Department of History

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Detailed Information

The Department of History offers a Ph.D. degree in selected fields of United States, European, Middle Eastern/Asian, African, and Latin American history. It is possible to complete all requirements for the Ph.D. degree in three to four years of full-time study after the M.A. Most students spend two years completing classroom studies; thereafter, the time required for the completion of the dissertation varies considerably with the topic and the student. Ph.D. students are also encouraged to do internship work toward the development of career-related professional skills. Internships include teaching, training in innovative instructional technologies, editing at the Southern Illinois University Press, public history at the University museum, archive management at Morris Library, and similar approved activities at other venues.

The Department of History’s graduate student body is small (between 55 and 65 students), allowing for close working relationships between faculty members and students. The faculty members are particularly strong in national and ethnic identity studies, local and regional studies, business and labor history, American studies, and gender and women’s history. Students take regular courses and seminars in these and other areas, and they also arrange independent study courses and internships. Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC) also has a cooperative Ph.D. program with SIU at Edwardsville (SIUE), which allows students to take courses on both campuses.

Students benefit from Departmental support for publishing and for travel to conferences. They may also participate in a very active History Graduate Student Association that provides a sense of community and a vehicle for organizing activities on campus.

The Morris Library, with its collection of more than 2 million printed volumes and 4 million microfilm units, provides excellent support for research. More than one fourth of its holdings are in history or related areas, and it is particularly strong in U.S., European, and Latin American history. The library’s special collections hold rare printed works and manuscripts to support historical research on many topics, including Irish studies, First Amendment freedoms, theater history, and Illinois history. The University is also home to the John Dewey Center, the Center for Irish Studies, and the Illinois Regional Archives Depository.

Most qualified Ph.D. students receive support in the form of fellowships through programs such as the Illinois Minority Graduate Incentive Program (IMGIP) and the Illinois Consortium for Educational Opportunities Program (ICEOP) or through graduate fellowships, Morris Doctoral Fellowships, and dissertation research awards. Teaching assistantships or research assistantships are also available. All carry stipends (minimum of $11,000 for nine months) and remission of tuition. A maximum of forty-eight months of assistance is allowed. Application for these awards should be submitted by January 10.

In-state graduate tuition is $328 per credit hour in 2009–10. Out-of-state tuition is 2.5 times the in-state tuition rate ($820 per credit hour). Graduate students with at least a 25 percent appointment as a graduate assistant receive a tuition scholarship. Fees vary from $589.03 (1 credit hour) to $1557.50 (12 credit hours). Students with a graduate assistantship receive a 50 percent reduction in the primary care medical fee. New graduate students from Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, and Tennessee qualify for the alternate tuition rate, which is equivalent to the in-state graduate tuition rate.

For married couples, students with families, and single graduate students, the University has 690 efficiency and one-, two-, three-, and four-bedroom apartments that rent for $499 to $720 per month in 2009–10. Residence halls for single graduate students are also available, as are accessible residence hall rooms and apartments for students with disabilities.

This program admits students seeking careers in academia and other areas of the workplace. There are between 30 and 35 students in the Ph.D. program (approximately 35 percent women), with at least half receiving financial assistance. Roughly one fourth of the students are part-time.

Graduates of the Ph.D. program in history have been very successful at obtaining tenure-track jobs with colleges and universities as well as jobs with museums and publications and editorial projects.

SIUC is 350 miles south of Chicago and 100 miles southeast of St. Louis. Nestled in rolling hills bordered by the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and enhanced by a mild climate, the area has state parks, national forests and wildlife refuges, and large lakes for outdoor recreation. Cultural offerings include theater, opera, concerts, art exhibits, and cinema. Educational facilities available for the families of students are excellent.

Southern Illinois University Carbondale is a comprehensive public university with a variety of general and professional education programs. The University offers associate, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees as well as the J.D. and M.D. degrees. The University is fully accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. The Graduate School has an essential role in the development and coordination of graduate instruction and research programs. The Graduate Council has academic responsibility for determining graduate standards, recommending new graduate programs and research centers, and establishing policies to facilitate the research effort.

Applications should be requested from and sent to the Department. Each application must include the standard application forms, transcripts of all postsecondary school work, official GRE scores, three letters of recommendation, a statement of professional goals and interests, and the application fee. The deadline for application materials is January 10 for the following fall. Admission requires a grade point average in graduate work of at least 3.25 (A = 4.0).

Direct entry into the Ph.D. program from baccalaureate studies is possible for students of exceptional ability. This is demonstrated through extensive undergraduate course work of superior quality, excellent GRE scores, previous research experience, and letters of recommendation.

