dissertations in history

Department of History

Yale history dissertations.

During the late 1800’s, only a trickle of dissertations were submitted annually, but today, the department averages about 25 per year. See who some of those intrepid scholars were and what they wrote about by clicking on any of the years listed below.

College of Arts & Sciences

Completed Dissertations

2020-present.

Broadus, Victoria Latin American History “ Vissungo: The Afro-Descended Culture of Miners and Maroons in Brazil’s Diamond District, 1850s-2020s “ Advisor: Bryan McCann

Mensah, Tracey African History “ ‘Shopping for All Pocket’: A Business History of Indians in Ghana, 1890–1980 “ Advisor: Meredith McKittrick

Nanavati, Abhishek East & Central Asian History “ Co-Producing ‘American Dreams’: Dependents Housing, Hydroponic Farming, and the Militarization of Everyday Life in Occupied Japan, Okinawa, and South Korea, 1945-1950 “ Advisor: Jordan Sand

    2022-2023

Akgül, Önder Middle East & North African History “ Ecology, the Accumulation of Capital, and Dispossession in Late Ottoman Western Anatolia “ Advisor: Mustafa Aksakal

Chan, Paula Russia & Eastern European History “ Eyes on the Ground: Soviet Investigations of the Nazi Occupation “ Advisor: Michael David-Fox

Grams, Benan Middle East & North African History “ Damascus in the Time of Cholera: The Impact of Communicable Diseases on the Transformation of an Ottoman Provincial Capital 1840-1920 “ Advisor: Mustafa Aksakal

La Lime, Matthew African History “ Land, Informality, and Security: A Material History of West Africa’s Futa Jallon Massif (1650-2019) “ Advisor: Meredith McKittrick

Norweg, Emily United States History “ Mass(achusetts) Incarceration and Higher Education: the Deep Origins and Contested History of College Behind Bars in the Bay State “ Advisor: Marcia Chatelain

Steir, Kate Transregional History “ Provisions of Power: Food and Scarcity in Jamaica 1730-1790 “ Advisor: Alison Games

    2021-2022

Christensen, Robert Latin American History “Worlds in Conflict: Indigenous Peoples, Environmental Challenges, and the ‘Conquista del Desierto’ in the Making of Argentina, 1870-1900” Advisor: Erick Langer

De Vries, Jennifer European History “‘In the Manner of the Beguines’: Regulating Beguine Life in the Low Countries, 1200-1600” Advisor: Amy Leonard

Dingman, Jacob East & Central Asian History “‘The Unknown Country’: Tibet in the Western Imagination, 1850 – 1950” Advisor: James Millward

Hudson, Chelsea East & Central Asian history “‘To Absent Us from Humanity’: Ainu and Population Counts under Russian and Japanese Administration” Advisor: Jordan Sand

Loyd, Thomas Russian and Eastern European History “Black in the USSR: African Students, Soviet Empire, and the Politics of Global Education during the Cold War” Advisor: Michael David-Fox

Proctor, Dylan Environmental History “Multidisciplinary Approaches to Infectious Disease History in Twentieth-Century Africa” Advisor: Timothy Newfield

Tarasov, Stanislav Russian and Eastern European History “Noble Feelings of Dissent: Russian Emotional Culture and the Decembrist Revolt of 1825” Advisor: Michael David-Fox

Torres, James Latin American History “Trade in a Changing World: Gold, Silver, and Commodity Flows in the Northern Andes, 1780-1840” Advisor: Erick Langer

Thacker, Molly United States History “‘Are We Not Children Too?’: Race, Media, and the Formative History of Unaccompanied Immigrant Children in the United States Advisor: Katherine Benton-Cohen

Young, Cory United States History “For Life or Otherwise: Abolition and Slavery in South Central Pennsylvania, 1780-1847” Advisor: Adam Rothman

    2020-2021

Barraza Mendoza, Elsa United States History “Catholic Slaveholders, Enslaved People, and the Making of Georgetown University, 1792-1862” Advisor: Adam Rothman

DeLorenzo, Christopher Latin American History “Coca Substitution and Community Response in the Yungas of La Paz, Bolivia, 1920-1988” Advisor: Erick Langer

Eames, Anthony Transregional History “Public Diplomacy For the Nuclear Age: Anglo American Grand Strategy in the Late Cold War” Advisor: Kathryn Olesko & David Painter

Feldman, Benjamin United States History “Liberation from the Affluent Society: The Political Thought of the Third World in Post‐War America” Advisor: Michael Kazin

Gornostaev, Andrey Russia and Eastern European History “Peasants ‘on the Run’: State Control, Fugitives, Social and Geographic Mobility in Imperial Russia, 1649-1796” Advisor: James Collins

Holekamp, Abigail Russian and Eastern European History “Citizens and Comrades: Entangled Revolutions and the Production of Knowledge between Russia and France, 1905-1936” Advisor: Michael David-Fox

Johnson, Matthew Environmental History “Temples of Modern Pharaohs: Environmental Impacts of Dams and Dictatorship in Brazil” Advisor: John McNeill

Kang, Sukhwan European History “Between Peaceful Coexistence and Ongoing Conflict: Religious Tolerance and the Protestant Minority in Seventeenth-Century France” Advisor: James Collins

Kaymakci, Said European History “The Constitutional Limits of Military Reform: Ottoman Political Writing During the Times of Revolutionary Change, 1592-1807” Advisor: Gabor Agoston

McQueeney, Kevin United States History “The City that Care Forgot: Apartheid Health Care, Racial Health Disparity, and Black Health Activism in New Orleans, 1718-2018” Advisor: Marcia Chatelain

McRae, Douglas Latin American History “From Fluvial City To Hydro-Metropolis: Water, Sanitation, and Metropolitan Environment In São Paulo, Brazil (1850-1975)” Advisor: Bryan McCann

O’Neal, Jennifer United States History “Beyond the Trail of Broken Treaties: The International Native American Rights Movement, 1975‐1980” Advisor: David Painter

Patel, Trishula African History “Becoming Zimbabwean: A History of Indians in Rhodesia, 1890-1980” Advisor: Meredith McKittrick

Perry, Jackson Environmental History “The Gospel of the Gum: Eucalyptus Enthusiasm and the Modern Mediterranean, ca. 1848-1900” Advisor: John McNeill

Schwertner, Hillar Latin American History “Tijuandiego: Water, Capitalism and Urbanization in the Californias, 1848-1982” Advisor: John Tutino

Singh, Amarjot Transregional History “The Shadows of Command: Military Command in Ancient Sparta and Athens” Advisor: Alexander Sens & Jordan Sand

    2019-2020

Belokowsky, Simon Russian & Eastern European History “‘Youth Is to Live in the City!’: Rural Out-Migration in the Black Earth Region under Khrushchev and Brezhnev” Advisor: Michael David-Fox

Cano, Daniel Latin American History “Frontiers of Education: The Making of the ‘Literate Indian’ in the Mission Schools of Chile and Bolivia, 1880-1950” Advisor: Erick Langer

Famularo, Julia East & Central Asian History “‘Fighting the Enemy with Fists and Daggers:’ The Chinese Communist Party’s Counterterrorism Policy in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region under Xi Jinping, 2012-2019” Advisor: James Millward

Foley, Thomas United States History “An ‘Odious Aristocracy:’ Energy, Politics, and the Roots of Industrial Capitalism in Nineteenth-Century Pennsylvania” Advisor: David Painter

Frazier, Chad United States History “From Subjects to Citizens: The University of Puerto Rico and the Citizenship Revolution in the Greater United States, 1898-1935” Advisor: Katherine Benton-Cohen

Hock, Stefan Middle East & North African History “Policing War and Sexuality in the Ottoman Empire and Turkey, 1908-1938” Advisor: Mustafa Aksakal

Goffman, Laura Middle East & North African History “Disorder and Diagnosis: Health and Society in the Gulf and Arabian Peninsula” Advisor: Judith Tucker

Kondoyanidi, Anita Russian & Eastern European History “The Prophet Disillusioned: Maxim Gorky and the Russian Revolutions” Advisor: Michael David-Fox

Macartney, Alexander European History “War in the Postwar: Japan and West Germany Protest the Vietnam War and the Global Strategy of Imperialism” Advisor: Anna von der Goltz

Ryzhkovskyi, Volodymyr Russian & Eastern European History “Soviet Occidentalism: Medieval Studies and the Restructuring of Imperial Knowledge in Twentieth-Century Russia” Advisor: Michael David-Fox

Scallen, Patrick Latin American History “‘The Bombs That Drop in El Salvador Explode in Mount Pleasant:’ From Cold War Conflagration to Immigrant Struggles in Washington, DC, 1970-1995” Advisor: John Tutino & Joseph McCartin

    2018-2019

Al-Saif, Bader Middle East & North African History “Reform Islam? The Renewal of Islamic Thought and Praxis in Modern and Contemporary Arabian Peninsula” Advisor: Yvonne Haddad

Berry, Chelsea Transregional History “ Poisoned Relations: Medicine, Sorcery, and Poison Trials in the Contested Atlantic, 1680-1850 ” Advisor: Alison Games

Brew, Greg US History “ Mandarins, Paladins, and Pahlavis: The International Energy System, the United States, and the Dual Integration of Oil in Iran, 1925-1964 ” Advisor: David Painter

Cornwell, Graham H. Middle East & North African History “ Sweetening the Pot: A History of Tea and Sugar in Morocco, 1850-1960 ” Advisor: Osama Abi-Mershed

Dannies, Kate Middle East & North African History “ Breadwinner Soldiers: Gender, Welfare, and Sovereignty in the Ottoman First World War ” Advisor: Judith Tucker

Horn, Oliver US History “ From Model to Menace: U.S. Foreign Aid, Development, and Drugs in Cold War Colombia, 1956-1978 ” Advisor: David Painter

Kates, Adrienne Latin American History “ The Persistence of Maya Autonomy: Global Capitalism, Tropical Environments, and the Limits of the Mexican State, 1880-1950 ” Advisor: John Tutino

Mellor, Robynne Environmental History “ The Cold War Underground: An Environmental History of Uranium Mining in the United States, Canada, and the Soviet Union, 1945-1991 ” Advisor: John McNeill

Porta, Earnest Middle East & North African History “ Morocco in the Early Atlantic World, 1415-1603 ” Advisor: Osama Abi-Mershed

Raykhlina, Yelizaveta Russian & Eastern European History “ Russian Literary Marketplace: Periodicals, Social Identity, and Publishing for the Middle Stratum in Imperial Russia, 1825-1865 ” Advisor: Catherine Evtuhov Shi, Yue East & Central Asian History “ The Seven Rivers: Empire and Economy in the Russo-Qing Central Asian Frontier, 1860s-1910s “ Advisor: James Millward

    2017-2018

Abbott, Elena Transregional History “ Beacons of Liberty: Free-Soil Havens and the American Slavery Debate, 1813-1863 ” Advisor: Adam Rothman Denning, Meredith Environmental History “ Connections and Consensus: Changing Goals for Transnational Water Management on Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, 1900-1972 ” Advisor: John McNeill

Hull, Catherine US History “ The Machine has a Soul: American Sympathizers with Italian Fascism ” Advisor: Michael Kazin

Husain, Faisal Environmental History “ Flows of Power: The Tigris-Euphrates Basin Under Ottoman Rule, 1534-1831 ” Advisor: John McNeill

Kaplan, Isabelle Russian & Eastern European History “ The Art of Nation-Building: National Culture and Soviet Politics in Stalin-Era Azerbaijan and Other Minority Republics ” Advisor: Michael David-Fox

Maurer, John US History “ An Era of Negotiation: SALT in the Nixon Administration, 1969-1972 “ Advisor: David Painter

Mevissen, Robert European History “ Constructing the Danube Monarchy: Habsburg State-Building in the Long Nineteenth Century ” Advisor: James Shedel

Reger, Jeffrey Middle East & North African History “ Planting Palestine: The Political Economy of Olive Culture in the 20th Century Galilee and West Bank ” Advisor: Judith Tucker

Smith, Jordan Transregional History “ The Invention of Rum “ Advisor: Alison Games

Taylor, Stephanie US History “ ‘I Have the Eagle:’ Citizenship and Labor in the Progressive Era, 1890-1925 ” Advisor: Joseph McCartin

Walter, Alissa Middle East & North African History “ The Ba’ath Party in Baghdad: State-Society Relations Through Wars, Sanctions and Authoritarian Rule, 1950-2003 ” Advisor: Judith Tucker

Yeaw, Katrina Middle East & North African History “ Women, Resistance and the Creation of New Gendered Frontiers in the Making of Modern Libya, 1890-1980 ” Advisor: Judith Tucker

