AHA Directory of History Departments and Organizations

Institution Details


University of California, Riverside
University of California, Riverside Dept. of History
1212 HMNSS Bldg.
900 University Ave.
Riverside, CA 92521-0204
Phone: 951.827.5401
Fax: 951.827.5299
Email: history@ucr.edu
Website: https://history.ucr.edu/


The UC Riverside History department is a dynamic department that is deeply committed to undergraduate and graduate training. We seek to produce highly qualified professional historians with exceptionally strong research and teaching skills, a breadth of historical knowledge, and an understanding of the variety of methods and approaches that historians employ.


Chair: David Biggs
Director of Graduate Studies: Jonathan Eacott
Director of Undergraduate Studies: Rebecca Kugel
Degrees Offered: BA,MA,PHD
Academic Year System: QTR
Areas of Specialization: early America, 19th-century US, 20th-century US, American West, Native American, ancient Mediterranean, early modern Europe, modern Europe, early modern England, modern England, modern Russia, colonial Latin America
Undergraduate Tuition (per academic year):
   In-state: $17996
   Out-of-state: $52196
Graduate Tuition (per academic year):
   In-state: $20301
   Out-of-state: $35403

Enrollment 2024-25:
Undergraduate Majors: 350
Students in Program: 0
New Graduate Students: 8
Full-time Graduate Students: 47
Part-time Graduate Students: 0
Degrees in History: 0 AA 0 BA 0 BS 0 MA 0 MS 0 PhD
Students in Undergrad. Courses: 0
Students in Undergrad. Intro Courses: 0
% of Online-Only Courses: 0
Undergraduate Addresses:
   Admissions: https://admissions.ucr.edu/
   Financial Aid: https://finaid.ucr.edu/
Graduate Addresses:
   Admissions: https://graduate.ucr.edu/admissions
   Financial Aid: https://graduate.ucr.edu/admissions

Areas of Specialization: early America, 19th-century US, 20th-century US, American West, Native American, ancient Mediterranean, early modern Europe, modern Europe, early modern England, modern England, modern Russia, colonial Latin America

Not applicable


Doctoral Program Information

A. Program Description. We are a dynamic department that is deeply committed to graduate training. We seek to produce highly qualified professional historians with exceptionally strong research and teaching skills, a breadth of historical knowledge, and an understanding of the variety of methods and approaches that historians employ. No single approach to history prevails among the faculty. Research activity and interests cluster in ways that cross traditional fields defined by places and periods. Notable concentrations of faculty strengths include material culture, public history, Native American history, cultural contact and confrontation, women and gender, and family history.

B. Special Programs. We feature PhD fields in World History and Native American history (and are one of the only universities nation-wide to offer the PhD in Native American history), in addition to broad strength in Europe, the United States, and Latin American History. In addition, our program in Public History at the MA and PhD levels is one of only two in the University of California system. Public History students receive training in Museum Studies, Archival Management, and Historic Resources Management under the supervision of full-time faculty and carefully chosen professionals.

C. Financial Aid. The UCR History Department works with the UCR Graduate Dean's office to offer outstanding applicants guaranteed multi-year financial aid packages (up to five years) that combine fellowship with teaching assistant support. Many students also receive teaching assistant support, short-term and quarter-long research fellowships, and dissertation fellowships on a competitive basis as they proceed in their course of studies.

D. Degree Requirements. The PhD requirements include reading courses, two-quarter research seminars and courses in theory and methods. Students take written take-home examinations in a research field and a complementary field, and satisfy a teaching field with coursework. After completing field examinations and a field-specific language requirement, students must pass an oral PhD examination that includes consideration of their draft prospectus, and submit a dissertation.

Directory of History Dissertations

Doctoral Program Statistics 2024-25:
PhD students currently enrolled: 47
PhD applications received: 57
New PhD students: 11
% of students receiving tuition waivers: 100
% of students receiving stipends: 100


