HISTORY
GRADUATE
PROGRAM
THE MASTER OF
ARTS IN HISTORY
Program Director
Dr. Stephen Miller
sjmiller@uab.edu
Department Chair
Dr. Jonathan Wiesen
jwiesen@uab.edu
WELCOME
We also hope that your
time in our department
will expose you to the
wonderful Birmingham
community and that you
take a moment to explore
the rich culture, cuisine,
and history of the Magic
City. Congratulations on
taking your first steps into
a deeper world! We look
forward to seeing what
you discover.
- The Department of History Grad Students -
Welcome to the History Department’s Graduate Program at UAB!
We are very pleased to have you join the ranks of researchers,
writers, and teachers who have passed through our program. Our
department has a diverse range of research areas, with some
of our faculty studying the history of revolutions,
governments, film, medieval Europe, health & healing, and
international relations. As you deepen your own study of history,
our dedicated and highly qualified staff will be by your side, helping
you investigate not only the rich histories of your choice, but also
demonstrating the craft of history and historical narrative. Inside our
student handbook is the roadmap to a very successful career as a
graduate student in our program. .
If you have any questions related to program requirements,
deadlines, or options for completing a graduate degree, your
answers are here! Beyond the handbook, however, each of your
professors as well as other students in the program will be here to
assist you as you travel this road. The History Department considers
itself to be a community of scholars, so please don’t hesitate to
participate in activities with any of our affiliated campus
organizations, such as the honor society, Phi Alpha Theta. This
honors society offers membership, but also hosts a series of
history-themed events which new grad students will find invaluable
ways to meet other students in our program.
OVERVIEW
The History Graduate Program has two plans for pursuing advanced historical studies.
All students must demonstrate competency in both U.S. and non-U.S. fields of
history (European, Asian, Latin American, World, etc.). They must take a minimum of
three graduate seminars (9 hours) in U.S. history as well as a minimum of three
graduate seminars (9 hours) in non-U.S. fields.
All graduate students must maintain a 3.0 GPA in their course work. Full-time students
normally should expect to devote no more than two academic years to completion of
the Master of Arts degree. Students are urged not to prolong this process beyond
three academic years.
A student must complete at least 36 hours of graduate course work in order to
graduate with a Master of Arts in History. Students may take no more than two
directed readings and/or internships as part of these 36 hours. All graduate courses in
history are numbered in the 600s.
D irected readings are offered
strictly at the discretion of the
department. A student may not
register for a directed reading
without prior approval from the
graduate program director and the
faculty member they plan to work
with. Directed readings may be
taken either i n conjunction with an
undergraduate course or as an
independent study.
Both plans have the goal of enhancing approaches to knowledge that are suitable for
those interested in pursuing a doctoral program in history and/or a career in teaching
or public history (i.e. museum or archives) as well as those who are simply hoping to
enhance their knowledge and skills.
PLAN I
PLAN II
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INTERNSHIPS
Employers look for experience when reading the resume of a potential employee. A recent
college grad with one or two internships will be more attractive than one without that work
experience. Employers know that internships give students hands-on experience with
workplace skills, challenges, and environments—experiences that make those students
valuable employees.
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Internships give you the chance to tr y out a profession and collect references and
professional contacts. Internships (HY 682) can be applied toward degree credits in either
" eminar in nited tates History" or "eminar in ny ield ."
Displayed on this page is a sample of internships that are offered. For more internship
opportunities, please contact the graduate program director.
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Phi Alpha Theta (ΦΑΘ) is an American honor society for
undergraduate and graduate students and professors of history.
The society has over 350,000 members, with about 9,500 new
members joining each year through 860 local chapters.
Chi O micron i s the UAB c hapter of the honor s ociety. O ur
missi on i s to promote the s tudy of history through the
encouragement of research, good teaching, publication, and
the exchange of learning and ideas among historians. We seek
to bring s tudents, teachers, and writers of history
together for i ntellectual and s ocial exchanges, which
promote and assist historical research and publication b y
members.
We sponsor talks and other events and annually publish the Vulcan Historical Review. Admission to Phi
Alpha Theta requires a minimum 3.1 GPA in 12 or more units of history and a minimum 3.0 GPA overall for
undergraduate students; a minimum 3.5 GPA is required for graduate students who have completed 12 or
more graduate units. Initiations are held in December and May; there is a $60 initiation fee for a lifetime
membership.
Faculty Advisor: Amy Watson
email: [email protected]
P P
C C
The Vulcan Historical Review is published annually by the Chi Omicron Chapter of Phi Alpha Theta at the
U niversity of Alabama at Birmingham. The journal is completely student-written and student-edited by
undergraduate and graduate students at UAB. A launch party for each new issue is held in August.
