Graduate Program Overview

Graduate students become part of a program that is academically demanding, professionally engaged, and attuned to the breadth of our profession. Its flexibility allows students to explore their own capabilities and then pursue their own path to success.

MA in History

The three major areas in the master of arts program and corresponding fields are:

  • European History – Medieval, Early Modern or Modern
  • United States History – Early U.S. or Modern U.S.
  • Global Studies 

PhD in History

The doctoral program has four major thematic areas in which students focus on a geographical region and chronological era supported by department faculty:

  • American Cultures and Societies
  • Empire and Decolonization
  • Race, Ethnicity and Gender
  • Historical Memory



Graduate Program Highlights

Our Students

Around 40% of our MA students enter doctoral programs (both at Marquette and other schools). An additional 20% are applying their studies to work in public history or library and information science. Of the remaining 40%, there is a healthy mix of teachers, those working in academic administration and student affairs in colleges and high schools, as well as those working in business. Our doctoral students similarly have found success in education. Historically, roughly three-fourths of our PhD alumni have earned tenure-track jobs. The decline in humanities hiring has resulted in fewer of those positions, but our recent graduates still hold tenure-track positions as well as those of research faculty, work steadily as visiting assistant professors, lecturers and adjunct instructors, and teach in private high school programs. Learn more about our graduate program straight from current graduate students.

Our Faculty

Current members of the department have been awarded Fulbright-Hays, Mellon Foundation, Fulbright, Rockefeller Foundation, ACLS, NEH and American Philosophical Society grants; four have earned the Marquette University Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence, and two have received the College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Award for Advising. Their books have been published by top university presses such as Cambridge, Johns Hopkins, North Carolina, California, NYU, Oklahoma, Syracuse and Kansas, and by academic presses like Routledge, Berg, Brill, Bedford-St. Martin’s. Learn more about our award-winning faculty.

Career Support

While maintaining a focus on academic excellence and continuing to anchor our program in the intellectual rigors of historical inquiry, we also actively support those planning for careers outside of the academy. Career planning begins in our orientation program and continues in discussions through our course work and workshops, often in conjunction with Marquette’s Center for Teaching and Learning, the Preparing Future Faculty and Professionals program, and Career Center.

Graduate Student Learning Outcomes

M.A. Learning Outcomes

Learning Outcome 1

Construct syntheses of factual and historiographical information in two distinct fields of history.

  • The measure used is the comprehensive examination—an eight-hour written examination, with six hours devoted to the student’s major field and two hours to a minor field

Learning Outcome 2

Use historical research tools and methods to write article-length papers on original, historical topics.

  • The measure used was the final M.A. Essay, usually a revised and expanded seminar paper evaluated by the faculty adviser with the DGS using the rubric developed by the graduate faculty

Ph.D. Learning Outcomes

Learning Outcome 1

Comprehend the content, literature, and methodologies of four distinct fields of history.

  • The measure used was the Doctoral Qualifying Examination (DQE) in four fields—twelve hours of written exams and a three-hour oral exam

Learning Outcome 2

Complete a book-length work on an original historical topic.

  • The measure is a defense of dissertation that meets department and professional standards for research, argument, and writing

Learning Outcome 3

Demonstrate proficiency in a language other than English in order to do research in non-American, non-British topics (where appropriate).

  • A language exam dealing with translating sources is arranged by the doctoral candidate’s director in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies