United States: Courses and Seminars
Entering graduate students in United States History are required to take a two-quarter research seminar in their first and (unless they enter and receive credit for a masters degree from another institution) their second year. Generally speaking the theme of the seminar alternates each year. The purpose of the seminar is to introduce students to aspects of method, historical and historiographical problems, and critical interpretation of sources, and results in the writing of an original and professional-level research paper by the end of the winter quarter.
Other courses in the field are offered each year in accordance with faculty research and expertise. Recent course offerings have included two seminars each year (one with a focus on the pre-twentieth century and one twentieth century), Seventeenth-Century America, Eighteenth-Century America, Early American Legal History, the American South as History, the Problem of Slavery, United States Women's History, the U.S. in an Age of Crisis (1914-1946), Postwar American Culture, and Modern American Consumer Culture, and Democracy, Labor, and Property. Students are also required to take some courses outside the department. For the full listing of courses being offered in the department this academic year, please refer to our Graduate Course Listings and Undergraduate Course Listings.