Lyon G. Tyler Department of History Graduate Program

M.A. in Comparative History

The Master’s Degree Program in Comparative History is a small, rigorous, and intensive program that offers students a theme- or concept-based approach to historical studies. Students approach their studies cross-culturally, through graduate courses in historiography, research methods, and transnational themes (for example, "Comparative Revolutions," "History and Memory," "Atlantic World," “Race,” "Slavery," "Empires and Imperialism," "Nations and Nationalism," and "Gender and Sexuality." MA students may also focus on a particular national history. All students write a master’s thesis of forty to seventy pages and must pass a language exam that tests reading knowledge in a second language.

(Qualified juniors and seniors at William & Mary may apply to take graduate courses while still enrolled as undergraduates. Email ldmeye@wm.edu for more information.)

Applicants to the MA program may apply for apprenticeships in Historical Editing at the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, Archives and Manuscript Collections at the Earl Gregg Swem Library, Historical Archaeology or Vernacular Architecture at Colonial Williamsburg, and Humanities Computing. Students chosen to serve as apprentices receive a stipend of $4,000. Part-time students are not eligible for financial support.

About half the graduates of the MA program in History at William & Mary have gone on to doctoral programs. The others include secondary school teachers, editors, archaeologists, and museum professionals. For placement information, click here.

The program's faculty include:

Ismail Abdalla, Modern Africa, History of Islam

Tuska Benes, German History and European Cultural and Intellectual History, History of linguistic thought, Nationalism, Ethnology and racial theory, and Europe's relations with the wider world

Gail Bossenga, French History, Approaches to World History

Craig Canning, Modern China, Sino-Japanese relations and U.S.-China relations

Fred Corney, History of Russia, History of Memory

Philip Daileader, Medieval History, Social, cultural, and religious history of Mediterranean Europe

Cindy Hahamovitch, U.S. History, International Migration, Forced Labor in Comparative Perspective

Dale Hoak, Early Modern England and European History

LuAnn Homza, Spain, Italy, Intellectual, religious, and cultural history of Europe

Hiroshi Kitamura, United States, Modern Japan, Pacific World

Laurie Koloski, Poland, Eastern Europe, Communism and Stalinism, Nations and Nationalism

Betsy Konefal, Guatemala, Modern Latin America, Comparative history of Race, Social Movements

Kris Lane, Andes, Colonial Latin America, Comparative Slavery, Piracy

James La Fleur, African History, Atlantic World, Agriculture

Kathrin Levitan, Modern Britain, Social Thought, British Empire

Paul Mapp, Early America, Atlantic World, European Foreign Relations

Leisa Meyer, Gender, Sexuality, and Women's History

Richard Price, Afro-America, Resistance to slavery, Ethnography

Abdul-Karim Rafeq, Arab Middle Eastern Studies

Ron Schechter, French History, European History, Jewish History

Karin Wulf, Gender and Women's History

Chitralekha Zutshi, Modern South Asia, Islam in the Indian Subcontinent, British Empire

For more information, email the or call 757-221-3743