• (The number in parentheses in each entry represents the year in which the person joined the faculty.)
• James Smith Allen, Professor; Ph.D., Tufts, 1979 (1991). European, modern France, social and cultural.
• Jo Ann E. Argersinger, Professor; Ph.D., George Washington, 1980 (1998). U.S. labor.
• Peter H. Argersinger, Professor; Ph.D., Wisconsin–Madison, 1970 (1998). U.S. political and rural, Gilded Age.
• Jonathan J. Bean, Professor; Ph.D., Ohio State, 1994 (1995). U.S. economic and business.
• Getahun Benti, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Michigan State, 2000 (2001). Modern Africa, urbanization-migration.
• Michael Brown, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Georgia, 2004 (2004). African American and Atlantic history.
• Kay J. Carr, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Chicago, 1987 (1989). U.S. social, nineteenth century, Illinois, frontier, historical geography.
• Mariola Espinosa, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., North Carolina, 2003 (2003). Latin American history.
• Germaine Etienne, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Massachusetts, 2004 (2004). African American history.
• Holly S. Hurlburt, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Syracuse, 2000 (2001). Early modern Europe, Italy, women and gender.
• Robbie Lieberman, Professor; Ph.D., Michigan, 1984 (1991). Contemporary U.S., war and peace, social movements.
• Joseph Sramek, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., CUNY Graduate Center, 2007 (2007). South Asia and British Empire.
• Rachel Stocking, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Stanford, 1994 (1994). Ancient and early medieval European, cultural and political, Spain.
• Theodore R. Weeks, Professor; Ph.D., Berkeley, 1992 (1993). Russia/USSR East Central Europe, cultural and political, nationalism.
• Jonathan S. Wiesen, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Brown, 1997 (1998). Modern Europe, Germany, Jewish.
• David L. Wilson, Professor; Ph.D., Tennessee, 1974 (1974). United States foreign relations.
• Hale Yilmaz, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Utah, 2006 (2006). Middle East.
• Gray Whaley, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Oregon, 2002 (2002). Native America.
• Natasha Zaretsky, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Brown, 2002 (2002). United States, cultural, family and gender.
• Cross-Appointed Faculty
• Jane H. Adams, Associate Professor (Anthropology); Ph.D., Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1987 (1987). U.S. rural, gender, social movements.
• Pamela Smoot, Clinical Assistant Professor (Black American Studies); Ph.D., Michigan State, 1998 (1999), African-American history, archival administration.
• Emeritus Faculty
• Howard W. Allen, Professor Emeritus; Ph.D., Washington (Seattle), 1959 (1962).
• Harry Ammon, Professor Emeritus; Ph.D., Virginia, 1948 (1950).
• H. Arnold Barton, Professor Emeritus; Ph.D., Princeton, 1962 (1970).
• Michael C. Batinski, Professor Emeritus; Ph.D., Northwestern, 1969 (1968). Early America.
• Dale R. Bengtson, Assistant Professor Emeritus; Ph.D., Hartford Seminary, 1971 (1973). History of religions.
• M. Browning Carrott, Professor Emeritus; Ph.D., Northwestern, 1966 (1967).
• David E. Conrad, Professor Emeritus; Ph.D., Oklahoma, 1962 (1967).
• Donald S. Detwiler, Professor Emeritus; D.Phil., Göttingen (Germany), 1961 (1967).
• John E. Dotson, Professor Emeritus; Ph.D., Johns Hopkins, 1969 (1970). European medieval and renaissance, Italy, maritime.
• Charles F. Fanning, Professor Emeritus; Ph.D., Pennsylvania, 1972 (1993). Ireland, Irish-American, immigration and ethic studies.
• Robert L. Gold, Professor Emeritus; Ph.D., Iowa, 1964 (1965).
• John S. Haller Jr., Emeritus Professor; Ph.D., Maryland, 1968 (1990). U.S. intellectual history, history of medicine and pharmacology.
• James B. Murphy, Associate Professor Emeritus; Ph.D., LSU, 1968 (1968).
• Edward J. O’Day, Associate Professor Emeritus; A.M., Indiana, 1956 (1962).
• David P. Werlich, Professor Emeritus; Ph.D., Minnesota, 1968 (1968). Latin American Andean region.
• SIUE Cooperative Ph.D. Faculty
• Stefan Bradley, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Missouri–Columbia, 2003. African Americans.
• Anthony Cheeseboro, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Michigan State, 1993. History of development, agriculture, and slavery.
• Ching-chih Chen, Professor Emeritus; Ph.D., Harvard, 1973.
• Leigh Anne Eubanks, Instructor; Ph.D. candidate, Cornell. Modern Europe.
• Carole C. Frick, Associate Professor; Ph.D., UCLA, 1995. Renaissance/reformation and early modern history.
• Stephen L. Hansen, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Illinois at Chicago, 1978. Civil War.
• Alex Haskell, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Johns Hopkins, 2004. Colonial U.S.
• Christienne L. Hinz, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Ohio State, 2001 (2001). Japanese history, business history, world history, women’s history.
• Thomas Jordan, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1999. Latin America.
• Rowena McClinton, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Kentucky, 1996. Native American history, antebellum South and United States history since 1865.
• Laura Milsk, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Loyola Chicago, 2003. Museum studies.
• Michael Moore, Assistant Professor, Ph.D., Michigan, 1996. Medieval Europe.
• Norman E. Nordhauser, Professor Emeritus; Ph.D., Stanford, 1970. American economic history, history of American business.
• Ellen Nore, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Stanford, 1980. Illinois history, women’s history, progressive intellectuals, historiography.
• Shirley J. Portwood, Professor; Ph.D., Washington (St. Louis), 1982. African American and women’s history.
• Eric Ruckh, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., California, Irvine, 1997. Critical theory.
• Stephen E. Tamari, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Georgetown, 1998 (2001). Middle East history, Ottoman Empire, Arab world, Arab-Israeli conflict.
• John A. Taylor, Professor; Ph.D., Chicago. Britain and Colonial U.S.
• Allison K. Thomason, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Columbia, 1999. Ancient Near-Eastern and Greco-Roman history.
• Anne Valk, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Duke, 1996. Public history, oral history, women’s history, twentieth-century United States.
• James J. Weingartner, Professor Emeritus; Ph.D., Wisconsin, 1967. Nazi Germany, the Holocaust, war crimes, World War II.

Correspondence and Information