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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.)