U.S. History
Convenor: W. Fitzhugh
Brundage
Program Description
The study of United States History at UNC-CH has long been one of the school’s most distinguished graduate programs. The program has a long tradition of excellence, with library resources and institutional support to match. We admit approximately ten students a year, and we are committed to seeing all of them get a Ph.D. Our students get ample teaching experience, and they often have the opportunity to assume full responsibility for a course before entering the job market (where our recent graduates have been quite successful). With a faculty of 26 scholars, the program in American History is strong in virtually all periods. Our broad strength in social and cultural history is complemented by specialization in African American, Native American history, military and international history, constitutional history, economic and business history, and gender and women’s history. We encourage cross-disciplinary approaches and consequently our graduate students often exploit relevant course offerings in literature, art history, anthropology, and other academic departments.
The history of the U.S. South is a particular interest at UNC-CH, not only in terms of course offerings, but also in terms of special resources on or near campus. The Southern Oral History Program, the Center for the Study of the American South, and the invaluable materials in the Southern Historical, Southern Folklife, and North Carolina Collections provide graduate students with rich opportunities. The department is also a noted center of graduate study in the history of African Americans. Not only are a significant number of faculty currently engaged in research on the topic, but also the Southern Oral History Program is engaged in on-going work in the area.
Graduate students in US History also benefit from the proximity of North carolina State and Duke University; many UNC-CH students work with US History faculty at these schools; they take courses at these schools; include faculty from Duke and State on their committees; and participate in gatherings of area scholars interested in American History.
The Graduate Program
Graduate students in American History are expected to demonstrate competency in three chronological areas -- colonial, nineteenth century, and modern America -- as well as one topical/thematic area. The topical/thematic area should add breadth. A few examples are African-American history, Native American history, women's history, American cultural history. Aside from the research seminars required of all Ph.D. students, students focusing on the United States must take a two-semester sequence of seminars devoted to American historiography.
Prospective students interested in our program and in discussing the suitability of this department for their interests are encouraged to contact faculty members whose interests are closest to their own.
Click here for information about Comprehensive Exams in US History.
Faculty
| Robert C. Allen | Godfrey Professor | Iowa | Mass-media,American cultural history |
| William L. Barney | Professor | Columbia | Social and political history of nineteenth-century America |
| William Brundage | William Umstead D.P. | U.S. South since the Civil War, New South | |
| Peter A. Coclanis | Albert Ray Newsome D.P., Assoc. Provost Intl. Affairs | Columbia | International economic and business history, economic and business history of the U.S. and of Southeast Asia, U.S.colonial history, Globalization, imperialism |
| Kathleen DuVal | Assistant Professor | UC-Davis | Early America, Spanish and French North America, Native America, Early American women |
| Crystal Feimster | Assistant Professor | Princeton | African American history; U.S. Women, gender theory |
| William R. Ferris | Joel Williamson Prof. & Assoc. Dir., CSAS | U.S. South, with emphasis on folklore, literature, and documentary studies. | |
| Joseph T. Glatthaar | Alan Stephenson D.P. & Chair, PWAD | Wisconsin | American military history, Civil War |
| Michael D. Green | Professor | Iowa | Native American history, Joint appointment with American Studies |
| Larry Griffin | John Shelton Reed D.P. | Johns Hopkins | |
| Jacquelyn Hall | Julia Cherry Spruill Professor & Director, SOHP | Columbia | U.S. women's history, oral history, U.S. South with emphasis on labor |
| Reginald F. Hildegrand | Associate Professor | Princeton | Afro-American Studies, Southern history |
| Jerma Jackson | Associate Professor | Rutgers | African-American history, gender history |
| John Kasson | Professor | Yale | American cultural history; Cultural history of the body and history of childhood in the U.S., masculinities in nineteenth- and twentieth-century American cultural history |
| Richard Kohn | Professor | Wisconsin | U.S. military history, civil-military relations |
| Wayne E. Lee | Associate Professor | Duke | Early modern military history, Colonial and Native America, British empire |
| James L. Leloudis | Associate Professor & Associate Dean for Honors | UNC-CH | U.S. South, education, poverty and civil rights, North Carolina |
| Roger Lotchin | Professor | Chicago | Urban political history, l800 to the present; the American West, Military |
| Genna Rae McNeil | Professor | Chicago | Afro-American history, gender history |
| Theda Perdue | Atlanta D.P. | Georgia | Native American history; Native American women’s and Southern women’s history. |
| John E. Semonche | Professor | Northwestern | American legal and constitutional history |
| John Wood Sweet | Associate Professor, Placement Director | Princeton | Early American history, history of sexuality |
| Harry L. Watson | Professor | Northwestern | History of the South, the antebellum U.S., and North Carolina |
| Heather Williams | Associate Professor | Yale | African American history; slavery; emancipation; education; family. |
Graduate Students
(This list includes both graduate students formally pursuing a degree in U.S. History and graduate students interested in U.S. History, while nevertheless working primarily in another major field.)