AHA Directory of History Departments and Organizations

Institution Details


University of Nebraska-Lincoln
University of Nebraska-Lincoln Dept. of History
612 Oldfather Hall
Lincoln, NE 68588-0327
Phone: 402.472.2414
Email: jlesueur@unl.edu
Website: https://history.unl.edu/


Our award-winning, global experts teach innovative courses on subjects that affect our world today. And we attract students ready to work hand-in-hand with them on innovative research projects that challenge the field’s status quo.


Chair: James D. Le Sueur
Director of Graduate Studies: Alexander Vazansky
Director of Undergraduate Studies: Sean Trundle
Degrees Offered: BA,MA,PHD
Academic Year System: SEM
Areas of Specialization: North American West, race/ethnicity/identity, 19th-century US, 20th-century international, Germany and central Europe
Undergraduate Tuition (per academic year):
   In-state: $6648
   Out-of-state: $21312
Graduate Tuition (per academic year):
   In-state: $6570
   Out-of-state: $19188

Enrollment 2024-25:
Undergraduate Majors: 120
Students in Program: 0
New Graduate Students: 9
Full-time Graduate Students: 30
Part-time Graduate Students: 0
Degrees in History: 0 AA 35 BA 2 BS 2 MA 0 MS 0 PhD
Students in Undergrad. Courses: 3885
Students in Undergrad. Intro Courses: 1359
% of Online-Only Courses: 0
Undergraduate Addresses:
   Admissions: https://admissions.unl.edu/
   Financial Aid: https://financialaid.unl.edu/
Graduate Addresses:
   Admissions: https://graduate.unl.edu/admissions
   Financial Aid: https://graduate.unl.edu/funding

Areas of Specialization: North American West, race/ethnicity/identity, 19th-century US, 20th-century international, Germany and central Europe

Not applicable


Doctoral Program Information

A. Program Description. The University of Nebraska - Lincoln's PhD program in History is committed to a collaborative, team-oriented approach to graduate study. We seek to educate the whole student to produce thoughtful and capable historians who are prepared for teaching and research positions at the full range of higher education institutions as well as within museums, consulting firms, non-profit organizations, government agencies, and the publishing industry. We emphasize the development of professional skills and teaching experience in addition to intensive research.

B. Special Programs. We offer cutting-edge training in digital history through the Center for Digital Research in the Humanities, which offers a Graduate Certificate in Digital Humanities. Graduate students affiliated with the Center have the opportunity to participate in an innovative new community-based hands-on historical archive known as the History Harvest. Students may also pursue interdisciplinary specializations in Ethnic Studies, Great Plains Studies, International Human Rights and Diversity, Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Nineteenth Century Studies, and Women's and Gender Studies. The University of Nebraska - Lincoln houses the Nebraska State Historical Archives and is in close proximity to important private and government archives in Kansas City, Denver, and Chicago.

C. Financial Aid. All students who apply for admission to the graduate program in history are automatically considered for a Graduate Teaching Assistantship. The department also awards a few competitive fellowships each year to new students and to students who have passed their comprehensive exams. Applications are due by December 1 for admission for the following August.

D. Degree Requirements. 90 credit hours are required, with about two-thirds of this in course work and one third in dissertation hours. All students must take the Professional Study of History, a Seminar in Teaching History, and a Comparative World History seminar. Students also take a two-course sequence in American, European, or World History. Competence in at least one foreign language is required. Written and oral comprehensive exams are required before advancement to candidacy and the writing of the dissertation.

Directory of History Dissertations

Doctoral Program Statistics 2024-25:
PhD students currently enrolled: 20
PhD applications received: 22
New PhD students: 4
% of students receiving tuition waivers: 55
% of students receiving stipends: 55


