The graduate history program has a long and distinguished record, dating back nearly a century. Early on, the Department of History established a reputation for diplomatic history, and later, West Virginian and Appalachian history. Today, the West Virginia and Regional History Collection is one of the strongest of its kind, housing primary source materials for political, economic, social, cultural and technological history of the state and region.
Areas of strength have also been developed in African history, the history of the American Civil War and public history. The department offers graduate work in several other fields in United States, European, Latin American and world history. In addition, unique interdepartmental partnerships and resources help students develop comparative approaches and network with professionals in the field. The department encourages research that is comparative and transnational in perspective and scope.
Our graduate program is designed to give students flexibility to create a plan of study that matches their interests, while simultaneously providing a breadth of training in different fields that will prepare students in historiography, research methods and teaching approaches. In addition to these core areas of strength, faculty research and teaching interests are clustered thematically around four areas: gender and kinship, imperial and postcolonial societies, labor and political economy and war and society.
Application Deadlines
Each graduate program sets their own term of admission and application deadline. Applicants can only apply for admission for the term displayed below. Any questions regarding the application deadline should be directed to the graduate program representative.
Fall: February 1