    2016-2017

Amelicheva, Mariya Russian History “ The Russian Residency in Constantinople, 1700-1774: Russian-Ottoman Diplomatic Encounters “ Advisor: Catherine Evtuhov

Benton, James US History “ Fraying Fabric: Textile Labor, Trade Politics, and Deindustrialization, 1933-1974 ” Advisor: Joseph McCartin

Biasetto, Bruno Latin American History “ The Poisoned Chalice: Oil and Macroeconomics in Brazil (1967-2003) ” Advisor: Bryan McCann

Calisir, M. Fatih European History “ A ‘Virtuous’ Grand Vizier: Politics and Patronage in the Ottoman Empire during the Grand Vizierate of Fazil Ahmed Pasha (1661-1676)” ” Advisor: Gabor Agoston

Davies Lenoble, Geraldine Latin American History “ Filling the Desert: The Indigenous Confederacies of the Pampas and Northern Patagonia, 1840-1879 ” Advisor: Erick Langer

El Achi, Soha European History “ Children and Slave Emancipation in French Algeria and Tunisia, 1846-1892 ” Advisor: Osama Abi-Mershed

Gettig, Eric Transregional History “ Oil and Revolution in Cuba: Development, Nationalism, and the U.S. Energy Empire, 1902-1961 ” Advisor: David Painter

Gungorurler, Selim European History “ Diplomacy and Political Relations Between the Ottoman Empire and Safavid Iran, 1639-1822 ” Advisor: Gabor Agoston

Megowan, Erina Russian & Eastern European History “ For Fatherland, For Culture: State, Intelligentsia and Evacuated Culture in Russia’s Regions, 1941-1945 ” Advisor: Michael David-Fox

Mullins, Sylvia European History “ Myroblytes: Miraculous Oil in Medieval Europe ” Advisor: James Collins

Pitts, Graham Transregional History “ Fallow Fields: Famine and the Making of Lebanon, 1914-1948 ” Advisor: John McNeill

Polczynski, Michael Russian and Eastern European History “ The Wild Fields: Power and Space in the Early Modern Polish-Lithuanian/Ottoman Frontier ” Advisor: Andrzej Kaminski & Gabor Agoston

Rabah, Makram Middle East and North African History “ Conflict on Mount Lebanon: Collective Memory and the War of the Mountain ” Advisor: Osama Abi-Mershed

Shen, Yubin East and Central Asian History “ Malaria and Global Networks of Tropical Medicine in Modern China, 1919-1950 ” Advisor: Carol A. Benedict

Sicotte, Jonathan Russian and Eastern European History “ Baku: Violence, Identity and Oil ” Advisor: Michael David-Fox

    2015-2016

Danforth, Nicholas Modern European History “ Memory, Modernity, and the Remaking of Republican Turkey:  1945-1960 ” Advisor: Mustafa Aksakal

Dixon, Patrick US History “ The Hamlet Factory Fire and the Political Economy of Poultry in the Twentieth Century “ Advisor: Joseph McCartin

England, Christopher US History “ Land and Liberty: Henry George, the Single Tax Movement, and the Origins of the 20th Century Liberalism “ Advisor: Michael Kazin

Gardner, Zackary US History “ Uniforming the Rugged: Gender, Identity, and the American Administrative State during the Progressive Era, 1898-1917 “ Advisor: Katherine Benton-Cohen

Gratien, Christopher Middle East & North African History “ The Mountains Are Ours: Ecology and Settlement in Late Ottoman and early Republican Cilicia, 1856-1956 “ Advisor: Judith Tucker

Gregory, Eugene John East & Central Asian History “ Desertion and the Militarization of Qing Legal Culture “ Advisor: James Millward

Hammond, Kelly East & Central Asian History “ The Conundrum of Collaboration: Japanese Involvement with Muslims in North China, 1931-1945 “ Advisor: James Millward

Johnson, Glen Russia & Eastern European History “ The Reflection of Byzantine ‘Political Hesychasm’ In The Literature of The Second South Slavic Influence ” Advisor: David Goldfrank

McCarron, Barry US International History “ The Global Irish and Chinese: Migration, Exclusion, and Foreign Relations Among Empires, 1784-1904 “ Advisor: Carol A. Benedict

Ngo, Lan, S.J. East & Southeast Asian History “ Nguyen-Catholic History (1770s-1890s) and the Gestation of Vietnamese Catholic National Identity “ Advisor: Sandra Horvath-Peterson

Pimenov, Alexei Russia & Eastern European History Dissertation Title: “ German Romantic Nationalism and Indian Cultural Tradition ” Advisor: Catherine Evtuhov

Roe, Alan Russian & Eastern European History “ Into Soviet Nature: Tourism, Environmental Protection, & the Formation of Soviet National Parks, 1950s-1990s “ Advisor: John McNeill

Veloz, Larisa Latin American History “ ’Even the Women Are Leaving’ Gendered Migrations between Mexico and the United States: Revolutionary Diasporas, Depression-Era Depatriations, and Wartime Bracero Controls, 1900-1950 ” Advisor: John Tutino

Wen, Shuang Transregional History “ Mediated Imaginations: Chinese-Arab Connections in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries “ Advisor: John Voll

Williams, Elizabeth Middle East & North African History “ Cultivating Empires: Environment, Expertise, and Scientific Agriculture in Late Ottoman and French Mandate Syria ” Advisor: Judith Tucker

    2014-2015

Adler, Paul US History “ Planetary Citizens: U.S. NGOs and the Politics of International Development, 1965-1993 “ Advisor: Michael Kazin

Kueh, Joshua Eng Sin Transregional History “ The Manila Chinese: Community, Trade and Empire, 1570-1770 “ Advisor: Carol A. Benedict

Packard, Nathan R. US History “ The Marine Corps ‘Long March’: Modernizing the Nation’s Expeditionary Forces in the Aftermath of Vietnam, 1970-1991 “ Advisor: David Painter

Perez Montesinos, Fernando Latin American History “ Poised to Break Liberalism, Land Reform, and Communities in the Purépecha Highlands of Michoacán, Mexico, 1868-1913 “ Advisor: John Tutino

Perrier, Aurelie E. Middle East & North African History “ Intimate Matters: Negotiating Sex, Gender, and the Home in Colonial Algeria, 1830-1914 “ Advisor: Judith Tucker

Stewart Mauldin, Erin US Environmental History “ Unredeemed Land: The U.S. Civil War, Changing Land Use Practices, and the Environmental Limitations of Agriculture in the South, 1840-1880 “ Advisor: John McNeill

Taylor, Brian M. US History “ ‘To Make a Union What It Ought to Be’: African Americans, Military Service, and the Drive to Make Black Civil War Service Count “ Advisor: Chandra Manning

    2013-2014

Bowlus, John V. US History “ Connecting Midstream: The Politics and Economics of Oil Transportation in the Middle East “ Advisor: David Painter

Doucette, Siobhan Russia & Eastern European History “ Mightier than the Sword: Polish Independent Publishing, 1976-1989 ” Advisor: Andrzej Kaminski

Fernandez, Rodolfo Latin American History “ Revolution and the Industrial City: Violence and Capitalism in Monterrey, Mexico, 1890 to 1920 “ Advisor: John Tutino

Gooding, Frederick W. Jr. US History “ American Dream Deferred: Black Federal Workers in Washington, D.C., 1941-1981 “ Advisor: Michael Kazin

Hill, Michael R. Transregional History “ Temperateness, Temperance, and the Tropics: Climate and Morality in the English Atlantic World, 1553-1705 “ Advisor: Alison Games

Hower, Jessica S. Transregional History “ Tudor Imperialism: Exploration, Expansion, and Experimentation in the Sixteenth-Century British Atlantic World “ Advisor: Alison Games

Hower, Joseph E. US History “ Jerry Wurf, the Rise of AFSCME, and the Fate of Labor Liberalism, 1947-1981 “ Advisor: Joseph McCartin

İşçi, Onur Middle East & North African History “ Russophobic Neutrality: Turkish Diplomacy, 1936-1945 “ Advisor: Mustafa Aksakal

Puente Valdivia, Javier Latin American History “ Closer Apart: Indigenous and Peasant Communities and the State in Capitalist Peru, 1700-1990 “ Advisor: Erick Langer

Wiley, Christopher J. Modern European History “ Textbook Diplomacy: East German Student Exchange and the GDR’s Bid for Global Legitimacy, 1951-1990 “ Advisor: Aviel Roshwald

Williams, Andrea Elizabeth Middle East & North African Environmental History “ Planting Politics: Pastoralists and French Environmental Administration in the Nineteenth-Century Mediterranean “ Advisor: John McNeill and Gabor Agoston Yoder, April R. Latin American History “ Pitching Democracy: Baseball and Politics in the Dominican Republic, 1955-1978 “ Advisor: Bryan McCann

    2012-2013

Corcoran, John M. Russia & Eastern European History “ Power in the Provinces: The Evolution of Local Government Practices in Imperial Russia, 1825-1917 ” Advisor: Catherine Evtuhov

Francis-Fallon, Benjamin US History “ Minority Reports: The Emergence of Pan-Hispanic Politics, 1945-1980 ” Advisor: Michael Kazin

Harrison, Jennifer Pish US History “ Teacher Unionism and Civil Rights in Boston, 1963-1981 ” Advisor: Joseph McCartin

Hazelton, Andrew J. US History “ Open-Shop Fields: The Bracero Program and Farmworker Unionism, 1942-1964 ” Advisor: Joseph McCartin

Kern, Darcy A. Early Modern & Late Medieval European History “ The Political Kingdom: Parliamentary Institutions and Languages of Legitimacy in England and Castile, 1450-1520 ” Advisor: Jo Ann Moran-Cruz

Krache Morris, Evelyn F. US History “ Into the Wind: The Kennedy Administration and the Use of Chemicals in South Vietnam ” Advisor: David Painter

Landry, Marc D. Modern European Environmental History “ Europe’s Battery: The Making of the Alpine Energy Landscape, 1870-1955 ” Advisor: John McNeill

Lurie, Guy Early Modern & Late Medieval European History “ Citizenship in Later Medieval France, C. 1370- C. 1480 ” Advisor: James Collins

Scarborough, Daniel L. Russia & Eastern European History “ The White Priest at Work: Orthodox Pastoral Activism and Social Reconstruction in Late Imperial Russia ” Advisor: Catherine Evtuhov

Toprani, Anand US History “ Oil and Grand Strategy: Great Britain and Germany, 1918-1941 ” Advisor: David Painter

    2011-2012

Apel, Thomas A. US History “ Feverish Bodies, Enlightened Minds: Yellow Fever and Common-Sense Natural Philosophy in the Early American Republic, 1793-1805 “ Advisor: Adam Rothman

Connell, Tula A. US History “ Frank Zeidler and the Conservative Challenge to Liberalism in 1950s Milwaukee “ Advisor: Joseph A. McCartin

Coral Garcia, Emilio M. Latin American History “ The Mexico City Middle Class, 1940-70: Between Tradition, the State, and the United States “ Advisor: John Tutino

Guenther, Rita S. Russia & Eastern European History “ One Local Vote at a Time: Electoral Practices of Kazan Province, 1766-1916 “ Advisor: Catherine Evtuhov

Gurkan, Emrah S. Early Modern & Late Medieval European History “ Espionage in the Sixteenth-Century Mediterranean: Secret Diplomacy, Mediterranean Go-Betweens and the Ottoman Habsburg Rivalry ” Advisor: Ágoston, Gábor

Higuchi, Toshihiro US History “ Radioactive Fallout, the Politics of Risk, and the Making of a Global Environmental Crisis, 1954–1963 “ Advisor: David Painter

Hofmeister, Björn Modern European History “ Between Monarchy and Dictatorship: Radical Nationalism and Social Mobilization of the Pan-German League, 1914-39 “ Advisor: Roger Chickering

Johnston, Shona Transregional History “ Papists in a Protestant World: The Catholic Anglo-Atlantic in the Seventeenth Century “ Advisor: Alison Games

Maureira, Hugo A. Latin American History “ Los Culpables de La Miseria:’ Poverty and Public Health during the Spanish Influenza Epidemic in Chile, 1918-1920 ” Advisor: Erick Langer

McKenna, Catherine J. Russia & Eastern European History “ The Curious Evolution of the Liberum Veto: Republican Theory and Practice in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, 1639-1705 ” Advisor: Andrzej Kaminski

Murphy, Curtis G. Russia & Eastern European History “ Progress without Consent: Enlightened Centralism vis-a-vis Local Self-Government in the Towns of East Central Europe and Russia, 1764-1840 ” Advisor: Andrzej Kaminski

Noorlander, Danny L. Transregional History “ Serving God and Mammon: The Reformed Church and the Dutch West India Company in the Atlantic World, 1621-1674 “ Advisor: Alison Games

