An Accolade for History

The graduate program in history at USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences was ranked among the top 20 “Best Graduate History Programs in the U.S.” by Education-Portal.com.

“Our entire department came together to make this happen,” said Professor of History Steve Ross, who served as chair of the department from 2003 to 2010.

During the past decade, the USC Dornsife Department of History has been working to create a singular learning experience for students. In addition to recruiting top-flight senior faculty, the graduate program pared down the number of doctoral candidates admitted to 10–12 per cohort. This allows students to work more closely with their advisers and it provides greater funding opportunities, Ross said.

Recruiting top-tier faculty and cultivating well-prepared students “is part of USC’s vision for where we want to be as a university,” he said. “We’re pleased we could realize that vision. It’s been hard work, but we’ve had a lot of support and encouragement from the administration.”

The USC Dornsife graduate program in history offers majors in the history of the United States, China, Japan, Korea, Medieval Europe, Early Modern Europe, Modern Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. Students can choose to further specialize in a wide variety of areas, including pre-modern worlds, law, visual culture, and gender, sexuality, women and the family.

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