Graduate Programs

Marquette's M.A. and Ph.D. programs in History are especially designed to prepare new teacher-scholars for the demanding academic world of the twenty-first century and to train historians for professional careers. Graduate degrees from Marquette offer:  

• broad training which equips students for careers in History
• core courses which insure professional competence
• exceptional opportunities to develop teaching and research skills
• personal attention from professors who encourage student success
• strong peer support within a collegial community of graduate students
• outstanding financial aid packages, including support for dissertation research

With about forty graduate students and nearly twenty faculty members, every student has the opportunity to work closely with faculty members in their fields.  Most graduate classes enroll between eight and twelve students.

The History Department offers MA and PhD degrees in early modern and modern European History and in United States history, as well as MA degrees in Medieval History and in Global Studies.   PhD students may take minor fields in Asian, African, and Latin American history.

Financial Aid, Research Support and teaching experience

The department offers fourteen teaching assistantships and five research assistantships to incoming and continuing students.  Senior PhD students are eligible for full-year research fellowships awarded by the graduate school (history students typically receive 3-4 each year).  Most PhD students receive five years of financial aid, ranging from teaching or research assistantships to teaching fellowships to research fellowships.  PhD students’ classroom training is topped off by teaching an undergraduate seminar in their research field.  Many students also receive crucial teaching experience as instructors at area colleges, including Alverno, Carroll, Cardinal Stritch, UW-Parkside, and UW-Milwaukee.

Job Placement:

Since 1969, nearly three-fourths of our PhD graduates have obtained tenure-track positions in colleges and universities.  A number of others have become government historians, grant writers, archivists, foundation administrators, or public historians.

Our MA students go on to attend law school, teach in public and private high schools, and receive PhDs.  Some of the PhD programs into which they have been accepted in recent years are: University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Illinois, University of North Carolina, University of Notre Dame, Georgetown University, Boston College, and the University of Minnesota.

Placement of PhDs

Recent dissertations and dissertations in progress

Graduate Program Guidelines

Graduate Program Learning Outcomes

Preparing Future Faculty

Marquette University Graduate School

Graduate Bulletin

History course offerings:
Spring 2009

History course descriptions:

Spring 2009