Anderson, Donna Doan (PHD, California, Santa Barbara, 2024; ; Mellon Research Asst. Prof. in US Law and Race) land policy and immigration, rural Asian American communities; danderson79@unl.edu
Bolen, Angela (PHD, Nebraska, 2021; ; lect.) medieval, gender and sexuality; abolen2@unl.edu
Ermus, Cindy (PHD, Florida State, 2014; ; Charles and Linda Wilson Prof. in the History of Medicine and dir., Humanities in Medicine) 18th-century Europe and Atlantic world, epidemics, disasters; cermus2@unl.edu
Gibson, Abraham Hill (PHD, Florida State, 2013; ; assoc. prof.) science, technology, environment; agibson12@unl.edu
Jagodinsky, Katrina L. (PHD, Arizona, 2011; ; Susan J. Rosowski Assoc. Prof.) North American West, legal, women and gender; kjagodinsky@unl.edu
Le Sueur, James Dean (PHD, Chicago, 1996; ; Samuel Clark Waugh Dist. Prof. and chair) modern France, world decolonization, intellectual and cultural; jlesueur@unl.edu
Mahoney, Timothy R. (PHD, Chicago, 1982; ; prof.) US urban, 19th-century US; tmahoney1@unl.edu
Trundle, Sean (PHD, Hawaii, Manoa, 2013; ; assoc. prof. of practice and undergrad. chair) digital media, science and technology, film and media studies; strundle@unl.edu
Twomey, Carolyn (PHD, Boston Coll., 2017; ; asst. prof.) medieval Europe; ctwomey10@unl.edu
Vazansky, Alexander (PHD, Heidelberg, 2009; ; assoc. prof. and grad. chair) modern Europe and Germany, German-American relations, military-civilian relations; avazansky2@unl.edu
Winkle, Kenneth J. (PHD, Wisconsin, Madison, 1984; ; Thomas C. Sorensen Prof.) US political, social, quantitative methods; kwinkle1@unl.edu
Ari-Chachaki, Waskar T. (PHD, Georgetown, 2005; ; assoc. prof.; Ethnic Studies) Latin America, social; wari2@unl.edu
Curry, Dawne Yvette (PHD, Michigan State, 2006; ; prof.; Ethnic Studies) Africa, oral; dcurry2@unl.edu
Der Matossian, Bedross (PHD, Columbia, 2008; ; prof. and vice chair; Hymen Rosenberg Prof. in Judaic Studies) modern Middle East; bdermatossian2@unl.edu
Garza, James Alex (PHD, Texas Christian, 2001; ; assoc. prof.; Ethnic Studies) modern Mexico, Latin America, Latino; jgarza2@unl.edu
Gorman, Vanessa B. (PHD, Pennsylvania, 1993; ; Aaron Douglas Prof.; Classics and Religious Studies) ancient Greece, Rome; vgorman1@unl.edu
Hinzo, Angel M. (PHD, California, Davis, 2016; ; asst. prof.; Ethnic Studies) Native American; ahinzo2@unl.edu
Jacobs, Margaret D. (PHD, California, Davis, 1996; ; Charles Mach Prof. and dir., Center for Great Plains Studies; Women’s & Gender Studies) North American West, women, indigenous peoples; mjacobs3@unl.edu
Jones, Jeannette Eileen (PHD, SUNY, Buffalo, 2003; ; Happold Prof. and dir., 19th Century Studies; Ethnic Studies) American cultural and intellectual, African American, precolonial Africa, US in world; jjones11@unl.edu
Jones, Patrick D. (PHD, Wisconsin, Madison, 2002; ; assoc. prof.; Ethnic Studies) African American, 20th-century US; pjones2@unl.edu
Muñoz, Laura K. (PHD, Arizona State, 2006; ; assoc. prof.; Ethnic Studies) race and gender in borderlands, Chicana/o, US and Latin American women; laura.munoz@unl.edu
Steinacher, Gerald J. (PHD, Innsbruck, Austria, 1999; ; James A. Rawley Prof.; Judaic Studies) modern Germany, Holocaust; gsteinacher2@unl.edu
Berger, Patrice (PHD, Chicago, 1972; ; prof. emeritus; dir., Honors Prog.) 17th- and 18th-century France; pberger1@unl.edu
Borstelmann, Tim (PHD, Duke, 1990; ; E. N. and Katherine Thompson Prof. emeritus) modern world, US foreign relations, 20th-century US; tborstelmann2@unl.edu
Burnett, Amy Nelson (PHD, Wisconsin-Madison, 1989; ; Paula and D. B. Varner Univ. Prof. emerita) Renaissance and Reformation, religious; aburnett1@unl.edu
Cahan, David (PHD, Johns Hopkins, 1980; ; Charles Bessey Prof. emeritus) premodern Jewish, early modern Europe; dcahan2@unl.edu
Coble, Parks M., Jr. (PHD, Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 1975; ; James L. Sellers Prof. emeritus) East Asia, modern China, Japan; pcoble1@unl.edu
Coope, Jessica A. (PHD, California, Berkeley, 1988; ; assoc. prof. emerita) medieval, Islamic; jcoope1@unl.edu
Kleimola, Ann (PHD, Michigan, 1970; ; prof. emerita) eastern Europe, Russia, women; akleimola1@unl.edu
Levin, Carole B. (PHD, Tufts, 1976; ; Willa Cather prof. emerita) early modern England, women; clevin2@unl.edu
Maslowski, Peter (PHD, Ohio State, 1972; ; prof. emeritus) US military; pmaslowski1@unl.edu
McClelland, James C. (PHD, Princeton, 1970; ; assoc. prof. emeritus) 20th-century Russia; jmcclelland@neb.rr.com
Moulton, Gary E. (PHD, Oklahoma State, 1973; ; prof. emeritus) US frontier, American Indian; gmoulton1@unl.edu
Rader, Benjamin G. (PHD, Maryland, Coll. Park, 1964; ; James L. Sellers Prof. emeritus) American intellectual, sports; brader1@unl.edu
Smith, Victoria A. O. (PHD, Arizona State, 2002; ; assoc. prof. emerita; Ethnic Studies) Native American, 19th-century US; vsmith4@unl.edu
Vigil, Ralph H. (PHD, New Mexico, 1969; ; prof. emeritus) colonial, Spanish-Mexican borderlands; rvigil2@unl.edu
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