Graduate Program
Since it awarded its first master's degree, the Department of History has been an integral part of the University of Tennessee and a major graduate program in the College of Arts and Sciences, offering doctoral degrees for almost forty years. The Department is actively engaged in graduate education with a current enrollment of approximately seventy graduate students.
Our program is built on individual mentoring and direction. Each student works closely with a professor who guides and directs the student's course of study of specialized fields in history. The Director of Graduate Studies, Professor Thomas E. Burman, assists prospective and current students in choosing their mentors, in dealing with administrative matters, and in a variety of other ways.
Our goal is to help students become outstanding historians and capable history professors through a challenging graduate experience. Courses in the graduate program emphasize critical reading of historical and theoretical literature, rigorous writing exercises, and innovative and comprehensive research methods. The students draw upon the talents of a distinguished and accomplished faculty to expand their research and teaching horizons. Students' research efforts are enhanced by the outstanding resources of the University of Tennessee Libraries which hold more than 2,000,000 volumes. A collegial community of graduate students also supports its individual members through lunchtime seminars, writing workshops, and social organizations.
We also encourage comparative and interdisciplinary study. To prepare our graduate students for college teaching, the department offers assistantships and requires Ph.D. students to complete a different teaching field in Western Civilization, World History, or U.S. History, depending upon the student's specialized field.
The Department of History offers both the M.A. degree and the Ph.D. The master's degree is awarded in Premodern Europe, Modern Europe, the Mediterranean Basin, United States, Latin America, Africa, or Asia. The Ph.D.s are awarded in specialized fields in U.S. History and European History. Most of our M.A. students remain at the University of Tennessee to complete their Ph.D. degrees.
We have had great success placing our recent graduates in tenure-track jobs and other professional positions. Some of our M.A. students in European History alternatively pursue their doctorates in more specialized programs, such as European Women's Studies or Modern German Studies, and have received strong financial support at prominent institutions across the nation.
Additional information about the Graduate Program in History and the University of Tennessee is available at the University's Graduate School web site. Questions about the program can be directed to the departmental secretary for the graduate program at skrisko@utk.edu or (865)974-5421. Answers to the most frequently asked questions about the M.A. program can be found on our M.A. FAQ page. Answers to the most frequently asked questions about the Ph.D. program can be found on our Ph.D. FAQ page.
Degrees
Graduate Specialties
Student Resources
Contact Information
Catherine Higgs
Associate Professor & Director, Graduate Program
915 Volunteer Blvd.
6th Floor Dunford Hall
Knoxville, TN 37996-4065
Office: (865) 974-7095
Fax: (865) 974-3915
E-mail: chiggs@utk.edu