Graduate Program

Welcome to the Graduate Program, Department of History at the University of California, Santa Cruz. The Department of History at UC Santa Cruz is a community of scholars pursuing historical research in a wide variety of geographical and thematic areas. Students in the Ph.D. program receive training and mentorship in historical research, theory, and teaching, and make significant contributions to this community.

The graduate program in history at UCSC has a global and transnational orientation, and emphasizes an interdisciplinary and cross-cultural approach to historical studies, encouraging innovative thinking about global historical processes. We search for highly motivated students qualified to pursue advanced studies in history whose interests match the strengths of our faculty. We train students to think, talk, and teach across time and geographical boundaries.

The Department of History, and the Santa Cruz Campus generally, is known for its strengths in Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies; Critical Race Studies; Colonialism, Nationalism, Internationalism, and Postcolonial and Decolonial Studies; and Class and Transnational Labor Studies. All students in the history graduate program receive training in trans-regional approaches to researching and teaching the past. Many students are drawn to the program’s curriculum in World History, participate in the events and activities of the Center for World History, and produce original scholarship that is comparative or transnational in scope, centers cross-connections, or situates national or regional histories within a global framework.

The scholarly community of the History Department at UC Santa Cruz values a diversity of viewpoints, backgrounds, and experiences. Such diversity strengthens research, scholarship, teaching, and the intellectual culture of the department and campus. As a part of the commitment of the University of California and the Department of History to diversity, graduate students can find numerous resources, events, and dedicated staff and faculty mentors to help them achieve their educational and professional goals.

We invite you to explore our web site for information about the doctoral programs. As you learn more of what the department and the campus can offer, we urge you to contact faculty members whose specialties match your interests and discover the possibilities of graduate work at UCSC.

Continuing Recruitment: National Science Foundation Graduate Recruitment

** We regret to inform you that we will not be admitting students into our MA program for the 2024-25 Academic Year **