: - - Columbia Campus - Acalog ACMS™

Columbia, SC 29208 | 803.777.7000

Overview

The Department of History at the University of South Carolina strives to achieve the highest standards of excellence in both conventional and applied history fields. A traditionally excellent Southern history department is complemented by a strong faculty that provides graduates and undergraduates a wide variety of American, European, and non-Western fields and periods from ancient to modern, and themes from Science, Technology, and the Environment to Culture, Identity, and Economic Development. The public history program is among the best in the nation and prepares graduate students for the museum and historic preservation job markets.

Subject to funding, financial assistance is offered by way of a limited number of renewable graduate assistantships each year.

Provided there is sufficient funding, the department awards several research assistantships to advanced doctoral students. Further, the department makes several postdoctoral appointments (of no more than one year) to new Ph.D.s, to give them experience teaching upper-division undergraduate courses in their field.

Graduate students receiving assistantships from the department are entitled to reduced fees (including in-state tuition) regardless of residence status. Those who hold assistantships for the spring semester or have letters of notification for the fall semester are entitled to reduced fees during the summer terms.

Admissions

The history department admits students once a year, in April, although accepted students ordinarily begin work in the fall, with approval from the graduate committee, they may defer enrollment for up to one year. Completed applications shall be received by The Graduate School no later than January 7 of the year they are to be considered.

For the 2012-2013 academic year, there were 180 applicants for our graduate programs; 17 enrolled (ten in the Ph.D. program and seven in the M.A. in Public History program). This class has an average GRE score of 1345 (old scoring scale) or 312 (new scoring scale) on two of the three components of the exam and an average undergraduate GPA of 3.65.

Incoming Ph.D. students who hold a master’s degree from another university must complete all of our Ph.D. requirements or demonstrate that they have completed similar course work. The Graduate Committee normally takes previous graduate work in history into account, which may speed the student’s progress toward the doctorate.

Degree Programs

Degrees offered include the M.A. in History, M.A. in Public History, and the Ph.D. in History. In addition, a joint master’s program in library and information science and public history is offered. For more information visit: Public History / Library and Information Science, M.A. / M.L.I.S. The Department of History also oversees the Certificate of Graduate Study in Museum Management.

No more than 6 hours of courses in either the M.A. or PhD. programs may be taken at the 600 level. All other courses shall be at the 700 or 800 level. Courses taken at the 800 level may be repeated but only with permission of the Committee on Graduate Studies. Thesis or dissertation research and writing courses (799 and 899) may be taken as many times as deemed necessary by the student’s advisor and with the approval of the Committee on Graduate Studies.

University of South Carolina

Colleges & Schools

University Offices

Resources

University Campuses

Social Media

History

Overview

Admissions

Degree Programs

Programs and Courses

Programs

Courses