All history students at UAB, including recent alumni, are encouraged to submit articles, reviews, essays,
oral histories, or other works of historical interest to be considered for publication. Submissions by any
c urrently enrolled UAB student are also welcome. Please email us ([email protected]) or send inquires to:
Phi Alpha Theta Advisor
UAB Department of History
HHB 360
1401 University Boulevard
Birmingham, AL 35294-1152
RADATE TEAHIN
ASSISTANT TA
The program offers three graduate assistantships per year on a c ompetitive basis. T he assistantships
r equire a maximum of twenty hours of work per week in return for an annual s tipend ($20,400 per year).
Please contact the History Department for further information regarding an assistantship.
Graduate Teaching Assistants should make sure that the department staff has a copy of their class schedule
at the beginning of each semester at which time the work schedule will be established.
This appointment as a Graduate Assistant is available only to students with an excellent academic record;
s elections will be based on GPA. You must remain in good standing and make satisfactory progress toward
meeting your degree requirements to continue as a Graduate Assistant. Appointments normally end on the
d ay before the start of the next fall semester.
T his appointment is intended to help you to be a full-time s tudent, immersed in your graduate program.
Accordingly, you may not engage in any other remunerated activities either on or off campus. Exceptions
to this rule are rare and require prior approval in writing by the Graduate School Dean.
Ord i narily Graduate Teaching Assistants will work 20 hours a week in the department and may be assigned
each semester to one or two faculty members for whom they will provide teaching assistance. To prevent
any misunderstandings, a few points need to be kept in mind:
A Graduate Teaching Assistantship is a job; this means performing the
d uties of the job is a requirement and the only excuses acceptable for
fail i ng to do so are illness or other problems of a serious nature. Academic
r equir ements must b e balanced with the job. T he fact that an assis tant has
a paper to wri te or a book to read for c lass is not grounds for failure to
complete ass istantship duties.
Whil e assistants are expected to perform d uties in a timely fashion, faculty
members should be courteous in their requests. Instructions s hould be
c l ear, and the time allowed for completion should be reasonable. Remember
that all d uties (offic e and teaching ass istant d uties) should not take more
than 20 hours a week. However, with permission, the GTA may work
add i tional hours one week and fewer hours the next if this d oes not
d etri mentall y affect the assistant, the faculty members, or the
d epartment.
Graduate T eaching Assis tants should check the GTA mailbox daily for
ass i gnments.
Graduate T eaching Assis tants will also b e required to proctor exams or
s how films to classes when needed. Faculty members should let the
d epartment staff know of their need for such assistance as soon as possible
s o that scheduling can be worked out.
Graduate Teaching Ass istants may b e called on for a v ariety of duties:
class r oom assistance which includes: grading, posting material to Canvas
and technologic al support, photocopying, and other clerical work. GTAs
might be asked to make public presentations about the Department of
History. They are, however not to b e treated or c onsidered personal
ass i s tants. The GTA may also refuse requests to perform duties which are
not di rectly related to the department or the faculty members professional
endeavors.
AADEMI ADISIN
The academic advising process is designed to help you stay on track throughout your time as an
MA student and to help you graduate on time. During your first semester, the Graduate Program
Director, D r. Steve Miller, will reach out to you to help you plan your future coursework. Going
forward, it is very important that you meet with D r. Miller once per semester. He assists you with
program logistics, such as:
. Understanding academic policies and procedures.
. Understanding degree requirements, course selection, and schedule planning.
. Provide information about potential areas of study.
. Guiding you to a professor whose field of study is best aligned with your academic interests.
a. At the beginning of your second year, this professor will then become your advisor and will assist you in
choosing additional members of a.) your MA thesis committee (Plan I) or b.) your comprehensive exam
committee (Plan II).
. Even though you will be working closely with your advisor and committee members, Dr. Van Sant will still
assist you with questions about the program, coursework, and graduation requirements.
P D D
tent ho ao e amiiar ith the Poicie Procere ection o the raate choo eite
1. The Graduate School will only accept the forms that are on the Graduate School website
at http://www.uab/edu/graduate/online-forms
2. The deadlines for paperwork for each term are also posted on the Graduate School
website.
3. Plan I students who have completed 15 hours of course work should choose their advisor,
who will chair their graduate study committee. Plan I students should choose a committee of
three faculty members with expertise in their subject field. After consulting with each
committee member and obtaining their consent, the Plan I student should complete the
attached Graduate Study Committee Form and forward it to the Graduate Program Director
for review. The Graduate Study Committee Letter will b e completed b y the Graduate Program
D i rector and submitted to the Graduate School.
