Doctor of Philosophy in History- African History

MSU's doctoral program in African History has long been one of the premier programs in the nation and is ranked #1 by US News & World Report. From 1967 to 2019, 90 students from Africa, Europe, Latin America and the United States completed PhDs in our program. Professors Nwando Achebe, Peter Alegi, Laura Fair, Jamie Monson, Walter Hawthorne, Georgina Montgomery, Peter Limb, John Aerni-Flessner and Jessica Achberger specialize in West, East and South African history, with a focus on women, gender, sport, popular culture, science, technology, politics, China-Africa relations, slavery and the Atlantic slave trade. Aminda Smith, who is a China specialist, and David Wheat and Peter Beattie, who are Atlantic and African diaspora scholars, often work closely with Africanist graduate students, as do faculty Comparative Black History and African American History.
The program leading to the doctoral degree with a major in history is designed to provide wide knowledge in several fields of history, specialized competence in a limited area, and research techniques that will prepare the student for a career in teaching, research, government service, private industry, and other areas of professional historical activity. The following fields of study are available to doctoral students in the department Ancient history, Medieval history, Early modern, European history, Modern Western European history, Russian history, East European history, American history, AfricanAmerican history, History of the Atlantic world, Latin American and Caribbean history, Comparative Black history, African history, Asian history, The history of women and gender relations.

To be considered for admission to the Doctor of Philosophy degree program in history, an applicant must:

Have an official transcript forwarded from the applicant's undergraduate institution(s) that verifies conferral of a baccalaureate degree. If the applicant completed graduate course work or a graduate degree, official transcript(s) reflecting that work must also be submitted.
Have the results of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Test forwarded to the department.
Submit a writing sample to the department that the applicant considers to be a fair representation of the applicant's ability to conduct scholarly research and produce academic writing.
Submit a statement (500-1000 words) that clearly indicates the primary field of intended study, the faculty members with whom the applicant would like to work, and the reasons for choosing the field and faculty.
Submit a personal statement (500-1000 words) that addresses the applicant's background as well as his or her goals in pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy degree in History.
Have at least three individuals, preferably scholars with whom the applicant has had course work or other professional contact, submit letters of recommendation to the department.
An international applicant is required to have fulfilled the university's English language proficiency requirement as described in the Graduate Education section of this catalog in one of the following three ways:

Have a total score of 580 (paper version) or 237 (computer version) or 100 (Internet version) or above on the Test of English as a Foreign Language with no subscore below 55 (paper version) or 21 (computer version).
Have an average score of 85 or higher on the Michigan English Language Assessment Battery with no subscore below 83.
Have an average score of 85 or higher on the Michigan State University English Language Center Test with no subscore below 83.