About the Program

The History department has strengths in the history of science, environment, technology and medicine (hereafter STEM), broadly construed, as well as in social history, and is situated in a tech- and arts-focused university; our program therefore is focused on recruiting and training students who wish to study at the intersection of our strengths in history of STEM and social and political history and/or anthropology.

Traditionally, the phrase “social history of science” has referred to the social structures and interests of scientists; we want to reclaim the phrase to emphasize study of the way in which everyday people are intertwined with socially transformative developments in science, medicine and technology. Our faculty is engaged in groundbreaking research on many of these topics already.

At the same time, our capacity to train graduate students in history goes well beyond direct connections to STEM fields.  Over the past thirty years, our department has trained a significant number of students for careers at the confluence of African American, urban, labor, community, and cultural history across a wide number of countries.  The broad social movements and political thrust of these studies continue to capture the interests of faculty, students, and prospective applicants in their focus on the impact of poor and working-class politics and social movements as well as on questions of inequality and injustice.

Our graduate program leverages the department’s longstanding strength in social history to confront the role of scientific and medical experts in reproducing (and at times challenging) inequalities of race, class, gender, and disability. Our faculty have expertise across the history of science, technology, environment, and medicine, and our research foci include a range of national and transnational contexts. We are often looking for ways that nontraditional sources (from crop records to DNA traces) might yield important insights, and we train students to remain alert to the power dynamics that structure and organize the historical record.  There is always something lost when people situated in time and place are turned into data, and our faculty are committed to advising students and projects centered on re-situating and re-embodying information. This is Carnegie Mellon’s vision of history - intellectually innovative, methodologically rigorous, and socially engaged.

Graduate Student Teaching Opportunities

Most graduate students in the department serve as Teaching Assistants after their first full year of study. The department places emphasis on preparing its graduate students to become excellent classroom teachers. Before assuming teaching responsibilities, graduate students take the Seminar on Instruction as part of the curriculum. This course focuses on the processes of teaching and learning history at the undergraduate level.

Research Facilities

Beyond the the resources of The Carnegie Mellon University Libraries, graduate students also have access to the collections of the Carnegie Library, the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania and the Libraries of the University of Pittsburgh. In addition to regular interlibrary loan service, the University Libraries belong to the Partnership for Academic Library Collaboration & Innovation with its outstanding collections. The University belongs to the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research, a central repository and dissemination service for machine-readable social science data.

Carnegie Mellon's expansive computing resources are easily accessible to students for word processing and data analysis. Advanced systems are available when research activities require more sophisticated facilities. Students wishing to purchase a personal computer can take advantage of discounts offered at the university's computer store.

Pittsburgh is an exciting place to do research due to the rich archival collections of the history of the city and the region. Students often do research papers and dissertations using the Pittsburgh setting to answer questions of general historical interest

Degree Requirements and Time Table

The doctoral degree requires students to

1. Complete four semesters of coursework in good standing, with a total of 12.5 courses.
2. Complete the Oral Examination successfully.
3. Receive approval for Dissertation Prospectus.
4. Complete Doctoral Dissertation.

Curriculum

Over their first two years, students take at least 12.5 courses, including "methods" courses, proseminar courses on American and Transnational history, and thematic courses (e.g., Race, Nation, and Empire; Science, Technology and the Environment; Social and Political Movements; Labor and Work). The centerpiece of the curriculum is a two-semester "Research Seminar" (including a summer of funded archival research), in which the student works closely with one or two faculty in developing a project. The course results in an article- or chapter-length piece of original scholarship in the student's primary area of interest.

Because of the small nature of the program, we have built in four electives (a quarter of the total courses required) so that students can focus on their particular areas of interest. These topics might include additional Thematic Courses, Digital Humanities, "readings" courses with faculty on topics not otherwise covered in the curriculum, specially designed history courses based on undergraduate survey courses, courses in other departments and colleges at Carnegie Mellon, and/or courses at the University of Pittsburgh or other Pittsburgh-area universities.

Graduate Exam and Prospectus

In the third year, students take an oral exam with the three faculty supervisors, and then begin work on their dissertation prospectus in the spring of the third year.

Dissertation Research and Writing

Normally students conduct the bulk of their dissertation research in the fourth year, begin writing up the results of their research in the fifth year, and finish the dissertation by the end of the sixth year.

Internships

Internships allow our graduate students to gain skills and contacts that will be helpful in a variety of career paths. We relatively recently created a new internship program that allows students to receive full funding while completing a semester-long internship. Students identify potential internship hosts in collaboration with the Director of Graduate Studies. Internships may be located in Pittsburgh or elsewhere, and can be completed at museums, national parks, nonprofit organizations, government agencies, corporations, or anywhere historical research is required.

We have an ongoing relationship with the Smithsonian-affiliated Senator John Heinz History Center. Our students can work with a professional staff member from the archives, museum, or administrative divisions of the center with full stipend and a release from teaching duties. Internships can involve completing a research project based on the center's collections, developing the background for an exhibit, or working closely with staff in marketing, communications or other administrative offices of the center.

Special Programs and Resources

The History Department offers a variety of special programs and resources, all of which are available for graduate students.

Center for African American Urban Studies and the Economy

CAUSE, the Center for African American Urban Studies and the Economy, sponsors speakers, post-doctoral fellowships. and a wide range of other activities. Several graduate students have received research travel grants through CAUSE, and the Center's Director, Joe William Trotter Jr., Giant Eagle University Professor of History and Social Justice, was recently involved with a 3-year A.W. Mellon funded project on “Crafting Democratic Futures: Situating Colleges and Universities in Community-Based Reparations Solutions.”

Centropa Archive

History faculty member Michal Friedman, the Jack Buncher Endowed Chair in Jewish Studies, provides graduate students opportunities for research through her work with Centropa, an archive of photos and oral histories that document Jewish life in Europe throughout the 20th century.

Seminars on Professional Development

The Department offers regular “brown bag” seminars to graduate students on professional development, organized by the Graduate Student Representatives, who are elected annually.

Lectures

The History Department participates with the University of Pittsburgh in a number of lecture series, including the annual E.P. Thompson lecture, which features eminent social and labor historians from all over the world. It also sponsors the annual Margaret Morrison Lecture in Women’s History. Both events provide graduate students with the opportunity to participate in smaller workshops and discussions.

Cross Enrollment at CMU

Students can enroll in relevant courses in CMU’s professional schools, such as the H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management.

University of Pittsburgh

The History Department maintains an exchange program with the University of Pittsburgh, which enables students to take courses at both universities, and have access to the University of Pittsburgh libraries. Though less common, students can also enroll in courses at other area universities.

Teaching Experience

We provide a seminar in instruction to train students in teaching. Our students serve as teaching assistants in Global Histories and other courses. Advanced graduate students usually have the opportunity to teach a course in their own field, and may be eligible to teach at Carnegie Mellon University’s branch campus in Qatar.