Plan II students who have completed 15 hours of course work should select an advisor and
prepare the attached History Plan of Study.
4. Plan I students must complete the Application for Candidacy form prior to the
semester i n which they plan to graduate. This form is available on the Graduate School
website
https://uab.edu/graduate/students/current-students/theses-dissertations/application-for-
admission-to-candidacy
5. Please submit a copy of the form to the Graduate Program Director or Department Chair's
office.
6. No later than the end of the third week of the semester in which they plan to graduate,
Plan I and Plan II students must complete the Application for Degree. This form can be
accessed online through BlazerNET by clicking on LinksForms and selecting Apply for
Graduate egreeCertificate
7. Please submit a copy of the form to the Graduate Program Director or Department Chair's
office no later than the end of the third week of the semester in which the student plans
to graduate:
Plan I students must coordinate with their committee members and agree on a time and date
for the Master of Arts i n History thesis presentation and defense. The student must submit
an updated Graduate Study Committee t o the Graduate Program Director or the
D epartment Chair's office advising the date and time of the presentation and
defense. In addition, the Online Request for Thesis or Dissertation Approval must be
submitted to the Graduate School.
This request is available on the Graduate School website:
https://www.uab.edu/graduate/students/current-students/theses-dissertations/your-thesis-
and-dissertation#:~:text=Submit%20your%20Thesis%2FDissertation%
20Approval,your20request%20has%20been%20processed.
In addition, a UAB Publication Agreement must be submitted. This agreement is located:
https://uab.edu/graduate/students/current-students/theses-dissertations/
resourceseditingpublishing
Plan II students must select an examination committee and coordinate with their committee
members a time and date for the Masters of Arts in History comprehensive survey
examination. The student must submit the attached MA Examination information F orm
to the Graduate Program Director or the Department Chair's
office advising the date and time of the MA examination.
Please note that both Plan I and Plan II examinations must be taken at least one week prior
to the Graduate School deadline for that semester. The Graduate School deadline will be
approximately 30 days before the expected date of graduation.
CD P D D
. To reiterate, before graduating:
•Plan I students must be certain that they have completed the following:
o Graduate Study Committee Letter
o Application for Degree
o Application for Candidacy
o Request for Theses or Dissertation Approval
o U AB Publication Agreement Form
o Graduate Study Committee, which will provide the required written notice of
their committee and the time and date of the Master of Arts in History thesis
defense.
• Plan II students must be certain that they have completed the following:
o History Plan of Study
o Application for Degree
o Application for Candidacy
o MA Examination Information Form which will provide the required written
notice of their committee and the time and date of the Master of Arts
examination.
f your paperwor is not completed and sumitted y the Graduate chool deadlines you
will not graduate. either the irector of the History Graduate Program nor the History
sta or faculty can tae responsiility for incomplete or missing paperwor. The Graduate
chool will not accept any forms other than those on the wesite.
. No excuse will be made or accepted for students who fail to remember and adhere to the
following:
a. Graduate students can only earn credits for courses which are numbered 600
and above.
. Students should make sure they have the latest version of the Program
Guidelines. These include the curriculum requirements and are available in the
Department of History. Plan I students must comply with the regulations in the
UAB Format Manual for Theses and Dissertations. The Graduate School will
e-mail you a link to this site after the thesis is approved. Please see the
Graduate School website for all theses requirements and deadlines.
c. To remain in good standing in the Graduate School, a student must maintain a
3.0 GPA. If the GPA drops below 3.0, the student will be placed on academic
probation. Students will have two academic terms to raise their GPA to 3.0 or be
expelled from the program.
d. Any grade of "I" (incomplete) will automatically be changed to an "F" if the
course work is not completed by the end of the next term. Students are
responsible for completing the work and verifying that the professor makes the
grade change. Be aware that the end of the term means the last day of classes.
e. If a student in the program fails to enroll for course work for a full academic
year, he or she will have to apply for readmission. This involves completing a
new application form and paying the required fee. Please see the Graduate
School website.
f. Course work completed over five years in the past cannot count toward the
degree unless the Director of the History Graduate Program validates it. Students
should attempt completion of their graduate work for the Master of Arts within
three years, if possible.
g. Transfer of credit hours for courses completed at another institution cannot be
made until a student has completed at least six hours of course work at UAB.
Applications for transfer of credit are located on the Graduate School website.