Wang, Tao US History “ Isolating the Enemy: US-PRC Relations, 1953-1956 ” Advisor: Nancy B. Tucker

Yousef, Hoda A. Middle East & North African History “ Contested Knowledge: The Politics of Literacy in Egypt at the Turn of the 20th Century “ Advisor: Judith Tucker

    2010-2011

Al-Arian, Abdullah A. Middle East & North African History “ Heeding the Call: Popular Islamic Activism in Egypt, 1970-1981 “ Advisor: John Voll

Bowman, Matthew B. US History “ The Urban Pulpit: Evangelicals and the City in New York, 1880-1930 “ Advisor: Michael Kazin

Campion, Corey J. Modern European History “ Negotiating Difference: French and American Cultural Occupation Policies and German Expectations, 1945-194 9″ Advisor: Roger Chickering

Engelke, Peter O. Modern European History “ Green City Origins: Democratic Resistance to the Auto-oriented City in West Germany, 1960-1990 “ Advisor: Roger Chickering and John McNeill

Gummer, S. Chase Modern European History “ The Politics of Sympathy: German Turcophilism and the Ottoman Empire in the Age of the Mass Media, 1871-1914 “ Advisor: Roger Chickering

Robarts, Andrew R. Russia & Eastern European History “ A Plague on Both Houses?: Population Movements and the Spread of Disease across the Ottoman-Russian Black Sea Frontier, 1768-1830s “ Advisor: Catherine Evtuhov

Rotramel, Seth A. Modern European History “ International Health, European Reconciliation, and German Foreign Policy after the First World War, 1919-1927 “ Advisor: Roger Chickering

Vallve, Frederic Latin American History “ The Impact of the Rubber Boom on the Indigenous Peoples of the Bolivian Lowlands, 1850-1920 “ Advisor: Erick Langer

    2009-2010

Brandow-Faller, Megan Modern European History “ An Art of Their Own: Reinventing ‘Frauenkunst’ in the Female Academies and Artist Leagues of Late-Imperial and First-Republic Austria, 1900-1930 “ Advisor: James Shedel

Fulwider, Benjamin Latin American History “ Driving the Nation: Road Transportation and the Postrevolutionary Mexican State, 1925-1960 “ Advisor: John Tutino

Mamedov, Mikail N. Russia & Eastern European History “Imagining the Caucasus in Russian Imperial Consciousness, 1801-1864” Advisor: Catherine Evtuhov

Morrison, Christopher A. US History “ A World of Empires: United States Rule in the Philippines, 1898-1913 “ Advisor: Nancy B. Tucker

Palmer, Aaron J. US History “‘ All Matters and Things Shall Center There’: A Study of Elite Political Power in South Carolina, 1763-1776 “ Advisor: Alison Games

Sakul, Kahraman Early Modern & Late Medieval European History “ An Ottoman Global Moment: War of Second Coalition in the Levant “ Advisor: Gabor Agoston

Sexton, Mary D. US History “ The Wages of Principle and Power: Cyrus R. Vance and the Making of Foreign Policy in the Carter Administration “ Advisor: David Painter

Shlala, Elizabeth Middle East & North African History “Mediterranean Migration, Cosmopolitanism, and the Law: the Italian Community of Nineteenth-Century Alexandria, Egypt”

Wilkinson, Xenia V. Latin Amerian History “ Tapping the Amazon for Victory: Brazil’s ‘Battle for Rubber’ of World War II “ Advisor: Erick Langer

    2008-2009

Abul-Magd, Zeinab A. Middle East & North African History “ Empire and Its Discontents: Modernity and Subaltern Revolt in Upper Egypt, 1700-1920 “ Advisor: Judith Tucker

Byrnes, Melissa K. Modern European History “French Like Us? Municipal Policies and North African Migrants in the Parisian Banlieues, 1945-1975” Advisor: Aviel Roshwald

Granados, Luis F. Latin American History “Cosmopolitan Indians and Mesoamerican Barrios in Bourbon Mexico City: Tribute, Community, Family and Work in 1800” Advisor: John Tutino

Lauziere, Henri Middle East & North African History “ The Evolution of the Salafiyya in the Twentieth Century through the Life and Thought of Taqi al-Din al-Hilali “ Advisor: John Ruedy

Otovo, Okezi T. Latin American History “ To Form a Strong and Populous Nation: Race, Motherhood, and the State in republican Brazil “ Advisor: Bryan McCann

Rosu, Felicia Russia & Eastern European History “ Contractual Majesty: Electoral Politics in Transylvania and Poland-Lithuania, 1571-1586 “ Advisor: Andrzej Kaminski

Swanson, Ryan US History “Jim Crow on Deck: Baseball during America’s Reconstruction” Advisor: Michael Kazin

Wackerfuss, Andrew T. Modern European History “ The Stormtrooper Family: How Sexuality, Spirituality, and Community Shaped the Hamburg SA “ Advisor: Roger Chickering

Wyrtzen, Jonathan D. Middle East & North African History “ Constructing Morocco: The Colonial Struggle to Define the Nation, 1912-1956 “ Advisor: John Voll

    2007-2008

Bulmus, Birsen Middle East & North African History “ The Plague in the Ottoman Empire, 1300-1838 “ Advisor: Kathryn Olesko

Elliott, Robin Gates Russia & Eastern European History “ Saddling the Cow: The Collectivization of Agriculture in Poland, 1948-1956 “ Advisor: Andrzej Kaminski

Fedyashin, Anton A. Russia & Eastern European History “Auchtotonous and Practical Liberals: Vestnik Evropy and Modernization in Late Imperial Russia” Advisor: Catherine Evtuhov

Lambert, Margo M. US History “ Francis Daniel Pastorius: An American in Early Pennsylvania, 1683-1719/20 “ Advisor: Alison Games

Lin, Catherine Kai-Ping East & Central Asian History “ Nationalism in International Politics: The Republic of China’s Sports Foreign-Policy-Making and Diplomacy from 1972-1981 “ Advisor: Carol A. Benedict

Ma, Haiyun East & Central Asian History “ New Teachings and New Territories: Religion, Regulation, and Regions in Qing Gansu, 1700-1800 “ Advisor: James Millward

Oyen, Meredith US History “ Allies, Enemies, and Aliens: Migration and U.S.-Chinese Relations, 1940-1965 “ Advisor: Nancy B. Tucker

Sbaiti, Nadya J. Middle East & North African History “ Lessons in History: Education and the Formation of National Society in Beirut, Lebanon, 1920s-1960s “ Advisor: Judith Tucker

Vann, Martin E. Modern European History “ Encounters with Modernity: Jews, Music, and Vienna, 1880-1914 “ Advisor: James Shedel

    2006-2007

Ameskamp, Simone Modern European History “ On Fire: Cremation in Germany, 1870s-1934 “ Advisor: Roger Chickering

Carter, Karen E. Early Modern & Late Medieval European History “ Creating Catholics: Catechism and Primary Education in Early Modern France “ Advisor: James Collins

Gruber, Isaiah J. Russia & Eastern European History “ The Russian Orthodox Church and the Time of Troubles, 1598-1613 “ Advisor: David Goldfrank

Keller, Tait S. Modern European History “ Eternal Mountains–Eternal Germany: The Alpine Association and the Ideology of Alpinism, 1909-1939 “ Advisor: Roger Chickering

Scalenghe, Sara Middle East & North African History “ Being Different: Intersexuality, Blindness, Deafness, and Madness in Ottoman Syria “ Advisor: Judith Tucker

Snyder, Sarah B. US History “ The Helsinki Process, American Foreign Policy, and the End of the Cold War “ Advisor: Nancy B. Tucker

Stoneman, Mark R. Modern European History “ Wilhelm Groener, Officering, and the Schlieffen Plan “ Advisor: Roger Chickering

Uchimura, Kazuko US History “ Miners without Unions: Life and Work in West Virginia’s New River Gorge Mining Towns, 1900-1933 “ Advisor: Joseph McCartin

Zickafoose, Virginia Paige Russia & Eastern European History “ Virtuous Crown, Virtuous Res Publica: The Henrician Constitutional Declaration of Poland-Lithuania Interregnum, 1572-1574 “ Advisor: Andrzej Kaminksi Zimmers, Stefan Early Modern & Late Medieval European History “ Wisdom, Kingship, and Royal Identity: An Examination of the Discourse on Kinship and Rulership in the Anglo-Saxon Era “ Advisor: Jo Ann Moran Cruz

    2005-2006

Belli, Meriam Middle East & North African History “ Remembrance of Nasserian Things Past: A Window to the History and Memory of the Nasser Years ” Advisors: John Voll and James Collins

Du Quenoy, Paul Russia & Eastern European History “ Harlequin’s Leap: Performing Arts Culture and the Revolution of 1905 in Saint Petersburg ” Advisor: Richard Stites

Foley, Sean E. Middle East & North African History “ Shaykh Khalid and the Naqshbandyya-Khalidiyya, 1776-2005 ” Advisor: John Voll

Joseph, Sabrina E. Middle East & North African History “ The Islamic Law on Tenancy and Sharecropping in Late Sixteenth- through Early Nineteenth-Century Syria ” Advisor: Judith Tucker

Khachaturian, Lisa Russia & Eastern European History “ Cultivating Nationhood in Imperial Russia: the Periodical Press and the Formation of a Modern Eastern Armenian Identity ” Advisor: Catherine Evtuhov

Martin, Kevin W. Middle East & North African History “ Enter the Future! Exemplars of Bourgeois Modernity in Post-World War II Syria ” Advisor: Judith Tucker

Merrow, Alexander C. Modern European History “ The Catholic Historical Discipline in Imperial Germany, 1876-1901 ” Advisor: Roger Chickering

Negroponte, Diana V. US History “ Conflict Resolution at the End of the Cold War ” Advisor: Nancy B. Tucker

Norman, York A. Middle East & North African History “ An Islamic City? Sarajevo’s Islamization and Economic Development, 1461-1604 ” Advisor: John Voll

Roedell, Christopher A. Modern Europe “ The Beasts That Perish: The Problem of Evil and the Contemplation of the Animal Kingdom in English Thought, c. 1660-1839 ” Advisor: Kathryn Olesko

Shearer, Valerie J. Early Modern & Late Medieval European History “ A Good Deed is Never Forgotten: Credit and Mutual Exchange in Seventeenth-Century France ” Advisor: James Collins

Vrtis, George H. US Environmental History “ The Front Range of the Rocky Mountains: An Environmental History, 1700-1900 ” Advisor: John McNeill

    2004-2005

Andreassi, Anthony D. US History “ ‘Begun in Faith and Grit and God!’: The Sisters of the Divine Compassion, 1869-1954 “ Advisor: Emmett Curran

Ari-Chachaki, Waskar T. Latin American History “ Race and Subaltern Nationalism: The AMP Activist-Intellectuals in Bolivia, 1921-1964 “ Advisor: Erick Langer

Brooke, George Mercer III US History “ A Matter of Will: Sir Robert Thompson, Malaya, and the Failure of American Strategy in Vietnam “ Advisor: Nancy B. Tucker

De Bryun Kops, Henriette (Rahusen) Early Modern & Late Medieval European History “ Liquid Silver: The Wine and Brandy Trade between Rotterdam and Nantes in the First Half of the Seventeenth Century “ Advisor: James Collins

Rouland, Michael R. Russian & Eastern European History “ Music and the Making of the Kazak Nation, 1920-1936 “ Advisor: Richard Stites

    2003-2004

Bryne, Daniel US History “ Adrift on a Sea of Sand: The Search for United States Foreign Policy Toward the Decolonization of Algeria, 1942-1962 “ Advisor: David Painter

Class, James N. Russia & Eastern European History “ Russian Messianism in the Napoleonic Wars “ Advisor: Catherine Evtuhov

Coventry, Michael T. US History “ ‘God, Country, Home and Mother’: Soldiers, Gender, and Nationalism in Great War America “ Advisor: Dorothy Brown

Drummond, Elizabeth A. Modern European History “ Protecting Poznania: Germans, Poles, and the Conflict Over National Identity, 1886-1914 “ Advisor: Roger Chickering

Goldyn, Bartholomew H. Russia & Eastern European History “ Cities for a New Poland: State Planning and Urban Control in the Building of Gdynia and Nowa Huta “ Advisor: Andrzej Kaminski

Hill, Brendan L. Early Modern & Late Medieval European History “ Puritans in the Public Sphere: The Societies for Reformation of Manners and the Continuity of Calvinism in Early Eighteenth Century England “ Advisor: Jo Ann Moran Cruz

Ivey, Linda L. US Environmental History “ Poetic Industrialism: Ethnicity, Environment and Commercial Horticulture in California’s Pajaro Valley, from the Progressive Era through the Great Depression “ Advisor: John McNeill

