Graduate Program
The Department of History is committed to training area specialists who know how to research, teach, and interpret the histories and historiographies of particular places from comparative, cross-cultural, and global perspectives. Area specialists in U.S., Latin American, Asian, African and European history have organized themselves into four thematic groups in order to offer graduate students regular specialized seminars on the histories of Empires in World History; Atlantic History; Gender, Ethnicity, Race, Religion; and Texts and Contexts. Professional development of graduate students is encouraged through careful mentoring, teaching and research assistantships, in a monthly departmental research seminar, and self-governance and consultation in almost all departmental activities.
The MA and PhD programs in the Department of History are situated within the more general regulations established by the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Arts and Sciences. The Department of History also offers a Master of Arts in History Education (MAHE) in collaboration with the School of Education.
Placement
MA and PhD recipients face a number of alternatives when they look for employment. In addition to academic jobs, historians may choose to work for historical commissions, state and federal institutions, foundations, and archives. Our graduates are teaching in colleges and universities, working at historical museums and research institutes. The graduate program regularly schedules sessions on strategies for seeking information about jobs and how to go about applying for a job.
Placement statistics are available here.
A list of all recent PhDs and their current job placement is available here.
Admission
To apply, prospective students must submit both an electronic application AND send (by mail) a career statement, writing sample, and letters of recommendation to the department (please see application instructions). Statements of Purpose and writing samples must be uploaded with the application or mailed to the Department in a hard copy. Cds or disks will not be accepted. The application deadline for admission in the fall semester is January 15. The department only accepts fall admissions. Please submit requests for information before December 15 if you intend to apply for admission in the following academic year.
Admissions statistics are available here.
Financial Aid
A limited number of teaching assistantships and nonteaching fellowships are available. In addition, history students are eligible for fellowships for East Asia, Latin America, Russia and Eastern Europe, and West Europe offered through the University Center for International Studies (UCIS). For more detailed information on funding sources available to history graduate students, visit our pages on departmental and nondepartmental awards.
For more information on tuition and fees please visit www.ir.pitt.edu/tuition/index.html
Appointment/Employment
Graduate students are not permitted to hold more than the equivalent of one full appointment within the University at a time. Normally, graduate students will find this to be a full-time demand, but in rare exceptions, additional appointments must be approved by the department chair and the dean. Due to immigration regulations, graduate students on J-1 or F-1 visas may be employed to work no more than 20 hours per week on campus when school is in session during the fall and spring term, and thus those on full-time appointments are not eligible for overload appointments during these terms.