Only 12 credit hours of transferred courses can be applied to the Master of Arts.
h. Courses taken at UAB as a non-degree student can only be counted toward the
Master of Arts degree with the approval of the Director of the History Graduate
Program. Only 12 credit hours of non-degree work can be applied to the Mater of
Arts. Please see the Graduate School website.
Only two directed reading courses may be counted toward the total graduate
hours required for graduation. Internships in public history will be the equivalent of
Directed Reading courses for this requirement.
i.
RADATE FATY
Y FIED
RADATE FATY Y FIED
ndrew . aer Ph..
D r. Baer's concentration is U.S. History after WWII, African American History, and
the history or race, policing, and social movements. His first b ook, Beyond the
Usual Beating: The Jon Burge Police Torture Scandal and Social Movements for
Police Accountability in Chicago, was published in 2020. He is currently working
on a second book tentatively titled Sing a Black Girl's Song: The Movement to
Make 13 Murders Matter in 1 Boston
ichele orman
m f o r m a n @ u a b . e d u
Ms. Forman directs the UAB Media Studies Program and is a documentary
filmmaker who teaches applied documentary filmmaking and oral history courses,
as well as film history and theory. Her most recent feature-length documentary
Alabama Bound (PBS ReelSouth, original broadcast 2018) explores LGBTQ family
rights in the South prior to the U.S. Supreme Court Obergefell decision legalizing
same-sex marriage. She is working on a feature documentary titled 54 Miles to
Home about the history of rural Black activism to support the Selma to
Montgomery Voting Rights March in 1965. She is the current Series Producer of
the award-winning Southern Exposure environmental film program.
ndrew . ei tt Ph..
a k e i t t @ u a b . e d u
D r. Keitt is an intellectual and cultural historian who studies the history of
Spain from the early modern period to the twentieth century. His work deals with
issues ranging from Inquisition studies, to the cognitive science of religion,
to the history of medicine and science. He is the author of Inventing the
Sacred: Imposture, Inquisition, and the Boundaries of the Supernatural in
Golden Age Spain (Brill, 2005) and A Physician in the Age of Liberal
Reform: Ildefonso Martínez y Fernández and Medical Politics in Nineteenth-
Century Spain (LSU Press, 2024). His current research deals with
mysticism and esotericism in early-twentieth-century Spain.
RADATE FATY
RADA TE F A T Y Y FIED
tephen . iller Ph..
Born and raised near downtown Chicago, Steve Miller became fascinated with
French history as an undergraduate student at the University of Wisconsin,
Madison, where he learned about all the revolutionary upheavals in the country's
p a st. He later graduated with a Ph.D. in history from UCLA in 1999. Steve Miller
is co-author, with Christopher Isett, of The Social History of Agriculture: From
the rigins t o the Current Crisis (Rowman & Littlefield, 2017); author of
Feudalism, enality and Revolution: Provincial Assemblies in Late-ld Regime
France (Manchester University Press, 2020); a uthor of S tate and Society in
Eighteenth-Century France: A Study in Political Poer and Popular Revolution in
Languedoc, revised and updated edition (Haymarket Books, 2023); and co-author
with Xavier Lafrance, of T h e Tranistion to Capitalism in Modern France: Primitive
Accumulation and Markets from the ld Regime to the Post-II Era (Routledge,
2023).
ritney urphy Ph..
D r. B r itney Murphy is an Assistant Professor of Public History and African
American Studies. She also serves as the internship coordinator for both
programs. D r. Murphy's research interests include modern U.S. history, urban
h istory, and volunte e r ism. Her article, The Fall of Mount Trashmore and the Rise
of Community Ac tivism, is her first p u blished work. Her current r esearch
evaluates the relationship a m ong civic engagement, citizenship, a nd
socioeconomic identities through the l ens of one national community service
p r ogram, Volunteers in Service to Amer ica (VISTA).
Tola odric Ph..
D r . Rodrick specializes in the social, intellectual, and religious history of the late
ancient Mediterranean and early medieval world. Her current book p roject,
Beginning the Philosophical Life: The Earliest Stages of Monastic T raining in
L ate A ncient Egypt, is a study of the initial steps of monastic training and
socialization in fourth- and fifth- century Egypt with particular attention to their
c onnections to traditional philosophical educational a nd social practices in the
wider Roman Empire, including investigation into spiritual exercises, ethics,
gender issues, and other elements of identity-construction.
RADATE FATY
Y FIED
RADATE FATY Y FIED
rian teele Ph..
