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 "Global and Comparative Environmental History." Each of these fields allows graduate students to situate their own focused research in broadly conceived historiographies.
Comparative Gender
The field introduces students to gender as category of historical analysis, examining the impact of feminist theory within the discipline of history. Students trace historiographical debates in women's and gender history and explore, through cross-cultural comparisons, how scholars have conceived their analysis of femininity and masculinity as well as the relationship between gender and categories such as class, race, ethnicity, and sexuality. Students will normally work with a primary field advisor and consult with a second faculty member to determine the comparative dimensions of their studies.
Associated Faculty

Purnima Dhavan
Associate Professor, Giovanni and Amne Costigan Endowed Professor in History
Madeleine Yue Dong
Professor, Joint Appointment: Jackson School of International Studies
Susan A. Glenn
Professor, Samuel and Althea Stroum Chair in Jewish Studies
Laurie Marhoefer
Professor, Director of Undergraduate Studies
Ileana Rodriguez-Silva
Associate Professor, Roseman Endowed Professor in History
Lynn M. Thomas
Professor, Giovanni and Amne Costigan Endowed Professor in History