Theory and Methodology (Foundational Sequence)
HIST 900: Introduction to Historical Study serves as an orientation to the practice of history for all incoming graduate students in the Department of History and for any graduate students seeking to develop their historical research skills.
HIST 901: Historical Theory & Debate introduces students to the major theoretical approaches and practices in contemporary historical scholarship.
HIST 950: Graduate Seminar in Reading and Writing History is a broad-based research and writing seminar that is suitable for any graduate student in any field.
Professional Development Sequence
HIST 801A: Career Diversity in History & the Humanities is a 1-credit course to orient students toward diverse career options and outcomes for Humanities & Social Sciences.
HIST 801B: Leadership & Development in the Humanities & Social Sciences is a 1-credit, spring semester course to equip students in leadership and development for Humanities & Social Sciences.
HIST 801C: Research Communication & Funding for Humanists is a 1-credit course to emphasize research communication and funding for Humanities & Social Sciences graduate students. This particular course in the sequence is required of 2nd year Ph.D. students, who will apply for at least one external grant, apply for at least one external conference, and share a research poster in the UNL Spring Research Fair.
Content Areas
We offer classes in three separate content areas: Core Historiography Seminars, Comparative Classes, and Focus Field Classes.
Core Historiography Seminars
These core seminars introduce students to major historiographical interpretations and debates in each of these broad fields. They emphasize critical reading, analysis, and discussion of significant books and articles of broad geographical and chronological scope. Students will gain familiarity with writing book reviews and historiographical papers. These classes will also lay the foundation for comprehensive exams by providing extensive recommended reading lists.
For students who plan to pursue an academic position at a college or university, these seminars provide a foundation for teaching in the broad fields of U.S. History, European History, or World History.
Europe
- HIST 931 & 933: Rotating Topics in European History
United States
- HIST 941: Teaching American History
- HIST 943: Rotating Topics in American History
World
- HIST 961 & 963: Rotating Topics in World History
Comparative Classes
Our comparative classes offer students the opportunity to explore particular topics or approaches to history across multiple time frames and geographical areas. Approach-oriented courses include Transnational History, Intellectual History, Legal History, and Cultural History. More thematic-oriented courses include Revolutions, Slavery, Urban History, Global Environmental History, and the History of Science.
- HIST/WMNS 951: Gender & Sexuality in Global Perspective
- HIST 953: Historical Subfields in a Global Perspective
Secondary Field Classes
Classes in the secondary field enable students to develop expertise in particular content areas related to their planned dissertation research. Currently, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln History Program offers secondary courses in North American West & Borderlands; Nineteenth Century U.S.; Transnational History; and Modern World.
- HIST/ENGL/MODL 918: Interdisciplinary Seminar in Nineteenth-Century Studies
- HIST/ENGL/MODL 919: Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Nineteenth Century
- HIST/ETHN 983: Readings and Problems in Comparative Race, Ethnicity, and Identity in History
- HIST/GPSP 991: Readings and Problems in the History of the North American West
Skills Based Classes
These classes offer students training in particular skills that historians will use in a variety of professional positions in the 21st century, including primary-source research, writing, digital history, teaching history, editing and publishing, and working in museums and archives.
HIST 990: Seminar: Special Problems of Teaching History
This course introduces students to the theoretical literature on teaching and learning, familiarizes them with a variety of approaches to classroom instruction, and provides opportunities to work on course design and effective discussion and lecture techniques. This course is required of all doctoral students.
Digital History
Our department is a leading innovator in the new methodology of digital history. Students will take at least one class from the following options:
- REQUIRED – HIST 970: Seminar in Digital History
Students develop digital projects based on their research interests. - OPTIONAL – HIST 870: Digital History
Students engage the theory, methods, and readings in humanities computing and digital history. - OPTIONAL – HIST/MODL 895/ENGL 895E: Internship in Digital Humanities
Students actively participate in an ongoing digital humanities project in the Center for Digital Research in the Humanities - OPTIONAL – HIST 946: Interdisciplinary Readings in Digital Humanities
Students examine methods, theories, and practices of digital humanities scholarship
Other Skills-Based Classes
In cases where students wish to develop alternative skills, a student may substitute one class from below for the required digital history class (HIST 970):
- HIST 993: Press Internship
Students work with the History Acquisitions editor at the University of Nebraska Press. - HIST 995: History Practicum
Students work at a museum, historical society, or archive with the supervision of a History faculty member.
800-Level Graduate Classes
The department also offers a number of 800-level graduate classes. Normally these classes are offered as advanced undergraduate seminars with a graduate component. These classes may be useful in helping students to fill in gaps in their knowledge in their fields of interest and in preparing for Ph.D. comprehensive exams. For a list of these classes, see the Graduate Catalog.
Typical Rotation of Graduate Classes
Every Fall Semester:
- HIST 900: Introduction to Historical Study
- HIST 931 / 933: Rotating Topics in European History [931 on odd-numbered years; 933 on even-numbered years]
- HIST 941: Teaching American History
- HIST 950: Graduate Seminar in Reading and Writing History
- HIST 970: Seminar in Digital History
- HIST 983: Readings and Problems in Comparative Race, Ethnicity, and Identity [even-numbered years]
- HIST 801A: Career Diversity in History & the Humanities
- HIST 801C: Research Communication & Funding for Humanists
Every Spring Semester:
- HIST 901: Historical Theory and Debate
- HIST 943: Rotating Topics in American History [even-numbered years]
- HIST/WMNS 951: Gender & Sexuality in Global Perspective
or HIST 953: Historical Subfields in a Global Perspective (i.e.: Law and Policy; Indigenous History; History of Slavery & Freedom; History of Empire) - HIST 961 / 963: Rotating Topics in World History [961 on odd-numbered years; 963 on even-numbered years]
- HIST 990: Seminar: Special Problems of Teaching History [even-numbered years]
- HIST/GPSP 991: Readings and Problems in the History of the North American West [odd-numbered years]
- HIST 801B: Leadership & Development in the Humanities & Social Sciences
- HIST 801C: Research Communication & Funding for Humanists
Every Summer Semester:
- HIST 950: Graduate Seminar in Reading and Writing History