the …

The University of Washington offers graduate training in the pre-modern histories of East, South and Southeast Asia. The Chinese history program is particularly strong in social history and the history of women of the early imperial modern period, and the social, cultural and political history of the later imperial period. Our South Asia program is particularly focused on religious movements in the Mughal and post-Mughal period. Fields of specialization in Southeast Asian History include the pre-modern histories of Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines, with particular focus on the…

Graduate students interested in exploring comparative historical approaches have the option of mastering literature in one of five sub-fields: "Historiography," "Comparative Ethnicity and Nationalism," "Comparative Gender," "Comparative Colonialisms," and "…

Graduate students interested in exploring comparative historical approaches have the option of mastering literature in one of five sub-fields: "Historiography," "Comparative Ethnicity and Nationalism," "Comparative Gender," "Comparative Colonialisms," and "…

Graduate students interested in exploring comparative historical approaches have the option of mastering literature in one of five sub-fields: "Historiography," "Comparative Ethnicity and Nationalism," "Comparative Gender," "Comparative Colonialisms," and "…

Graduate students interested in exploring comparative historical approaches have the option of mastering literature in one of five sub-fields: "Historiography," "Comparative Ethnicity and Nationalism," "Comparative Gender," "Comparative Colonialisms," and "…

Graduate students interested in exploring comparative historical approaches have the option of mastering literature in one of five sub-fields: "Historiography," "Comparative Ethnicity and Nationalism," "Comparative Gender," "Comparative Colonialisms," and "…

The European history division offers students the opportunity to engage in the study of both Western and Eastern Europe from the early modern period through the twentieth century.

Europe 1450-1789, or Early Modern Europe, covers a period that spans the dramatic European expansion associated with the Renaissance--economic, political, imperial, and above all cultural transformations--and the crisis of the Old Regime that culminated in the French Revolution. Graduate students may pursue specializations in national histories as well as comparative and thematically…

Students who select  “Global and Transnational Histories” as their primary field or secondary field will normally be supervised by a co-chaired committee consisting of the two History graduate faculty supervising the first and second fields. (Adjunct faculty do not Chair or co-Chair History MA or PhD committees.) This is to ensure that the chronological, thematic, and geographical definitions of both fields remain reasonable, keeping in mind what can be accomplished within the timeframes for both the MA and PhD degrees. Applicants selecting this field as their primary field are…

The University of Washington does not offer a formal degree in History of Science or Science Studies, but students interested in doctoral studies in these areas can pursue them within the framework of a history PhD program. One of the strengths of our MA program and our PhD program is the extent to which studies in history of science here at UW are integrated within the broader contexts of historical scholarship. We encourage graduate students in our PhD program to take advantage of the department's policy allowing one of the four doctoral graduate fields to be taken outside of the…

The University of Washington offers graduate training in colonial and post-colonial Latin American History as both a primary and a secondary field. The program is especially strong in the comparative study of late colonial Spanish rule and its aftermath in the Andean region and the Caribbean, but graduate students are encouraged to work on any period and topic of their choosing. Courses cover all major historical periods in Latin America and the Caribbean and emphasize a multidisciplinary approach to history. Research interests and expertise of associated faculty are wide ranging and…

The Russian history component of our program focuses on the eighteenth through the twentieth centuries, ending with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Students also have the opportunity to pursue fields in the history of Russian science and the history of Jews in Russia.

Graduate study in Russian and Central Asian history is supported by our relationship with other programs at the UW, including the Russian, East European and Central Asian Program (REECAS) in the …

The strength of the U.S. division lies in its breadth and diversity. The faculty cover all periods of American history and offer many different emphases and methodological approaches. Students are encouraged to take courses throughout, and even outside of, the department and to explore diverse approaches to their chosen topic. Among the division's particular thematic strengths are Race and Ethnicity, African-American, Women and Gender, the West, and Labor. In addition, the department is one of the few to offer expertise and graduate training in the areas of African-American Intellectual,…