Linford, Rebecca R. Early Modern & Late Medieval European History “ The Women of the Quarter Sessions: A Study of Women’s Involvement in Crime in Lancashire County, 1590-1606 “ Advisor: Jo Ann Moran Cruz

Nichols-Busch, Tracy Russia & Eastern European History “ A Class on Wheels: Avtodor and the Automobilization of the Soviet Union 1927-1935 “ Advisor: Richard Stites

Schutts, Jeff Richard Modern European History “ Coca-Colonization, ‘Refreshing Americanization, or Nazi Volksgetrank’: The History of Coca-Cola in Germany, 1921-1961 “ Advisor: Roger Chickering

Zejmis, Jakub Russia & Eastern European History “ Belarus: Religion, Language and the Struggle for National Identity in a Soviet-Polish Borderland, 1921-1939 “ Advisor: Richard Stites

    2002-2003

Abi-Mershed, Osama Middle East & North African History “ Domination by Consent: The Bureaux Arabes and Public Instruction in Colonial Algeria, 1831-1870 “ Advisor: John Ruedy

Belmonte, Monica L. US History “ Reining in Revolution: The United States Response to British Decolonization in Nigeria in an Era of Civil Rights, 1953-1960 “ Advisor: Nancy B. Tucker

Brewer, M. Jonah Early Modern & Late Medieval European History “ Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh: French Consuls and Commercial Diplomacy in the Ottoman Levant, 1660-1699 “ Advisor: James Collins

Caffrey, Patrick Joseph East & Central Asian Environmental History “ The Forests of Northeast China, 1600-1960: Environment, Politics, and Society “ Advisor: Carol A. Benedict

Davenport, Lisa E. US History “ Jazz, Race, and American Cultural Exchange: An International Study of U.S. Cultural Diplomacy, 1954-1968 “ Advisor: David Painter

DeLong-Bas, Natana J. Middle East & North African History “ Muhammed Ibn Abd al-Wahhab: An Intellectual Biography “ Advisor: John Voll

Dorsey, Jennifer H. US History “ Free People of Color in Rural Maryland, 1783-1832 “ Advisor: Alison Games

Ludes, James M. Modern European History “ A Consistency of Purpose: Political Warfare and the National Security Strategy of the Eisenhower Administration “ Advisor: Aviel Roshwald

Semerdjian, Elyse Middle East & North African History “ Off the Straight Path: Gender, Public Morality, and Legal Administration in Ottoman Aleppo, Syria “ Advisor: John Voll

Zalar, Jeffrey T. Modern European History “ Knowledge and Nationalism in Imperial Germany: A Cultural History of the Association of Saint Charles Borromeo, 1890-1914 “ Advisor: Roger Chickering

    2001-2002

Abugideiri, Hibba E. Middle East & North African History “ Egyptian Women and the Science Question: Gender in the Making of Colonized Medicine, 1893-1929 “ Advisor: John Voll

Alvaro-Velcamp, Theresa Latin American History “ Peddling Identity: Arabs, Conflict, Community and the Mexican Nation in the Twentieth Century “ Advisor: John Tutino

Caplan, Gregory A. “ Wicked Sons, German Heroes: Jewish Soldiers, Veterans and Memories of World War I in Germany “ Advisor: Roger Chickering

Duggan, Michael F. US History “ Chauncey Wright and Forward-Looking Empiricism, a History of Ideas “ Advisor: Emmett Curran

Hamilton, Joanna Early Modern & Late Medieval European History “ The Merchants of Vannes: 1670-1730 “ Advisor: James Collins

Hoerle, Scott Modern European History “ Hans Friedrich Blunck: Poetry, Politics, and Propaganda, 1888-1961 “ Advisor: Roger Chickering

Janik, Elizabeth Koch Modern European History “ Music in Cold War Berlin: German Tradition and Allied Occupation, 1945-1951 “ Advisor: Roger Chickering

Law, Randall Russia & Eastern European History “ Humanity’s Workshops: Progressive Education in Russia and the Soviet Union, 1856-1927 “ Advisor: Richard Stites

McGillivray, Gillian Latin American History “ Blazing Cane: Sugar Communities, Power, and Politics in Cuba, 1868-1948 “ Advisor: John Tutino

McGinn, John US History “ Balancing Defense and Détente in NATO: The Harmel Framework and the 1968 Crisis in Czechoslovakia “ Advisor: David Painter Sampsell, Catherine M. U.S. History “ ‘To Grab a Hunk of Lightning’: An Intellectual History of American Depression-Era Photography “ Advisor: Emmett Curran

    2000-2001

Carafano, James J. “ ‘Waltzing into the Cold War’: U.S. Army Military Operations in Occupied Austria “ Hill, Richard F. “ Pearl Harbor Month: Why the United States Went to War with Germany “ Jackson, Maurice “ ‘Ethiopia Shall Soon Stretch Out Her Hands Unto God’: Anthony Benezet and the Atlantic Anti-Slavery Revolution “ Skinner, Barbara J. “ The Empress and the Heretics: Catherine II’s Challenge to the Uniate Church, 1762-1796 “ Socolow, Michael J. “ To Network a Nation: N.B.C., C.B.S., and the Development of National Network Radio in the United States, 1925-1950 “ Taffet, Jeffrey A. “ Alliance for What?: U.S. Development Assistance in Chile During the 1960s “ Wall, Michael C. “ Chinese Reaction to the Portrayal of China and Chinese in American Motion Pictures prior to 1949 “

    1999-2000

Brüggemann, Julia “ Through the Prism of Prostitution: State and Society in Hamburg, 1800-1914 “ Burch, Susan “ Biding the Time: American Deaf Cultural History, 1900 to World War II “ Cline, Ruth Harwood “ The Congregation of Tiron in the Twelfth Century: Foundation and Expansion “ Dale, Melissa S. “ With the Cut of a Knife: A Social History of Eunuchs During the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and Republican Periods (1912-1949) “ Davis, Rebekah “ Development as a Tool of Diplomacy: The Domestic Models for U.S. Policy in the Jordan River Valley, 1939-1956 “ Heineman, Paul “ In Defense of an Anachronism: The Cossack Question on the Don, 1861-1914 “ Khalafallah, Haifaa “ Rethinking Islamic Law: Genesis and Evolution in the Islamic Legal Methods and Structures. The Case of a 20th Century ‘Alim’s Journey into His Legal Traditions. Muhammad Al-Ghazali (1917-1996) “ Pisiotis, Argyrios K. “ Orthodoxy Versus Autocracy: The Orthodox Church and Clerical Political Dissent in Late Imperial Russia, 1905-1914 “ Pujals, Sandra “ When Giants Walked the Earth: The Society of Former Political Prisoners and Exiles of the Soviet Union, 1921-1935 “ Reifowitz, Ian “ Civic Nationalism in a Multiethnic Society: Conceptions of a Supraethnic Austrian Identity, 1848-1918 “ Ritenour, Perry “ Chinese Banking and Foreign Trade (1949-1979) with a Focus on Guangdong “ Taylor, Karen “ Cher espoir de la nation sainte: The Maison Royale de Saint-Louis at Saint-Cyr “ Wiggers, Richard “ Creating International Humanitarian Law [IHL]: World War II, the Allied Occupations, and the Treaties that Followed “

    1998-1999

Arpaia, Paul “ Luigi Federzoni and the Italian Nationalist Association: From a Cultural Conception of Italy to a Neo-Conservative Political Program “ Foehr, Sherry “ Modernization for the Honor of the Estate: Die Deutsche Landwirtschaftsgesellschaft, 1884-1914 “ Healy, Róisín “ The Jesuit as Enemy: Anti-Jesuitism and the Protestant Bourgeoisie of Imperial Germany, 1890-1917 “ Kawamura, S.J., Shinzo “ Making Christian Lay Communities During the ‘Christian Century’ in Japan — A Case Study of Takata District in Bungo “ Ke, Yan “ Scholars and Communications Network: Social and Intellectual Change in 17th-Century North China “ Jain, Asha “ Kumarapala Chaulukya (r. 1143-74) of Gujarat, India: A Convert to Jainism in Historical Perspective “ Vladimirov, Katya “ The World Of Imperial Provincial Bureaucracy, Russian Poland 1870-1904 “ Powers, Daniel “ All Roads Lead to Rome: French and German Christian Democrats, the Nation-State and the Reconstruction of Europe, 1945-1950 “ Qualls, Karl “ Raised From Ruins: Restoring Popular Allegiance Through City Planning in Sevastopol, 1944-1953 “ Slater, Joseph “ Down By Law: Public Sector Unions and the State in America, World War I to World War II “ Veidlinger, Jeffrey “ Soviet Politics on the Yiddish Stage: Moscow’s State Yiddish Theater, 1919-1949 “

    1997-1998

Carpenter, Kim “ ‘Sechs Kreuzer sind genug für ein Bier!’ The Munich Beer Riot of 1844: Social Protest and Public Disorder in Mid-19th Century Bavaria “   Enriquez, Jonmikel “ Theodore White and the Remaking of Political Journalism “   Goedde, Celia J. “ The Artisan’s Approach to Modernity: The Political Culture of the German Artisans in Vienna and Augsburg “   Long, Loretta M. “ A Fellow Soldier in the Cause of Reformation: The Life of Selina Campbell “   Pendzich, Barbara “ The Burghers of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania during the War of 1654-1667: Resiliency and Cohesion in the Face of Muscovite Annexation “   Phillips, Steven “ Restoration and Conquest: The Taiwanese Elite under Nationalist Chinese Rule, 1945-1950 “

Russell, Mona Lisa “ Creating the New Woman: Consumerism, Education, and National Identity in Egypt, 1863-1922 “

Scholz, Norbert “ Foreign Education and Indigenous Reaction in Late Ottoman Lebanon: Students & Teachers of the Syrian Protestant College in Beirut “   Tamari, Stephen “ Teaching and Learning in 18th-Century Damascus: Localism and Ottomanism in an Early Modern Arab Society “   Zehren, Maria “ The Dangling Scissors: Marriage, Family, and Work Among Italian Immigrant Women in the Clothing Industry in Baltimore, 1890-1920 “

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150 Strong History Dissertation Topics to Write about

Writing a dissertation is one of the most challenging and exciting moments of an academic career. Such work usually takes a great deal of time, courage, and intellectual effort to complete. That’s why every step in your work process is essential.

It all starts with finding a good topic, which can be a challenge of its own. It especially matters when it comes to liberal arts subjects. In social studies, literature, or world history options are practically endless.

Coming up with history dissertation ideas, you need to think of historical events that interest you. We get it, choosing one is tough. There can be too much to wrap your head around. That’s why IvyPanda experts prepare some dissertation topics in history ready for you.

• How to Choose a Topic?
• Ancient History
• Medieval History
• Modern History
• Cold War Topics
• American History
• European History
• Indian History
• African History
• Performing Arts
• Visual Arts
• How to Structure

🧐 How to Choose a History Dissertation Topic?

Before examining our ideas for dissertation topics in history, you should get ready for this. You have to understand how to pick a history dissertation topic, which will ensure your academic success. Keep in mind that this is a vital step in your career.

So, check some tips on picking what to write about:

• Make sure that the topic fits in your field of study. You have to understand what you’re writing about. Basing your paper on existing knowledge and experience is a part of any dissertation. Working on an overly complicated idea can sound impressive but lead to failure. It will become a nightmare already on the stage of writing a dissertation proposal. How can you write the entire thing without comprehending it?
• Estimate whether you’re interested in the topic you intend to write on. Although this might seem obvious, yes. However, being actually invested makes a massive difference for your further work. There are plenty of students who settle for “easy but boring” topics and end up struggling twice as much.
• Ensure that your topic is specific enough. Your idea should have the potential for fruitful research. Narrowing down your area of study is essential for writing a good dissertation. It helps you to find the direction of your examination and enough sources to work with. Moreover, this way, you’ll be able to explore your topic in its entirety.
• Do some prior research. It will give you an understanding of how much literature on your topic is out there. Take notes of the materials for the reference list and your analysis. Checking history essay samples is a good idea, too.
• Don’t be shy to ask your dissertation advisor for some assistance. After all, they are here to help and guide you through the process. Besides, you have to see what ideas they consider relevant and appropriate.

👍 Good Dissertation Topics in History: Time Period

History is a subject as ancient and vast as the humankind itself. It’s only rational to study it according to a particular timeline. Here are some good history dissertation topics for different periods.

🏺 Ancient History Dissertation Topics

• Ancient Civilizations: The Maya Empire . The Maya was an incredibly powerful Empire with its prime around six century A.D., excelling in mathematics, calendar-making, astrology, and writing. It faced the decline of its city-states in nine century A.D., leaving a rich cultural heritage to the studies of subsequent generations.
• Women’s Roles and Gender relations in the Ancient World
• Greek City-States . Ancient Greece is the place where the first city-states were formed. How did the first governments in the ancient history timeline develop? How did people’s attitudes towards leadership change in that context?

