History (Graduate Program)

For information regarding the UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM, click here.  

Program Overview

The Department of History has earned an outstanding reputation for both the quality of its teaching and the high standards of its scholarship. The LSU Libraries contain more than three million volumes, more than five million microforms, and a manuscript collection of more than 12 million items. LSU’s Special Collections, housed in Hill Memorial Library, are especially rich in materials relating to the Lower Mississippi Valley, the South, the Civil War, and Reconstruction. The Louisiana State Archives in Baton Rouge also houses important research documents close at hand.

The department is nationally and internationally recognized as a center for the study of the South and the Civil War. But it also has graduate students and faculty working in a host of other areas of American history, including the cultural history of the 20th century. It also has particular strengths in British history, the Middle Ages and Renaissance studies, and modern European history. In addition, it has faculty members who publish in and teach the history of the ancient world, Latin America, Africa, as well as South and East Asia.

Administration

Admission

Students applying for entrance to the Graduate School must submit an application for admission. This must be submitted on-line (gradapply.lsu.edu). Students must submit their scores on the GRE; the minimum combined score required for application is 300. In addition, official transcripts of all previous undergraduate and graduate work, a statement of purpose, three letters of recommendation and a writing sample of approximately 10-20 pages should be submitted online as supporting materials. Those applying for the Ph.D. program should include a portion of their Master’s thesis as a writing sample. For admission or advancement to the Ph.D. program, an M.A. in History is required. Decisions are made only after receipt of all credentials. The entire application, including all supporting materials, must be submitted via the LSU Graduate School’s online application website (gradapply.lsu.edu). Hard copies of official transcripts should be mailed directly to the Graduate School admissions office.

To be considered for fellowships and assistantships for the fall semester, completed applications must be submitted by JANUARY 15, although completed applications submitted after that date but before APRIL 1 may also be considered. The department does not accept applications for spring admission.

Financial Assistance

All completed applications for admission to the M.A. and Ph.D. programs received by January 15 will be considered for teaching assistantships currently valued at a minimum of $14,000 for Ph.D. students and $12,000 for M.A. students, renewable for up to four years.  Students with assistantships also are exempt from tuition payments, although they must still pay required university fees. In a few cases and if budgets permit, for extremely well qualified students, the University will provide a supplement to the amount of the assistantship. These are awarded to incoming Ph.D. students on a competitive basis. In recent years, however, due to state budget cuts, the likelihood of a student receiving financial support during his or her first year has grown increasingly small.

Graduate Faculty

(check current listings by department by clicking this link)

Please click on individual faculty web pages for publications and contact information.

Programs

• History, Ph.D.

• History, M.A.

• Joint Degree: M.A./M.L.I.S.