The Carnegie Mellon Doctoral Program in History is small by design, enabling an exceptional level of individual attention from faculty.
Carnegie Mellon's program is based around two particular areas of faculty strength:
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History of Science, Technology and the Environment
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Social and Political Movements
The curriculum itself is designed to foster a broad base of historical expertise, offering thematic courses as well as intensive seminars on research and historical methods. Because the program is small, we also build in at least one elective each semester to ensure students have a chance to take courses more tailored to their specific interests. In addition to strong national/regional training, our program aims to provide students with broad exposure to transnational and comparative issues.
Our financial package includes tuition, health insurance, fees, and a living stipend. In addition, we offer several additional scholarships and research grants that make it possible for our students to attend conferences and to conduct research across the United States and abroad.
In applying to the program, it is important that prospective students seek out and find a possible advisor or advisors from the field(s) in which they wish to specialize. We strongly encourage applicants to explore the resources here including Admissions Information, About the Program, and Information on Current and Recent Graduate Students.
If you are unfamiliar with the process for choosing and applying to doctoral programs in history, the American Historical Association has posted a useful guide on their website.
The department’s Ph.D. program bestows a Master’s degree en route to the Ph.D. after the successful completion of four semesters of course work (with passing grades in all courses) and the production of a research paper. We do not require a Master's degree of applicants and all students complete the same course of study regardless of prior preparation.
If you have questions about our program, or would like additional information, please contact the Director of Graduate Studies: Dr. Christopher Phillips.
Meet our Alumni
Deirdre Clemente, Ph.D., 2010
Deirdre Clemente is a scholar of the American clothing industry and studies dress as social and cultural change.
Jiacheng Liu, Ph.D., 2016
Jiacheng teaches Asian history and is working on her first book manuscript on actresses and urban publics in early 20th century Beijing.