• Ancient Near-Eastern Thought and the Old Testament
• The Inca Empire as a Great Civilization of Pre-Columbian America
• The Impact of Mongol Invasion in Ancient Arab
• The personality of Julius Caesar and His Effect on Rome
• The Role of Poets and the place of Poetry in Ancient Greece
• Mesopotamian Civilization . This was a fertile land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. It has been home to some of the world’s wealthiest and most advanced ancient cities. It can also make an excellent archaeology dissertation topic. There are plenty of fascinating sites that could be studied.
• History: Ancient Greek Olympics . Started in 776 BC, the Olympic Games were the most important cultural event in Ancient Greece. They were held in honor of Zeus every four years. Besides, the Olympics were representative of the triumph of physical and spiritual power.
• Warfare and Violence in Ancient Times. Try to do a comparative analysis of warfare techniques used by different ancient civilizations. It could be a great dissertation topic.
• Burial Rituals in Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece: a comparison
• Plutarch’s Vision on Alexander the Great
• Dissolution of the Roman Empire . The Empire sprawled from the coast of North Africa to the territories of the modern UK and Armenia. Once, it was the most powerful political entity in the entire Mediterranean. The empire, however, collapsed in 476 CE. What were the reasons for its eventual decline?

• How Geography Has Impacted the Development of Ancient Cultures
• Cause and Effect of Art on Classical Societies
• The Invention of Papyrus and its impact on the World
• Chichen Itza Archaeological Site . Chichen Itza is a great pre-Columbian archaeological site, home to the Maya civilization. It is a fascinating study case in many aspects. Consider the origins and Maya history. Analyze the cultural preservation issues that it faces nowadays.
• Egyptian Pyramid’s Importance in Egypt’s society
• The Stone Age Period and its Evolution

🛡 Medieval History Dissertation Ideas

• Cultural Exchanges in the Medieval Period . In the aftermath of the Roman Empire’s fall, new geopolitical conditions formed. The early Middle Ages period already marked the appearance of new trade routes. It fostered cultural exchange between nations.
• Rome in the Middle Ages and its cultural transformation
• The Development of Feudalism and Manorialism in the Middle Ages
• The Catholic Church and the Black Death in the 14th Century . During the high Middle Ages, the plague epidemic terrorized Europe. It was a dreadful challenge to medicine, religious institutions, and the social apparatus of the time. How did the Catholic Church deal with such a complex and disastrous medical phenomenon?
• Jews and Muslims in Medieval Spain . Christian, Islamic, and Jewish communities shared the Iberian peninsula in the early Middle Ages. It formed a vibrant cultural environment.
• London during the Roman Age: A Critical Overview
• Causes of the First Crusade of 1095-1099
• Twelfth-Century Renaissance, how Franciscans reacted to it and benefited from its development
• Business and Empire, the British ideal of an Orderly World
• The Black Death, Late Medieval Demographic crisis, and the Standard of Living controversies
• The Role of the Church in the life of the Middle Ages

• Medieval Siege Warfare . Exploring methods of defense used during the Middle Ages might be an interesting research project.
• The Conditions of Hindu and Islamic women in Medieval India
• Why the Crusades Failed
• The Mechanical Water clock of Ibn Al-Haytham, his philosophy of the rise and fall of empires
• The Renaissance and its Cultural, Political and Economic Influence
• The Dark Ages as the Golden Ages of European History . Plenty of facts demonstrate civilization’s decline during the Middle Ages. It was, nevertheless, the time of significant scientific, literary, and technological progress. For some interested in writing a medieval literature dissertation: think of Dante’s Divine Comedy . Da Vinci made his groundbreaking study projects during the Middle Ages. It was the time when first universities, such as Cambridge and Oxford, were founded. Overall, this period has a lot to offer!
• Japan’s Development Under Edo/Tokugawa Shogunate
• Historical and Theological Context of Byzantine Iconoclasm
• Medieval Convivencia: Document Analysis

🕰 Modern History Dissertation Topics

• World History: Enlightenment in Society and its Impact on Global Culture
• Nationalism and its 19th Century History
• Why Mussolini and the Fascists Were Able to Seize Power in Italy
• Religious Symbolism in Renaissance paintings . Renaissance is well-known as a period when fine arts were thriving. It was an early modern birthplace of many technological and cultural advancements. Religion, however, was still a central topic in visual art.
• Industrial Revolution and its Impact on Western Civilizations
• Principles of Liberalism and Its Connection to Enlightenment and Conservatism
• “History and Topography of Ireland” by Gerald of Wales . Looking for an incredible Irish history dissertation topic? Then this document might be an interesting prompt. Its somewhat controversial tone of describing contemporary Irish culture, history, and traditions can be subject to a comprehensive analysis.
• Moral treatment of Mental Illness . Over the 19th and 20th centuries, psychology has changed. Moving from a scientific periphery, it became one of the central subjects of scholarly discussions. Mental illnesses were highly disregarded in earlier centuries. People even considered them to be manifestations of demonic possession. How did this attitude change? Why did people rethink psychology as a scholarly discipline?
• A History of the Cuban Revolution

• Abraham Lincoln’s Historical Influence
• Role of Women During the Spanish Civil War
• Conquest and Colonization of America by European Countries . Colonization of America is one of the grandest enterprises in the world’s political history. What were its driving forces?
• Origins and Trajectory of the French Revolution
• Major Impacts of Consumerism in contemporary world history
• Coco Chanel Fashion: History of Costume . Probably not the first topic for a history dissertation that comes to mind. Chanel is truly an iconic figure in modern history, though. She revolutionized the fashion industry concerning gender as well.
• Causes of the Breakup of the Former Yugoslavia
• The Russian Working Class Movement . Before 1861, the agriculture and peasant-owning system were the foundation of the Russian Empire’s economy. Serfs made up a significant part of the population, accounting for over 60% in some regions. Then the serfdom abolition happened. A lot has changed in the economic and social life of the country.
• Segregation During the 1960s
• Historical Development of Feminism and Patriarchy
• Monetary and Fiscal Policy during the Great Depression

🔔 History Dissertation Topics on Cold War

• The Role of Cold War in Shaping Transatlantic Relations in the Period from 1945 to 1970
• The showdown between the United States and the USSR . Cold Was was essentially the power struggle between the US and the Soviet Union. It unleashed in the aftermath of World War II. This political precedent came to an end with the collapse of the Soviet Union. However, the answer to the “Who won the Cold War?” question may be unclear.
• The Cuban Missile Crisis , its causes, and effects
• US Foreign Policy during the Cold War. Cold War, as a phenomenon, has many layers to it. Yet the one crucial is the contest of two ideologies: democracy and communism. How did the US shape its foreign policy and pursue its interests abroad? And how did the cultural and political setup within the country adjust to it?
• To what extent did the Cold War shape the US relations with Latin America?
• What was the importance of Berlin in the Cold War?
• Japan’s role since the end of the Cold War
• Cold War Politics, Culture, and War . Exploring the Cold War causes and effects can be quite a challenge. It is such a multifaceted phenomenon. It was a war led on many fronts. Both USSR and the US pursued their interests using a variety of methods.

• How did Cold War propaganda influence the film industry?
• What were the challenges in the post-cold war world?

🗺 History Dissertation Topics: Geographical Regions

Every country has its historical course, and so does every continent. Geography has always been an important factor when talking about history. It shapes historical trajectory in varied, unique ways.

Look at a dissertation topics history list based on geographical regions:

🦅 American History Dissertation Topics

• History of Hollywood, California . Oh, Hollywood. A place where American movie history was born. What about Hollywood’s history? Although a less traditional American history dissertation topic, it is still a fascinating one. Explore the way technological advancements in filmmaking were introduced over the decades. How did they influence the film’s general style?
• History: Migration into the United States . How did migration influence the economy of the time?
• The Relationships between the Settlers and Native Americans
• Literary works’ Views on Slavery in the United States
• Causes of the Civil War in America
• What is the real meaning of a cowboy?
• The United States military experience through the eyes of films
• Attack on Pearl Harbor: Effects of Foreign policy
• Causes of Depression in the 1890s
• Has President Obama’s Presidency changed the US?
• The role of Founding Fathers in American Society and Religion
• Post-Civil War reconstruction . Consider the way America’s economy, trade, and finance transformed in the aftermath of the Civil War.
• Principal causes and consequences of the Spanish-American War
• Why was the Declaration of Independence written?
• The Significance of the Frontier in American History
• How is a “new racial narrative” in the U.S.A created?
• American Revolution and the Crisis of the Constitution of the U.S.A. Rethink the origins of the American constitution, as well as the following events. It could be an exciting thesis idea for an American history dissertation.

• Growth and Development of San Francisco and Los Angeles after the Gold Rush
• The Role of Racism in American Art
• Drug Use and Abuse in America: Historical Analysis

🏰 European History Dissertation Topics

• Age of Discovery in Europe. The Age of Exploration in Europe lasted from the 15th to the 17th century. Over this period, Europe actively engaged with other territories and continents. Discoverers formed new international relations and expanded geographical knowledge. This topic could also make an excellent cultural history dissertation.
• Analyzing the Impact of British Colonization
• Nationalism in World War II
• Effects of the Industrial Revolution concerning World War I
• The Rise and Fall of Napoleon and the Cause of Revolution . Napoleon is one of the most prominent figures in French history. What has shaped his career as a political leader?
• History of Hitler’s Nazi Propaganda . Consider a brief history of Germany. Undoubtedly, the rule of Hitler and the Third Reich was its most devastating chapter. The “art” of propaganda flourished during the nazi regime. It penetrated the cultural, political, and social life of the country.
• Evolution of the IRA
• Napoleon’s Strategy and Tactics in his Invasion of Russia . For someone interested in writing a military history dissertation.
• Industrial Revolution Impact on Gender Roles
• Witchcraft in Europe (1450-1750) . Witch hunts took place as early as the Middle Ages in Europe. Held by the Church in most cases, witch hunts targeted those who were suspected of practicing black magic. Examine this both astonishing and problematic phenomenon.

• French Revolution: Liberal and Radical Portions
• West European Studies: Columbus’s Journey
• History of Feudalism . Feudalism dominated the European way of life during the Middle Ages and Renaissance. What were its distinctive features as a system? Why did it eventually fade away?
• Europe’s perception of Islam in the Early and Middle centuries
• Cold War Consequences for European Countries
• Mutated Medical Professionals in the Third Reich: Third Reich Doctors
• Was the Holocaust the Failure or the Product of Modernity?
• How did the use of print change the lives of early modern Europeans ?
• Early Modern England: a Social History
• Jewish Insight of Holocaust

⛰ Indian History Dissertation Topics

• History of the Indian Castes. The Indian Caste system is a complex and unique example of social stratification.
• Mahatma Gandhi’s Leadership . Gandhi is, for sure, among the greatest human rights advocates in the world’s history. His one of a kind leadership style is subject to many studies. While practicing a peaceful form of civil protest, he fought for equality, independence, and compassion.
• Political conflicts in India in the XVII century
• Impacts of the First World War on British Policies in India
• Movement Against the British rule in India. Led by Mahatma Gandhi, with the support of the National Congress, the movement took place in 1920-22. It sought to fight for the freedom of Indians.
• The Origin and Course of the Indian revolt of 1857
• The Issues of the Partitioning of India in 1947
• India Since 1900 . India is a region rich with unique traditions. Its spiritual and cultural heritage goes back to antiquity. The country’s authentic art and architecture, music, and cuisine have served as an inspiration worldwide. A considerable part of its history is, however, affected by British rule.