Adelusi-Adeluyi, Ademide J. (PHD, NYU, 2015; ; assoc. prof.) Africa, urban, historical cartography; ademide.adelusi-adeluyi@ucr.edu
Asaka, Megan (PHD, Yale, 2014; ; assoc. prof.) Asian American, public; megan.asaka@ucr.edu
Bauer, William J., Jr. (PHD, Oklahoma, 2003; ; prof.) American Indian, California, American West to 1849; william.bauer1@ucr.edu
Benjamin, Jody (PHD, Harvard, 2016; ; asst. prof.) West Africa; jody.benjamin@ucr.edu
Chen, Xiao (PHD, Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 2024; ; asst. prof.) early modern China; xiao.chen@ucr.edu
Dubcovsky, Alejandra (PHD, California, Berkeley, 2011; ; prof.) early America, American Indians, Spanish borderlands; alejandra.dubcovsky@ucr.edu
Eacott, Jonathan P. (PHD, Michigan, 2008; ; assoc. prof. and dir., grad. studies) Britain 1750-1990, early America, colonialism; jonathan.eacott@ucr.edu
Gage, Kendra (PhD, Nevada, Las Vegas, 2015; ; asst. prof. of teaching) African American and African diaspora studies; kendra.gage@ucr.edu
Graninger, C. Denver (PHD, Cornell, 2006; ; assoc. prof.) ancient Greece and Rome, material culture; charles.graninger@ucr.edu
Gudis, Catherine (PHD, Yale, 1999; ; assoc. prof.) American studies, consumer culture, public history and preservation; catherine.gudis@ucr.edu
Hackel, Steven W. (PHD, Cornell, 1994; ; prof.) American West, colonial America, Native American, California, Spanish borderlands; shackel@ucr.edu
Haskell, Alexander B. (PHD, Johns Hopkins, 2005; ; assoc. prof.) early America; alexander.haskell@ucr.edu
Kugel, Rebecca (PHD, UCLA, 1986; ; assoc. prof. and dir., undergrad. studies) US social, American Indian; rebecca.kugel@ucr.edu
Lehmann, Philipp N. (PHD, Harvard, 2014; ; assoc. prof.) environmental, science and technology, modern Europe and Africa; philipp.lehmann@ucr.edu
Lentacker, Antoine (PHD, Yale, 2016; ; asst. prof.) modern Europe, science/medicine/technology, media studies; antoine.lentacker@ucr.edu
Levy, Juliette (PHD, UCLA, 2003; ; assoc. prof.) modern Mexico, Latin America, economic; juliette.levy@ucr.edu
Marquez, John C. (PHD, Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 2019; ; asst. prof.) colonial Latin America, Brazil, African diaspora, slavery and freedom, Atlantic world, law; john.marquez1@ucr.edu
McGarry, Molly K. (PHD, NYU, 1999; ; assoc. prof.) 19th-century US, sexuality, social movements; molly.mcgarry@ucr.edu
McPherson, Natasha L. (PHD, Emory, 2011; ; asst. prof.) African American, black family and community development, women’s influence on identity politics and citizenship rights; natasha.mcpherson@ucr.edu
Michels, Georg B. (PHD, Harvard, 1991; ; prof.) imperial Russia, eastern Europe, religion; georg.michels@ucr.edu
Rubio, Juan Manuel (PHD, California, Irvine, 2021; ; asst. prof.) Latin America, Andes, Southern Cone, environment, capitalism, labor;
Salzman, Michele R. (PHD, Bryn Mawr, 1981; ; prof. and chair) ancient Greece and Rome, late antiquity, social and religious; michele.salzman@ucr.edu
Scheper Hughes, Jennifer (PHD, Graduate Theological Union, 2005; ; prof.) religions, Latin America; jennifer.hughes@ucr.edu
Tomoff, Kiril (PHD, Chicago, 2001; ; prof.) Russia and Soviet Union, modern Europe, music; kiril.tomoff@ucr.edu
Trafzer, Clifford E. (PHD, Oklahoma State, 1973; ; Dist. Prof. and Rupert Costo Chair) Native American social and cultural, American West, oral traditions; clifford.trafzer@ucr.edu
Zarinebaf, Fariba (PHD, Chicago, 1991; ; prof.) Ottoman Empire, social, Middle East; fariba.zarinebaf@ucr.edu
Biggs, David A. (PHD, Washington, 2004; ; prof. and chair; Sch. Public Policy) Southeast Asia, Vietnam, environmental; david.biggs@ucr.edu
Simmons, Dana (PHD, Chicago, 2004; ; assoc. prof.; Society, Environment & Health Equity) modern France, modern Europe, science and technology; dana.simmons@ucr.edu
Chrissanthos, Stefan G. (PHD, Southern California, 1999; ; lect.) ancient Greece and Rome; stefan.chrissanthos@ucr.edu
Brennan, James P. (Ph.D, Harvard, 1988; ; prof. emeritus) 20th-century Argentina and Brazil, modern Latin America; james.brennan@ucr.edu
Chia, Lucille (PHD, Columbia, 1996; ; prof. emeritus) traditional China, social and cultural; lucille.chia@ucr.edu
Cogswell, Thomas (PHD, Washington, St. Louis, 1983; ; prof. emeritus) Britain, early modern; thomas.cogswell@ucr.edu
Cortes, Carlos E. (PHD, New Mexico, 1969; ; prof. emeritus) Latin America, Mexican American, mass media; carlos.cortes@ucr.edu
Goldberg, Ann E. (PHD, UCLA, 1992; ; prof. emeritus) modern Europe, gender and cultural, Germany; ann.goldberg@ucr.edu
Gorecki, Piotr S. (Ph.D, Chicago, 1988; ; prof. emeritus) medieval Europe, Poland and eastern Europe, European law and society; piotr.gorecki@ucr.edu
Head, Randolph C. (PHD, Virginia, 1992; ; prof. emeritus) early modern Europe, Switzerland, archives; randolph.head@ucr.edu
Kea, Ray A. (PHD, London, 1974; ; prof. emeritus) West Africa, Gold Coast and Asante; ray.kea@ucr.edu
Kent, Dale V. (PHD, London, 1971; ; prof. emeritus) Renaissance, social, Florence; dale.kent@ucr.edu
Patch, Robert W. (PHD, Princeton, 1979; ; prof. emeritus) Mexico, Central America; robert.patch@ucr.edu
Ransom, Roger L. (PHD, Washington, 1963; ; prof. emeritus) US Civil War, economic, world; roger.ransom@ucr.edu
Ravitch, Norman (PHD, Princeton, 1962; ; prof. emeritus) 18th-century Europe, French Revolution, French Catholicism;
Tobey, Ronald C. (PHD, Cornell, 1969; ; prof. emeritus) science/technology/intellectual, 19th- and 20th-century US; ronald.tobey@ucr.edu
Wall, Irwin M. (PHD, Columbia, 1968; ; prof. emeritus) recent Europe, modern France, socialism; irwin.wall@ucr.edu
Weber, Devra (PHD, UCLA, 1986; ; assoc. prof. emeritus) 20th-century US, labor, Mexicans in US; devra.weber@ucr.edu
Wetherell, Charles (PHD, New Hampshire, 1980; ; prof. emeritus) American social, family, quantitative methods; charles.wetherell@ucr.edu

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