Graduate Program

Welcome to NIU's history graduate programs. With one of the two oldest Ph.D. programs at NIU, we've been training future historians for decades. We also offer an M.A. degree and an M.A. concentration in public history. Our students work closely with individual faculty on dissertations and M.A. research projects, participate in the profession and find good jobs after graduating. Our graduate courses offer a wide variety of topics and fields of study. We take pride in the strengths of our programs.

Outstanding Faculty

Students at NIU study with a faculty deeply committed to teaching and scholarship. Our faculty have published with leading university and commercial presses and historical journals, served as officers of historical associations, won prestigious book prizes and received grants from major foundations.

Mentored Independence

In our programs, students benefit from both autonomy and guidance. Graduate seminars emphasize discussion of historical literature and methodology in an atmosphere of mutual exchange rather than competition. Students also work closely with faculty mentors on independent projects. To accommodate graduate students whose professional or personal and family obligations limit their opportunities for coursework, we schedule most 600-level reading seminars and 700-level research seminars during evening hours. We also offer online versions of 500-level courses, especially during the summer terms.

Intellectual Community

As students take courses and do research, they work with other committed students in a vibrant intellectual atmosphere. The History Graduate Student Association hosts an annual conference and a regular department "brown bag" lunch series offers an opportunity for faculty members and advanced students to present work in progress in an informal setting. In addition, distinguished historians from other institutions visit campus for the W. Bruce Lincoln Memorial Lecture and for the Graduate Colloquium Lecture. In recent years, speakers have included Phil Tiemeyer, Erik McDuffie, Chie Ikeya, Cian McMahon, Kevin Dawson, Sundiata Keita, Cha-Jua, Amy Beth Stanley, Elizabeth Ellis and Mary Hicks.

Proximity to Research Facilities

NIU is conveniently located in the middle of several research centers. On campus, one finds Founders Memorial Library, which houses extensive collections of books, journals, microforms and digital resources and the Regional History Center, which contains manuscript records from northern Illinois. Beyond DeKalb, one has easy access to facilities in Chicago, including the Chicago Historical Society and the Newberry Library, considered one of the strongest private historical libraries in the country. A bit farther afield, one can travel to the University of Illinois-Champaign-Urbana or the Wisconsin Historical Society at Madison, which has extensive collections especially in American history.