• Women in Hinduism and Buddhism
• The British East India Company

🌍 African History Dissertation Topics

• Ancient Societies in Mesopotamia and Ancient Societies in Africa: a comparison . Egypt is one of the most ancient African civilizations. Its origins go back to the third millennium B.C. Back then, the cultural exchange between Egypt and Mesopotamia was flourishing. What were the significant differences between the two civilizations? What did they have to offer to one another?
• Political Violence in South Africa between 1985 and 1989
• Did History of Modern South Africa begin with the Discovery of Diamonds and Gold?
• Nelson Mandela: “Freedom in Africa.” Nelson Mandela is, without a doubt, one of the central figures in African history. His devotion and tireless effort in fighting against apartheid were remarkable. Thanks to him, many sub-Saharan countries enjoy the freedoms and advances of a democratic society.
• The Cult of the Dead in West Africa: The Kongo People . African tribal rituals and traditions are unique and specific to their region. Cult of the Dead is prevalent in Western African culture. It can be notoriously known as the origin place of voodoo and other black magic practices. There is yet much more to this culture. Dismantling some prejudices could make an excellent African history thesis.
• Christianity, Slavery, and Colonialism: the paradox
• The Colonial War in Southwest Africa
• African-Europe Relations between 1800 and 2000
• Impacts of Slavery and Slave Trade in Africa
• African Communities in America

🎨 Art History Dissertation Topics

Art comes in all shapes and forms. To grasp it better, we can explore each kind separately. Here’s a list of art history dissertation ideas:

🎶 Topics on Performing Arts

• History and Development of Ballet . Ballet is an art form with a long history. Initially, a specific dance originated in Medieval Italy. It was later brought to France and Great Britain. Ballet thrived in the 20th century Russia, where Russian choreographers brought it to the highest level of mastery.
• The Life and Work of William Shakespeare: His Contribution to The Contemporary Theater
• Jazz Music in American Culture . Jazz is one of the most complex and exciting music genres of all time. It was born in the 20’s century black communities of New Orleans and quickly spread across America and then the world. The genre, however, will always be an integral part of African-American identity.
• The Instrumental Music of Baroque: Forms and Evolution
• Rock Music of the 1970s
• Michael Jackson’s Life as a Musician and Choreographer
• Development of the Symphony Orchestra in the 19th and 20th Century
• Woodstock Music Festival . This massive music festival that first took place in 1969 was the epitome of hippie culture. It has a rich history that once again underscores the importance of performing arts in Western culture.
• The History of Modern Chinese Music
• The Renaissance Theater Development. The era in which both visual and performing arts were thriving. It has a lot to offer for proper dissertation research.

🖼Topics on Visual Arts

• Art Period Comparison: Classicism and Middle Age
• Vincent Van Gogh: Changes in the Technique
• The Ambiguity of Mona Lisa Painting

• Orientalism in Western Art . It’s commonly associated with romanticism and some 20th-century artworks. Orientalism is a Western term that speculates the aesthetics of the Orient. Consider this concept as a prism through which Westerners viewed the Eastern world.
• Classical Art and Cubism: History and Comparison
• Postmodern and Modern Art . The 20th and 21st centuries have been a breeding ground for many forms of fine art to emerge and flourish. Some art movements presented their philosophy in the form of manifestos. These texts can be nothing but a pure treasure for someone writing an art history dissertation.
• Female Figures in Ancient Greek Sculpture
• Andy Warhol’s Career . Pioneer of pop-art, creator of Studio 54, and a style icon.
• Filippo Brunelleschi and Religious Architecture
• The Photographic Approaches Towards American Culture of Robert Frank and Garry Winogrand

📋 How to Structure Your Dissertation?

An adequately structured history dissertation can immensely help students. It ensures that they present their ideas and thoughts logically. Sticking to a particular dissertation structure is an essential element of such work.

The general plan of any dissertation type is the following:

• Title Page. A title page should only contain essential information about your work. It usually shows your name, type of the document (thesis, research paper, dissertation), and the title itself. A good history dissertation title is crucial! It’s the first thing a reader will see.
• Acknowledgments. Do you wish to give credit to someone for supporting you during the tiresome months of your work? This is the right part to do so, be it your family, friends, or professors. It is an excellent form to express gratitude to those who proofread your drafts. Or those who brought you another cup of coffee when you needed it.
• Declaration. This section is your written confirmation. You declare that all the research and writing is entirely original and was conducted by you. If someone intellectually contributed to your project, state it in the acknowledgments.
• Table of Contents. Essentially, it’s a brief structure of your dissertation. List every section that you’ve included in your academic paper here.
• Abstract. This is the section where you write a brief summary of your dissertation. It should describe the issue, summarize your core message and essential points. List your research methods and what you’ve done. Remember to make it short, as the abstract shouldn’t exceed 300 words or so. Finish the part with a few essential keywords so that others can find your work.
• Introduction. A dissertation introduction presents the subject to the reader. You can talk about the format of your work. Explain what you plan to contribute to the field with your research.
• Literature Review. The chapter reviews and analyzes pieces of scholarly work (literature) that have been made on the subject of your research. The sources should present relevant theories and support your thesis. Be sure to discuss the weaknesses and strengths of the selected area of study and highlight possible gaps in this research.
• a code of conduct;
• research limitations;
• research philosophy;
• research design;
• ethical consideration;
• data collection methods;
• data analysis strategy.
• Findings and Results. Restate everything you have found in your research. However, do not interpret the data or make any conclusions yet.
• Discussion and Conclusion. In this chapter, you should personally interpret all of the data and make conclusions based on your research. It is essential to establish a logical link between the results and evidence. Finally, conclude the overall study. You can add final judgments, opinions, and comments.
• References. This section contains a list of references to all the sources that you used. Write down every material, which you quoted, mentioned, or paraphrased in your work. Check your educational institution’s guidelines to see how to do so correctly.
• Bibliography. Similar to the reference section, a bibliography is a list of sources you used in your dissertation. The only difference is that it should contain even the sources you don’t directly mention in your writing. Whatever helped you with the research, you state here.
• Appendices. The section may include any supplementary information that explains and complement the arguments. Add pictures, diagrams, and graphs that serve as examples for your research subject.

Writing a dissertation is the right challenge for those with ambitions and lots of determination. It is a lot like a marathon, and it starts with choosing the right topic. We hope that you will find one for yourself on this list. Good luck! Share the article to help those who may need a piece of advice or some history dissertation topics.

🔗 References

• How To Write A Dissertation: Department of Computer Science, West Lafayette, Purdue University
• Ph.D. Thesis Research, Where Do I Start: Don Davis, Columbia University
• Writing with Power: Elbow P., Oxford University
• Writing a Thesis or Dissertation – A Guide to Resources: Gricel Dominguez
• The Elements of Style: Strunk, W. Jr., White, E.B., Angell, R.
• A Collection Of Dissertation Topics In American History: asqauditconference.org
• Yale History Dissertations: Department of History, Yale University
• Dissertation Outline: School of Education, Duquesne University
• Developing a Thesis Statement: The Writing Center, University of Wisconsin–Madison
• Writing an Abstract: The Writing Center, George Mason University
• Formatting Additional Pages: University of Missouri Graduate School
• Reference List vs. Bibliography: OWLL, Massey University
• How to Write Your Dissertation: Goldsmiths University for The Guardian
• Tips on Grammar, Punctuation and Style: Kim Cooper, for the Writing Center at Harvard University
• Acknowledgments, Thesis and Dissertation: Research Guides at Sam Houston State University
• Thesis Formatting, Writing up your Research: Subject Guides at University of Canterbury
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The Graduate Program

Students begin research for the dissertation after they receive their M.Phil. degree, which is earned after successful completion of required course work, language exams, and an oral qualifying exam that covers three subjects in the student’s major field of study and one in their minor field. Students typically reach this stage during their third year of graduate study, although some do not complete these tasks until the fourth year.

More information may be found at the American Historical Association page for the department.

2023-24 Department of History Dissertations-in-Progress

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Home > USC Columbia > Arts and Sciences > History > History Theses and Dissertations

History Theses and Dissertations

Theses/dissertations from 2023 2023.

Cashing the Check of Democracy The American Revolution and Citizenship in the Black Freedom Struggle 1960-1970 , Zachary Earle Clary

“All the Rights of Native Cherokees”: The Appearance of Black People in Cherokee Society , Ayanna Goines

“We Are Created Inferior to Men”: Leveraging Horsemanship to Reinforce Gender Expectations, 1830-1861 , Gabrielle Marie McCoy

The Widened Hearthstone Urban Playgrounds as the Infrastructure of Public Mothering, 1900-1930 , Alexandra Miller

Piratical Transportation: Highlighting Silences in Carolina’s Enslavement and Exportation of Native Americans , Jordan Stenger

Lunatics, Liberals and Bloodthirsty Haters: The South in the 1972 Presidential Election , Thomas Clayton Strebeck

In Her Possession and Keeping Revolutionary War Widows and the Politics of Family Archives, 1820–1850 , Riley Kathryn Sutherland

Colored Lawyer, Topeka: The Legend and Legacy of Elisa Scott , Jeffery Scott Williams

Theses/Dissertations from 2022 2022

The Presbyterian Exception? The Illegal Education of Enslaved Blacks by South Carolina Presbyterian Churches, 1834-1865 , Margaret Bates

Roy Acuff, Democratic Candidate , Henry Luther Capps III

Before the Storm: Youth Hockey in North Carolina Ahead of the NHL’s Arrival , Sarai ShareI Dai

Flying Saucer of the Smokies: The Debate Over National Park Architecture and Wilderness Values in Clingmans Dome Observation Tower , Michelle Fieser

“I Like a Fight”: Margaret Sanger and the First Birth Control Clinic in the United States , Rebecca Linnea Hall

Who Has the Right to Reproduce? Forced Sterilization in South Carolina in the Early Twentieth Century , Kathryn Pownall

Sex (Work) And the City: Sex Work in Columbia, South Carolina, 1860-1880 , Presley McKalyn Ramey

Resurrecting a Nation Through Silk and Diplomacy: American Material Culture and Foreign Relations During the Reconstruction Era , Paige Weaver

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

Building a New (Deal) Identity The Evolution of Italian-American Political Culture and Ideology, 1910–1940 , Ryan J. Antonucci

“It Seemed Like Reaching for the Moon:” Southside Virginia’s Civil Rights Struggle Against The Virginia Way, 1951-1964 , Emily A. Martin Cochran

“We are Going to be Reckoned With”: The South Carolina UDC and the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Museum, 1986-2000 , Caitlin Cutrona

Enslaved Rebellion and Abolitionist Imperialism in Britain’s Atlantic World, 1807-1884 , Lewis Eliot

Religion, Senses, and Remembrance: Brooklyn’s Sumter Club in Postbellum Charleston, S.C. , Michael Edward Scott Emett

Praying Soldiers: Experiencing Religion as a Revolutionary War Soldier Fighting for Independence , Roberto Oscar Flores de Apodaca

Engraved in Prejudice: How Currency Displayed the Mindset of the South , Holly Johnson Floyd

The Governor’s Guards: Militia, Politics, Social Networking, and Manhood in Columbia, South Carolina, 1843-1874 , Justin Harwell

Patients’ Rights, Patients’ Politics: Jewish Activists of the U.S. Women’s Health Movement, 1969-1990 , Jillian Michele Hinderliter

Joshua Gordon’s Witchcraft Book and The Transformation of the Upcountry of South Carolina , E. Zoie Horecny

“The Once and Future Audubon:” The History of the Audubon Ballroom and the Movement to Save It , William Maclane Hull

A Culture of Control: Progressive Era Eugenics in South Carolina as a Continuation of Created White Supremacy , Hannah Nicole Patton

Shaping a Queer South: The Evolution of Activism From 1960-2000 , A. Kamau Pope

The Robber Barons of Show Business: Traveling Amusements And The Development of the American Entertainment Industry, 1870- 1920 , Madeline Steiner

Charlotte's Glory Road: The History of NASCAR in the Queen City , Hannah Thompson

Foxy Ladies and Badass Super Agents: Legacies of 1970s Blaxploitation Spy and Detective Heroines , Carlie Nicole Todd

Media Combat: The Great War and the Transformation of American Culture , Andrew Steed Walgren

“Hungering and Thirsting” for Education: Education, Presbyterians, and African Americans in the South, 1880-1920 , Rachel Marie Young

Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020

Gendering Secession: Women and Politics in South Carolina, 1859- 1861 , Melissa DeVelvis

The Chasquis of Liberty: Revolutionary Messengers in the Bolivian Independence Era, 1808-1825 , Caleb Garret Wittum

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

Learning Church: Catechisms and Lay Participation in Early New England Congregationalism , Roberto O. Flores de Apodaca

Useful Beauty: Tiffany Favrile, Carnival Glass, and Consumerism at the Turn of the Twentieth Century , Chelsea Grayburn

Restoring America: Historic Preservation and the New Deal , Stephanie E. Gray

For the Common Man: An Analysis of the United States Space and Rocket Center , Patrice R. Green

Made to Be Forgotten: The Chevalier DE Saint-Sauveur & the Franco-American Alliance , Katelynn Hatton

Leaders in the Making: Higher Education, Student Activism, and the Black Freedom Struggle in South Carolina, 1925-1975 , Ramon M. Jackson

Exclusive Dining: Immigration and Restaurants in Chicago during the Era of Chinese Exclusion, 1893-1933 , Samuel C. King

Complicating the Narrative: Using Jim's Story to Interpret Enslavement, Leasing, and Resistance at Duke Homestead , Jennifer Melton

“Unknown and Unlamented”: Loyalist Women in Nova Scotia from Exile to Repatriation, 1775-1800 , G. Patrick O’Brien

