Doctor of Philosophy in History- United States History

The U.S. History faculty at Michigan State University enjoys a national and international reputation for research, teaching, outreach, and digital humanities. The size and scholarly activity of the U.S. faculty at Michigan State create a unique intellectual environment. The U.S. field includes more than fifteen tenure-stream faculty members with diverse research and teaching interests, with particular strengths from the mid-eighteenth through the twentieth century, African American and comparative Black history, comparative and transnational history, cultural, intellectual, and religious history, digital humanities, food and environmental history, history education, the history of gender, family, and sexuality, Jewish, Asian American, and Latino/a history, journalism, film, and media history, labor history, Native American history, and sports history. The graduate program in U.S. history offers students the opportunity to pursue their research interests from a national, transnational, or comparative perspective.

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.