Dr. Brian Steele specializes in the history of the American Revolution and Early
Republic, but has recently been writing and teaching about the long 19th century
through the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. He has also directed the seminar in
"historiography" for a few semesters and loves that course. Dr. Steele is the
author of The eclaration in American Nationalism, in The Cambridge Companion
to The eclaration of Independence, ed., Mark Graeber and Michael Zuckert
(forthcoming); and is finishing as essay tentatively entitled: The United States
Must Being to eal ith the hole Subect: Ho the eclaration of
Independence Fueled the Emancipatory Promise of Reconstruction and Ended up
Sanctioning the Gilded Age and Jim Cro
ohn . an ant Ph..
D r. Van Sant's focus is on the East Asian world, specifically nineteenth-century
J apan, and Japan's relation with the United States. He is active in the
Association for Asian Studies, the World History Association, the Fulbright
Association, and the Advanced Placement program for World History. One of his
publications, is called Pacific Pioneers: Japanese Journeys to America and
Haaii, 15-1 (University of Illinois Press, 2000).
alter . ard Ph..
D r. Ward concentrates on the Mediterranean and Near East d uring antiquity and
the early medieval period. He is also interested in early Christian monasticism
and the role of the Roman Empire in the Middle East. He has written or edited
several books, including: Sources of orld Societies (Bedford/St Martin,
2011), The Mirage of the Saracen: Christians and Nomads in the Sinai
Peninsula in Late Antiquity (UC Press, 2014), The Socio-economic History and
Material Culture of the Roman and Byzantine Near East: Essays in Honor of S
Thomas Parker (Gorgias Press, 2016), Near Eastern Cities from Alexander to
the Successors of Muhammad (Routledge, 2019), and Bearing N either
F ruit N or ater Nor A nything G ood: The E conomy of the L ate A ntique
Roman P rovince of Third Palestine (Archaeopress).
RADATE FATY Y FIED
D r. Watson works on the early modern British empire, with a focus on party
politics, print culture, and the transatlantic spread of movements and ideas. Her
first book project, Patriots Before Revolution: The Groth of Political Instability in
the British Atlantic, 114-13, is under contract with Yale University Press.
Patriots Before Revolution explores the origins of the Patriot party, a group of
British imperial reformers who won followers across the Atlantic world and,
ultimately, inspired the American Revolution.
my atson Ph..
onathan iesen Ph..
Dr. Wiesen's concentration is Modern European History, Nazi Germany and
fascism, US-German relations, and comparative racism. He is the author of
est German Industry and the Challenge of the Nazi Past, 145-155 (Chapel
Hill, 2001) and Nazi Germany: Society and Culture, and Politics (Bloomsbury,
2024), and coeditor of Selling Modernity: Advertising in Tentieth Century
Germany (Durham, 2007). He is currently writing a book on German views of
racism in the United States.
atasha aretsy Ph..
D r. Natasha Zaretsky focuses on the history of US political culture since 1968 with
an emphasis on the histories of feminism, gender, and the family. She has written
two books, No irection Home: the American Family a nd the Fear of National
ecline, 1-1 (The University of North Carolina Press, 2007) and
Radiation Nation: Three Mile Island and the Political Transformation of the
1's (Columbia University Press, 2018) She is currently working on a gender
history of 1980's America.
P D
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Student Blazer/Banner ID: Date:Student Name:
Thesis Defense Date:
APPROVAL
Advisor:
Course Credit
Hours
Semester Grade
HY 301 Historiography* 3.0
3.0
3.0
3.0
3.0
3.0
3.0
3.0
3.0
3.0
6.0
36.0
HY 602 Research and Writing*
Seminar US History Course #
Seminar US History Course #
Seminar US History Course #
Seminar Non-US History Course #
Seminar Non-US History Course #
Seminar Non-US History Course #
Seminar History Elective Fields Course #
Seminar History Elective Fields Course #
HY 699 Thesis Research
Total
P D
P
Student Blazer/Banner ID: Date:Student Name:
Comprehensive Exam Date:
Advisor: Graduate Program Director:
Course Credit
Hours
Semester Grade
HY 301 Historiography* 3.0
3.0
3.0
3.0
3.0
3.0
3.0
3.0
3.0
3.0
36.0
HY 602 Research and Writing*
Seminar US History Course #
Seminar US History Course #
Seminar US History Course #
Seminar Non-US History Course #
Seminar Non-US History Course #
Seminar Non-US History Course #
Seminar History Elective Fields Course #
Seminar History Elective Fields Course #
Total
Seminar History Elective Fields Course # 3.0
3.0Seminar History Elective Fields Course #
APPROVAL