Raising America Racist: How 1920’s Klanswomen Used Education to Implement Systemic Racism , Kathleen Borchard Schoen

Learning the Land: Indians, Settlers, and Slaves in the Southern Borderlands, 1500-1850 , William Cane West

Theses/Dissertations from 2018 2018

Beyond Preservation: Reconstructing Sites Of Slavery, Reconstruction, And Segregation , Charlotte Adams

Reading Material: Personal Libraries And The Cultivation Of Identity In Revolutionary South Carolina , Gabriella Angeloni

Politics and the Built Environment: Civic Structures of Eighteenth Century Williamsburg, Virginia and Charles Town, South Carolina , Paul Bartow

The Lost Ones: The Cold War State, Child Welfare Systems, And The Battles Over The Rosenberg Children , Megan Bennett

“Catering To The Local Trade”: Jewish-Owned Grocery Stores In Columbia, South Carolina , Olivia Brown

If This Be Sin: Gladys Bentley And The Performance Of Identity , Moira Mahoney Church

“I Hope They Fire Me:” Black Teachers In The Fight For Equal Education, 1910-1970 , Candace Cunningham

Constructing Scientific Knowledge: The Understanding of the Slow Virus, 1898-1976 , Burke Hood Dial

Ayatollahs And Embryos: Science, Politics, And Religion In Post-Revolutionary Iran , M Sadegh Foghani

Of Cannonades and Battle Cries: Aurality, The Battle of The Alamo, and Memory , Michelle E. Herbelin

Anti-Sabbatarianism in Antebellum America: The Christian Quarrel over the Sanctity of Sunday , Kathryn Kaslow

A Divisive Community: Race, Nation, And Loyalty In Santo Domingo, 1822 – 1844 , Antony Wayne Keane-Dawes

“Remember Them Not for How They Died”: American Memory and the Challenger Accident , Elizabeth F. Koele

Garagecraft: Tinkering In The American Garage , Katherine Erica McFadden

Black Power And Neighborhood Organizing In Minneapolis, Minnesota: The Way Community Center, 1966-1971 , Sarah Jayne Paulsen

The Popular Education Question in Antebellum South Carolina, 1800-1860 , Brian A. Robinson

Perks Of Perkins: Understanding Where Magic And Religion Meet For An Early Modern English Theologian , Kyle Sanders

Black Men, Red Coats: The Carolina Corps, Race, and Society in the Revolutionary British Atlantic , Gary Sellick

Theses/Dissertations from 2017 2017

Skin Deep: African American Women and the Building of Beauty Culture in South Carolina , Catherine Davenport

Funding South Carolina’s Monuments: The Growth of the Corporate Person in Monument Financing , Justin Curry Davis

Sex and the State: Sexual Politics in South Carolina in the 1970s , Jennifer Holman Gunter

Within the House of Bondage: Constructing and Negotiating the Plantation Landscape in the British Atlantic World, 1670-1820 , Erin M. Holmes

Odor and Power in the Americas: Olfactory Consciousness from Columbus to Emancipation , Andrew Kettler

From Rice Fields to Duck Marshes: Sport Hunters and Environmental Change on the South Carolina Coast, 1890–1950 , Matthew Allen Lockhart

Potential Republicans: Reconstruction Printers of Columbia, South Carolina , John Lustrea

Lamps, Maps, Mud-Machines, and Signal Flags: Science, Technology, and Commerce in the Early United States , James Russell Risk

Rebirth of the House Museum: Commemorating Reconstruction at the Woodrow Wilson Family Home , Jennifer Whitmer Taylor

Buy for the Sake of your Baby: Guardian Consumerism in Twentieth Century America , Mark VanDriel

Environmental Negotiations Cherokee Power in the Arkansas Valley, 1812-1828 , Cane West

Theses/Dissertations from 2016 2016

A Call To Every Citizen: The South Carolina State Council Of Defense And World War I , Allison Baker

National Register Nomination for the Waikiki Village Motel , Jane W. Campbell

“Antagonistic Describes the Scene:” Local News Portrayals of the New Left and the Escalation of Protest at the University of South Carolina, 1970 , Alyssa Jordan Constad

Ahead of Their Time: Black Teachers and Their Community in the Immediate Post- Brown Years , Candace Cunningham

Deserts Will Bloom: Atomic Agriculture And The Promise Of Radioactive Redemption , Chris Fite

Restoring the Dock Street Theatre: Cultural Production in New-Deal Era Charleston, South Carolina , Stephanie E. Gray

In Search Of Granby: A Colonial Village Of South Carolina , Kathryn F. Keenan

Preserving The Architectural Legacy Of Lyles, Bissett, Carlisle & Wolff, 1948-1976 , Casey Lee

Looking for Remnants of Rice Cultivation at Manchester State Forest Through the Use of LIDAR , Sarah Anne Moore

Uncle Sam’s Jungle: Recreation, Imagination, And The Caribbean National Forest , Will Garrett Mundhenke

G.I. Joe v. Jim Crow: Legal Battles Over Off-Base School Segregation Of Military Children In The American South, 1962-1964 , Randall George Owens

Radioactive Dixie: A History of Nuclear Power and Nuclear Waste in the American South, 1950-1990 , Caroline Rose Peyton

A Culture Of Commodification: Hemispheric And Intercolonial Migrations In The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, 1660-1807 , Neal D. Polhemus

Rediscovering Camden: The Preservation of a Revolutionary War Battlefield , Gary Sellick

The “Forgotten Man” of Washington: the Pershing Memorial and the Battle over Military Memorialization , Andrew S. Walgren

Proslavery Thinking In Antebellum South Carolina: Higher Education, Transatlantic Encounters, And The Life Of The Mind , Jamie Diane Wilson

Colonialism Unraveling: Race, Religion, And National Belonging In Santo Domingo During The Age Of Revolutions , Charlton W. Yingling

Theses/Dissertations from 2015 2015

"Very Many More Men than Women": A Study of the Social Implications of Diagnostics at the South Carolina State Hospital , Clara Elizabeth Bertagnolli

Forgotten Science of Bird Eggs: The Life Cycle of Oology at the Smithsonian Institution , Katherine Nicole Crosby

Shifting Authority at the Confederate Relic Room, 1960-1986 , Kristie L. DaFoe

Boundary Stones: Morbid Concretions and the Chemistry of Early Nineteenth Century Medicine , Edward Allen Driggers Jr.

Main Street, America: Histories of I-95 , Mark T. Evans

National Register Nomination for St. James the Greater Catholic Mission , Diana Garnett

They Held Their Fists Up: The Myth of the Violent Black Panther and the Making of the Angola 3 , Holly Genovese

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History: writing a history dissertation.

• Writing a History Dissertation
• Referencing and Style Guide
• Literature Search Plan

Starting a Literature Search

Conducting a literature search is a great way to find a viable topic and plan your research. It will also give you the opportunity to look for primary and secondary resources that can support the arguments you make in your dissertation. 

Starting your literature search early will help you plan your dissertation and give you an overview of all the resources you might want to consult. Below are examples of how you can start this process and how they can help.

Dissertation Books

Define your Topic

Start your search by identifying a broad subject area, such as a country, period, theme or person. You might do this by looking at reference works, such as a Very Short Introduction , Cambridge Histories , or Oxford Handbooks . These books will give you an insight into the many areas you can investigate in greater depth and they will also provide references to peer-reviewed material on more defined topics. 

Next , look at material which focuses more on the area you have identified from reference works. These might be books, chapters or articles which focus on a more defined area of the subject you have identified. Use these to formulate questions that you can answer in your research.

Then ,  read resources that will help you form your argument and answer the questions you have set. This material should focus on the topic you have chosen and help you explain what has been written on this area before.

Search for Secondary Resources

In order to successfully search for resources relevant to your study, you will need to use search-terms which will retrieve the best results. The tips below will help you do this:

Terms you have found in your reading

Keep a note of terms you have seen when you have been identifying your topic. This could be anything relevant your topic, including: places, people, jobs, religions, institutions, objects, periods, or events. Also, take note of terms that are related to your topic and had an impact on the area you are studying. Write down all the terms which relate to your topic and note which ones provide the most relevant results.

It can also be useful to keep a note of what you are not looking at so that you stay focused on your topic and do not retrieve too many results.

Authors who are written about the topic

You will start to notice that some authors are mentioned as specialists on the topic you are researching. Search a variety of catalogues to find what they have written on the subject in different formats. They might have contributed to edited works, written articles, given presentations to conferences or annotated works. They also might lead you to others who have written about your topic or research groups which are relevant to your studies.

Use subject searches

Most secondary resources have been indexed according to their subject. Through using these subject terms you can search catalogues more efficiently and find relevant resources without just searching the title or author. 

If you find a useful resources, try looking at its catalogue record. See if any of the subject headings look useful and note what terminology they use as this will be consistent across most databases. When you have found a useful term, copy and paste it into a subject search (or select the link) and see what other resources are available.

You can also use an online thesaurus to find search terms. The most commonly used terms are the Library of Congress Subject Headings  which provide uniform terms across international databases.

Use databases

The University subscribes to many databases that focus on different countries and topics. These will provide a comprehensive guide to what has been written in your area and may use different subject headings. Reference databases and bibliographies can be especially useful for finding citations of everything that has been written on a certain area of history. Biographical databases can also help find information about individuals and institutions. For a complete list of all the databases the University subscribes to, look at the A-Z of databases . 

Search for Primary Resources

There are plenty of primary resources that can be used in your dissertation. The University subscribes to many databases that provide access to primary resources and some of our libraries hold special collections which can be used in your research. Below are some examples:

The University subscribes to many newspapers from the past and present. They can be a really useful tool for finding contemporary accounts of events and provide more than just articles (including: advertisements, illustrations, family notices, sports, arts, court cases). Many newspaper databases will also include related content, such as pamphlets and newsbooks.

The University Library has a collection of print newspapers which can be consulted on site. The University also subscribes to electronic databases of national and local newspapers across the world. More information about the newspaper databases we subscribe to is available on our  dedicated website .

Special Collection Material

Many libraries and archives provide access to rare, unique and specialised collections of books and manuscripts. The University Library, for example, provides access to Manuscripts and Rare Books Departments , as do some of the colleges. Some of the more frequently used and important material is also available as part of an online library, such as Cambridge's CUDL .

Official Publications (Government Documents)

Documents produced by governmental and intergovernmental bodies can provide an insight into their decision making and governance. Several libraries in Cambridge have received official publications material and a lot of material is now available online. More information about the official material in Cambridge libraries is available on our Official Publications LibGuide .

Data and Statistics

Figures can be used to help illustrate a point and provide evidence as you answer the central question in your dissertation. You might chose to refer to census data, crime statistics, trade figures, or any other data set that relates to your area of history. This sort of information can be found in databases and replicated in secondary resources. 

Private Papers

If you are researching an individual (or someone who played a prominent role in the area you are focusing on) it is a good idea to see if they have deposited private papers in an archive. These might includes diaries, letters, draft works, or anything else that was kept and not published. These works are normally kept in an archive, so a good starting point is to look at a catalogue that might show where relevant papers are held (such as Archives Hub )

These can include maps, cartoons, paintings and photographs. Images are available both in print and online, but you need to be cautious of the copyright restrictions of images before you use them (check the information given by the source). Some databases will allow you to search images, like ARTstor , so use them as a good starting point for your search. 

Audio-Visual

Similarly to images, the University provides access to a variety of audio-visual resources, including interviews, recordings, radio and films. If there is a particular DVD you would like to use, try searching the title in iDiscover. For example, " Interviews with Historians " will take you to a comprehensive collection of DVDs available at the Seeley. Many films are also available online, such as British Pathe .

Organise and Save Your Research

You will be able to do a comprehensive and efficient literature search if you keep a record of what you have read, where you read it and what each item means to your research. The best way to achieve this is to:

1. Record the key ideas, themes and quotes from what you have read. Try to find a uniform way to do this as it will make it easier to find information when you come to write your dissertation. Some formats are freely available on the internet, such as the Cornell Note Taking System .

2. Save citations you have looked at so you do not struggle to find them again. Also, this will help you when you come to do your references. There are many reference managers available to help you store this information and create a fully formatted bibliography.

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• Doctoral Dissertation

The dissertation is expected to be a mature and competent piece of writing, embodying the results of significant original research. Physical requirements for preparing a dissertation (i.e., quality of paper, format, binding, etc.) are prescribed online in the Guide for the Preparation of Theses and Dissertations ; a copy is also available in the Graduate School Office. For specific aspects of form and style, students are advised to use Kate L. Turabian's  A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations  (Eighth Edition, 2013). Special physical problems regarding preparation of dissertations should be taken up with the Assistant Dean for Student Programs.

