Harrison Ruffin Tyler Department of History Graduate Program
For nearly a century, the Harrison Ruffin Tyler Department of History has been offering students a unique opportunity to pursue graduate study. Its moderate size, prize-winning faculty, and distinctive history helps the department create an innovative learning environment that fosters close interaction among students and professors. We are proud of the first-place ranking of our Colonial History program, and of our 26th place in all history graduate programs in the US (US News and World Report), and also our top place in College Magazine's list of best schools for history buffs. The program prides itself on its commitment to preparing broadly trained scholars and teachers who are leaders in their fields of specialty, while also readying interested students for careers as editors, historical archaeologists, and public history professionals in historical societies, libraries and museums. Our accomplished faculty specialize in Early America, the United States, the Atlantic World, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe, the Middle East, East and South Asia, and the Indian Ocean. The History Department offers an M.A. and a Ph.D. in History. The program's excellent placement record is testament to its success.
Graduate students also benefit from the Department's close association with the American Studies and Anthropology Programs, the Omohundro Institute for Early American History and Culture, the National Institute for Early American History and Democracy, the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, and the Center for Archaeological Research, among many other local historical institutions of national importance.
The program usually enrolls just fifteen new master's students and six doctoral students each year, which allows the faculty to devote time to each student. Talented students with a wide range of interests come from all over the United States, and from countries such as Canada, France, Great Britain, the People's Republic of China, and the Czech Republic.
In addition to traditional preparation in teaching and research, the Harrison Ruffin Tyler Department of History offers both master's and doctoral students practical experience in career fields related to history in the form of apprenticeships and internships in conjunction with the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, Colonial Williamsburg, the Earl Gregg Swem Library, the National Institute of American History and Democracy, the Lemon Project in African American history, and the William and Emery Reves Center for International Studies.
Please also see the faculty directory, the biographies of current students, our placement pages, the graduate regulations, and all the other information on this site. If you have questions, please feel free to contact our Director of Graduate Studies, at [[history]] .
