PhD in History
Program overview
The PhD in History allows you to gain expertise in a broad range of topics, including law and society, media and popular culture, and transnationalism and empire. Doctoral students join a vibrant research community and are invited to become involved in one of the many centres affiliated with the Department of History such as the Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling and the Curating and Public Scholarship Lab. The program encourages creativity and innovation, allowing students to respond to critical social issues in new and interesting ways. The storytelling techniques used by our students include the use of telecommunications, multimedia, oral histories and mobile exhibitions.
Program Details
Admission Requirements
- MA degree in History, with high standing, from a recognized university.
- Proficiency in English. Applicants whose primary language is not English must demonstrate that their knowledge of English is sufficient to pursue graduate studies in their chosen field. Please refer to the English language proficiency page for further information on requirements and exemptions.
Degree Requirements
Fully-qualified candidates are required to complete a minimum of 90 credits.
Please see the History Courses page for course descriptions.
History PhD (90 credits)
| 12 | credits of Required Courses: |
| 6 | credits chosen from two 3-credit reading courses at the 800 level in the student’s minor comprehensive field. |
| 12 | credits: |
| 6 | credits: |
| 54 | credits: |
| DEGREE |
FALL (September) |
WINTER (January) |
SUMMER (May/June) |
| History | PhD | Feb. 1 | Oct. 1 | n/a |
We pride ourselves in offering minor and major fields that are tailor-made to our students’ research interests. These fields can be geographical, chronological, thematic, or methodological fields. Examples of fields recently supervised include:
- Twentieth-Century US History
- History of Migration
- Japanese Popular Culture
- History and Memory
- Public History
Our doctoral seminar HIST 889 allows for scholarly, pedagogical, and professional conversations. The format of this course is fluid as it is designed to respond to the concerns of each doctoral cohort. Topics of discussion include study and writing strategies for comprehensive exams, grant-proposal writing workshops, research methods and resources, teaching strategies for the undergraduate classroom, and discussions of historical theories and methods. The seminar meets bi-weekly during the fall and winter terms.
Consult the graduate calendar for a complete list of current courses.
Full-time graduate students and new applicants for full-time study can apply for a teaching assistantships of around $ 3,700 per semester.
A number of departmental awards are also available for graduate students, including the Dagobert Broh Graduate Research Stipend, the Dagobert Broh Doctoral Entrance Fellowship, the Keith Lowther Graduate Award, the Inge Thurm Bursary in Women’s or Gender History, and the Geoffrey Adams Scholarship in French History.
Other awards available through the Faculty of Arts and Science include:
- Concordia Merit Scholarship
- Concordia University Graduate Fellowship
- Hydro-Quebec Graduate Award
- John W. O'Brien Graduate Fellowship
- Clara Strozyk Scholarship
- Out-of-Province Fee Remission Awards
- Conference Travel Awards
- International Tuition Award of Excellence
Consideration for Entrance Awards is automatically part of the admissions process for all new students.
Please also consult Concordia’s graduate funding page and Financial Aid and Awards.
The research of our full-time faculty members spans the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa. Areas of faculty research expertise include:
- law and society
- gender and sexuality
- war and peace
- science and the environment
- public history and memory
- media and popular culture
- genocide and human rights
- transnationalism and empire
Graduate students organize one of North America’s longest-running history graduate conferences. History in the Making is an annual bilingual conference that invites students from Quebec, Ontario, Atlantic Canada and the northeastern United States to showcase their work in their respective fields. Past conferences have addressed topics such as “Recording History: Memories, Monuments & Manuscripts,” “Shattered Spaces: Piecing Together Narratives of Crisis and Change” and “Reinterpreting Our Collective Pasts: Community, Identity, and Memory.”
The Graduate History Students’ Association aims to promote a stimulating academic and social atmosphere by organizing social events, informal academic discussions, speaking engagements and other activities.
Our alumni find great success in a wide range of professional careers, including international relations, transportation, social work, journalism, law, politics, public advocacy, archives management and education.
Read about our alumni and their career paths since graduation.