Graduate students also have the option of submitting their dissertation electronically , to facilitate access to their work through online databases. Students must be registered at Duke during the semester in which they defend their dissertations and therefore must take their final dissertation examination while classes are in session. It is best to schedule a final examination (the so-called "thesis defense") early in the fall or spring semester. Examinations during the summer terms are almost impossible to arrange and should be avoided, if possible. Examinations between semesters are permitted only in exceptional cases.

Checklist for Doctoral Dissertation Defense

• Schedule exam during school semester; be sure to register.
• File the Intention to Receive Degree Form as required.
• Clear date and time with all members of your committee.
• Proofread your dissertation and have someone else do so.
• Provide committee with reading copies of your dissertation 2 weeks in advance.
• Format check a copy of your dissertation through the Graduate School Office several weeks in advance.
• Check with the DGSA that the Final Exam Form has been sent to the Graduate School a week ahead.
• Pick up Final Exam Certificate from the Graduate School and bring it to the defense.
• Come to exam with enough sleep and earn a clear pass.
• Have committee sign Exam Form, Dissertations, Abstracts .
• Return the original Exam Form to the Graduate School, and bring a copy of the form DGS office.
• Make corrections and submit 3 dissertation copies and abstracts.
• Pay for microfilming, binding, & (optional) copyrighting.
• Have brilliant academic career. Cover Duke with reflected glory.

Process, Forms & Procedures

The supervisory committee for the dissertation usually consists of four faculty, though a committee of five faculty is strongly recommended.  The committee must always have at least two regular History faculty, including the primary advisor, and a majority of its members must be Duke University faculty members .  The committee is chaired by the primary advisor, the person most involved in advising a student's research. If necessary, the committee may vary somewhat from the one that oversees preliminary certification, but changes must be approved by the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) and the Graduate School at least 30 days before the examination.

Continuing members of the committee will have a copy of the dissertation prospectus from the oral phase of the preliminary examination. New members should be given a copy as soon as they join the committee. All committee members should be given subsequent revisions of the prospectus and kept informed about the progress of research and writing. The exact use a student makes of the members of this committee will depend on the committee members' availability and the student's needs. Each professor and student works out this relationship in a different way.

External Sources

Within the discipline of History, funding needs and opportunities vary widely. While foreign research is more expensive than most U.S. history work, there tend to be more funding prospects. Students who plan extended overseas research should familiarize themselves with specific opportunities. Advisors and committee members can help with this, as can more advanced graduate students and professors in other disciplines. A bulletin board in the Graduate Lounge displays funding opportunities, but students should also check with the Office of Research Support.

There are diverse foundation and government programs available but many of them are obscure. The dissertation prospectus can sometimes function as the core for a grant application. In searching out prospects, a student should consider all the different categories into which their research might fit in terms of chronology (e.g. Renaissance Studies), geography (e.g. Asian Studies), subject (e.g. Slavery Studies), or methodology (e.g. Medical History), as well as categories into which they themselves might fit that could qualify them for a fellowship (e.g. as an alumna/alumnus of a particular university).

Internal Sources

The Duke Graduate School has an annual program of awards and doctoral candidates in History. However, the resources are limited and the competition is very keen. The number and size of these awards vary slightly from year to year. The most recent information can be found at the Graduate School's Financial Assistance webpage. Other awards are made within the University and opportunities based in other departments where history graduate students are eligible may exist. Watch messages from the DGSA and the DGS, and from the Graduate School and other units of the university.

The History Department administers the Anne F. Scott History Research Travel Award, which is given to several recipients each spring to cover research expenses, such as travel. Applications are open to Duke Undergraduates and graduate students engaged in research relating to women's history. Notice of the competition is circulated by the History Department. Awards range from $200 to $3000.

Each year, the History Department also offers a special teaching stipend to an advanced graduate student to allow them to teach an undergraduate class as Instructor of Record in the field of military history, that is, the historical study of the military, war, and society. The stipend covers the salary for a student serving as Instructor of Record.

Selection Procedures

The Graduate School's selection procedures and schedule change slightly each year, but the following general rules apply to fellowships administered through the Graduate School:

• Nominations must come through the Department (the dates vary) so the application process is coordinated through the DGS office.
• The DGS Office will inform advisors and students of relevant nomination deadlines, and students are urged to watch carefully for these notices and remind their advisors of them.
• Depending on the fellowship, the department either ranks the applicants or makes nominations. For the most prestigious awards, the department is limited in the number of students it can recommend (usually to two). Either the DGS or the faculty members of the Graduate Committee prepare rankings and nominations.
• The DGS and DGSA usually ask students to submit applications several weeks in advance of the Graduate School deadline to facilitate the departmental selection process. Usually, students submit to the DGS and DGSA the documentation requested for the specific award, addressed to the Dean of the Graduate School, describing in some detail the nature of their work and the need for support. Keep in mind that this documentation will first be used by the DGS and the Graduate Committee to determine which students go forward to the Graduate School, and then will go forward to the Graduate School where a committee of non-historians will appraise applications from across the university. As always, write clearly and proof read well.
• Faculty nominators should be aware that their supporting letters will be read by informed, interested non-historians. Brief letters of mild support do not help much nor do letters that are too long. Recently the Graduate School has strongly urged a limit of one page for all recommendations.
• Once the Department has selected its nominees, the Graduate Committee will let them know if specific revisions would be helpful or necessary for the competition.

From time to time other awards are made within the University and it is important to keep an eye out for opportunities based in other departments where history graduate students are eligible. A bulletin board in the lounge and e-mails to the graduate student listserv announce some options that come to the attention of the DGS, but informal grapevines and networks help too.

Prior to or at the start of the semester in which a student intends to defend their completed dissertation, they must file an "Intention to Receive Degree" form with the Graduate School.   Students must file the form in the specific semester they plan to receive their degree. Forms are not transferrable so if plans change and a student is unable to finish, they will need to complete the same form again for the semester they plan to receive their degree in.

For the most current information on deadlines please follow the link below here: https://gradschool.duke.edu/academics/graduation-information-and-deadlines/

The DGS office is required to submit a formal defense announcement to the Graduate School Office at least a full week before the scheduled examination. This notice includes the student's name, dissertation title, and the names of the committee members, as well as the time, place, and date of the exam as agreed upon by the student, the primary advisor, and the committee.

Final Milestone Examination Certificate

After the exam form has been received by the Graduate School and the completed dissertation form has been approved by the Assistant Dean, the Graduate School will issue a " Final Milestone Examination Certificate " Graduate students are responsible for picking up their certificate from the Graduate School and then bringing the certificate to their defense. After the exam, the student is responsible for returning the original paperwork, with the appropriate committee signatures, to the Graduate School and providing a copy to the DGS office.

Most dissertation advisors will want to see chapters as they are drafted and a student should have at least one other committee member read parts of the early drafts as well. The process for commentary and feedback will differ with each dissertation and students should work with their advisors and committee, and when necessary the DGS, to be sure they receive the counsel they need.

A copy of the finished dissertation – complete with table of contents, full citations, page numbers, and bibliography – should be given to each member of the dissertation committee at least two weeks before the final examination. It is important that students provide their thesis to the committee to allow members time to carefully go through it. Given their other obligations, the sooner committee members have access to the student's work, and the better shape it is in when they receive it, the more the student can expect in the way of productive feedback.

The dissertation must be submitted to the Graduate School office at least 14 days before the scheduled final examination and no later than 5:00 p.m. on the deadline date. It should be accompanied by a 350-word abstract; the abstract will later be sent with the dissertation for microfilming to be printed in Dissertation Abstracts International.

Defense Process

The final examination is normally administered by the supervising committee of five members, though a four-member committee is permissible if the primary advisor is present. Only two members of a dissertation examination committee may participate by telephone; that member may not be the chair. The DGS must obtain the permission of the Senior Associate Dean for remote participation at least a week before the oral exam. This oral exam lasts between two and three hours. Since this is a public defense, other persons may attend to listen but they should notify both the student and the chairperson in advance. Questions and discussion concentrate primarily on the dissertation; however, the committee may also ask questions that relate broadly to the major field of study.

Once the exam is over, the candidate and any guests will be asked to leave so the committee can discuss the exam and vote by written ballot as required. If all of the members vote affirmatively, they sign their names on at least the first and second copies of the dissertation and on the title page of the original copy of the abstract, signifying the abstract is suitable for publication. The easiest and least confusing procedure if for the committee member to sign all of the copies. They then sign the final examination certificate, which is returned signed to the student who should promptly turn in to the Graduate Studies Office.

Four of five (or four of four) affirmative votes of those present – including the main supervisor – constitute a pass. The Graduate School Bulletin states that "A student who fails the final examination may be allowed to take it a second time, but no earlier than six months from the date of the first examination. Permission to take the second examination must be obtained from the professor who directed the dissertation and from the Dean of the Graduate School. Failure to pass the second examination renders the student ineligible to continue work for the Ph.D. exam at Duke University."

Revising and Correcting the Dissertation

The committee may accept the dissertation on the understanding that the student will make minor revisions and corrections to be reviewed and approved by their advisor before the dissertation is deposited with the Graduate School. In this case, they will sign the exam certificate and the abstract sheets and dissertation signature pages. The student will then have up to 30 days after the examination to make the requested changes and improvements.

NOTE: this 30-day period for corrections cannot be granted when there are fewer than 30 days left in the semester. In such cases you must check with the Graduate School to determine the deadline for submitting the completed dissertation.

Depositing the Dissertation

After passing the final examination, and making any necessary corrections and improvements, a student takes the original and first two copies (three sets in all) of the finished dissertation, with 3 abstracts signed by the committee, to the Graduate School office.

At this time the student will be required to sign a microfilming agreement and to pay a fee to cover microfilming costs. Duke dissertations are published on microfilm by University Microfilms (Ann Arbor, MI). At this time the student will also be required to pay to have the original and two copies of the dissertation bound in black covers with gold lettering on the spine. The original and one copy go on file in Perkins Library; the other copy goes to your dissertation advisor. Additional copies may be bound through the Duke Bookstore in the Bryan Center. The student may also pay to copyright their dissertation at this time; this is optional but recommended.

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Princeton University Library

Finding dissertations in history, us and canadian dissertations, british dissertations.

• Foreign dissertations

For many years, UMI/Proquest has microfilmed U.S. and Canadian dissertations and sold microfilm and print copies to libraries and scholars. Since 1997, they have also made digital versions available online to institutions that subscribe to Proquest Dissertations & Theses (which used to be called Dissertation Abstracts International). The DAI database extends back to 1861 and represents the work of authors from over 1,000 North American graduate schools and European universities. Some 60,000 new dissertations and 12,000 new theses are added to the database each year. Those published from 1980 forward also include 350-word abstracts, written by the author. Citations for master's theses from 1988 forward include 150-word abstracts.

Older dissertations are available for a handful of schools (those which have made arrangements with ProQuest to digitize their older dissertations.) New ones are added steadily, so it's worth checking.

DAI can be searched by topic, by school & department, or by adviser (starting with 1989). Use the Advanced Search interface, and be inventive. The subject indexing is extremely general, and the keywords are drawn from the title and abstract, or are those provided by the author, so they can be very inconsistent. To see which schools are included for a particular country, use the Advanced Search, School Index, and search by the name of the country, e.g. "france."

If you request a US dissertation through Interlibrary Loan, generally they will purchase it from UMI for the library. (Dissertations that are not held by UMI, e.g. Harvard dissertations, are more difficult to obtain.) Canadian dissertations can be obtained through ILL from the National Library of Canada on microfiche. Canadian theses are indexed in Theses Canada from 1965, with full text from 1998.

ProQuest Dissertations & Theses - UK & Ireland  (1716+) Bibliographic listing of dissertations and theses, most with abstracts, accepted for higher degrees by universities in the United Kingdom & Ireland.

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• Last Updated: Dec 19, 2023 1:32 PM
• URL: https://libguides.princeton.edu/history/dissertations

The Cowbell in Music and Culture

Publication or External Link

Cowbells are used as percussion instruments in a variety of musical settings today. Such uses represent a number of distinct musical practices. In this dissertation I attempt to chronicle cowbells in music from the first such use (the mid-19th century) to the present day, with a focus on historically linking and differentiating cowbell practices in orchestral music, in early musical theater and popular music, and in Cuban and Cuban-derived music. I argue furthermore that perceptions of the cowbell and its connotations, in the cultures that produce these musical practices, affect the way that the instrument is used and perceived. The word “cowbell” makes no differentiation between cowbells used historically for farming and the modern instruments descended from them. This, coupled with historical associations between cowbells and the carnivalesque exemplified by charivari practices, has led to perceptions of the cowbell, throughout its musical history, as an object of othering, humor, and/or derision.

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