Doctor of Philosophy in History - Early Modern History

Vanderbilt has a vibrant group of scholars in Early Modern history. Faculty research and teaching interests include geographic specialists in England/Britain, France, Germany, Italy, eastern Europe, India, and China. Among the areas of inquiry are legal, religious, economic, cultural, and gender/sexuality history. The Early Modern faculty work closely with historians of antiquity and medieval history, and in collaboration with the programs in Classical and Mediterranean Studies, Jewish Studies, Women's and Gender Studies, the departments of English, French and Italian, and German, Russian and East European Studies, History of Art, and the Pro-Modern Cultural Studies Seminar (Robert Penn Warren Center.)

We welcome applications from potential graduate students interested in particular subject areas as well as in the questions and methods shared by all historians of early modern societies, including how to work with incomplete, fragmentary, or (deliberately) misleading evidence, how to reconstruct the world of culture and symbols, how to push beyond the learned texts that predominate in the historical record, and how to ask meaningful questions about the past.

There is no prescribed graduate curriculum, students are invited to craft their own program within the framework of the History Department Ph.D. requirements during coursework, but a applicant's prior preparation, including knowledge of languages necessary to undertake Ph.D. level research, and the writing sample are particularly important factors. Applicants are encouraged to contact potential supervisors in advance.

Qualified applicants with bachelor's or comparable non-U.S. degrees are eligible for admission to the Graduate School. Applications from international students with three- year bachelor's degrees will also be considered.
Applicants must upload an unofficial copy of transcripts from prior undergraduate and graduate work as part of their online application for admission. Official transcripts are required only after an offer of admission is made and accepted.
The minimum acceptable score on the TOEFL PBT (paper- based test) is 570, and for the TOEFL iBT (internet- based test), 88. Many programs, however, require a considerably higher level of proficiency.
IELTS, the minimum acceptable score will vary by program. In many cases, a score of at least 7.0 is desirable.