AHA Directory of History Departments and Organizations

Institution Details


Princeton University
Princeton University Dept. of History
129 Dickinson Hall
Princeton, NJ 08544-1017
Phone: 609.258.4159
Fax: 609.258.5326
Email: creager@princeton.edu
Website: https://history.princeton.edu/


The History Department offers a rich curriculum for undergraduate and graduate students, including a program in History of Science, and frequently hosts visiting research collaborators. We are a community of scholars with interests spanning social to intellectual, political to military, economic to legal history, and all parts of the globe. Chronologically, our research ranges from late antiquity to the present. Graduate students are admitted only as candidates for the PhD, but may earn an incidental MA upon successful completion of program requirements.


Chair: Angela N. H. Creager
Director of Graduate Studies: Beth Lew-Williams (hist.); Jennifer M. Rampling (hist. of science)
Director of Undergraduate Studies: Kevin M. Kruse
Degrees Offered: BA,PHD
Academic Year System: SEM
Areas of Specialization: North and South America, Asia, Europe, Africa, science
Undergraduate Tuition (per academic year):
   In-state: $51870
   Out-of-state: $53890
Graduate Tuition (per academic year):
   In-state: $53890
   Out-of-state: $53890

Enrollment 2024-25:
Undergraduate Majors: 144
Students in Program: 0
New Graduate Students: 27
Full-time Graduate Students: 157
Part-time Graduate Students: 0
Degrees in History: 0 AA 75 BA 0 BS 16 MA 0 MS 15 PhD
Students in Undergrad. Courses: 0
Students in Undergrad. Intro Courses: 0
% of Online-Only Courses: 0
Undergraduate Addresses:
   Admissions: https://admission.princeton.edu/
   Financial Aid: https://admission.princeton.edu/cost-aid
Graduate Addresses:
   Admissions: https://gradschool.princeton.edu/admission
   Financial Aid: https://gradschool.princeton.edu/costs-funding

Areas of Specialization: North and South America, Asia, Europe, Africa, science

Not applicable


Doctoral Program Information

A. Program Description. The History Department at Princeton University offers course work at the undergraduate and graduate level in a large number of fields. A traditional strength has been European and United States history, but the department for many years now has established a preeeminent reputation for its expertise in the history of East Asia, Latin America, Africa, South Asia, and the Near East. It offers undergraduate and graduate training in the history of all parts of the world from antiquity to the present. The presence of more than 60 members enables the department to offer general survey courses in world history, East Asia, Europe, and the Americas as well as advanced seminars in historical methodologies, comparative history, war and society, and the history of the book. Members of the department are also involved in interdisciplinary programs, such as history of science, women's history, regional history, American studies, and European cultural studies.

B. Special Programs. See the website.

C. Financial Aid. Enrolled doctoral students, within the Department of History, are supported by an annual fellowship, which includes tuition and stipend for the complete five-year enrollment period.

D. Degree Requirements. Nine graduate seminars are required within the first two years for the History PhD program, as well as two certified research papers and fulfillment of the language requirement. The General Examinations, written and oral, are taken in the Spring semester of the second year of study, followed by a mandatory seminar on the Responsible Conduct in Research and the Dissertation Prospectus. The Final Public Oral Examination is taken at the conclusion of the program.

Directory of History Dissertations

Doctoral Program Statistics 2024-25:
PhD students currently enrolled: 135
PhD applications received: 402
New PhD students: 22
% of students receiving tuition waivers: 0
% of students receiving stipends: 0


Best, Wallace D. (PHD, Northwestern, 2000; ; prof.; Religion and African American Studies) religion in America; wbest@princeton.edu
Cook, Michael A. (BA, Cambridge, 1964; ; prof.; Near Eastern Studies) Islamic; mcook@princeton.edu
Hanioglu, M. Sukru (PHD, Istanbul, 1981; ; prof.; Near Eastern Studies) late Ottoman empire; hanioglu@princeton.edu
Haykel, Bernard (DPHIL, Oxford, 1997; ; prof.; Near Eastern Studies) Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Islamism and Islamic law; haykel@princeton.edu
Reeves, Eileen A. (PHD, Stanford, 1987; ; prof.; Comparative Literature) early modern scientific literature; ereeves@princeton.edu
Smith, Nigel (DPHIL, Oxford, 1985; ; prof.; English) British and European literature and history 1500-1700, intellectual 1500-1700; nsmith@princeton.edu
Baring, Edward G. (PHD, Harvard, 2009; ; assoc. prof.) modern Europe, intellectual; ebaring@princeton.edu
Barnes, Rhae Lynn (PHD, Harvard, 2016; ; asst. prof.) American cultural, race and racism in North America, digital humanities; rlbarnes@princeton.edu
Bell, David A. (PHD, Princeton, 1991; ; prof.) early modern Europe, France, origins of nationalism; dabell@princeton.edu
Bian, He (PHD, Harvard, 2014; ; assoc. prof.) early modern China; hbian@princeton.edu
Blaakman, Michael Albert (PHD, Yale, 2016; ; assoc. prof.) American revolutionary era; blaakman@princeton.edu
Burnett, D. Graham (PHD, Cambridge, 1997; ; prof.) science, cartography, European expansion; dburnett@princeton.edu
Canaday, Margot (PHD, Minnesota, 2004; ; prof. and assoc. chair) modern US, gender and sexuality; mcanaday@princeton.edu
Candiani, Vera Silvina (PHD, California, Berkeley, 2004; ; assoc. prof.) colonial Latin America, Mexico; candiani@princeton.edu
Chen, Janet Y. (PHD, Yale, 2005; ; prof.; East Asian Studies) modern China; jychen@princeton.edu
Cherian, Divya (PHD, Columbia, 2015; ; asst. prof.) South Asia; dcherian@princeton.edu
Colley, Linda Jane (PHD, Cambridge, 1976; ; prof.) British political/social/cultural, British Empire, global 1650-1900; lcolley@princeton.edu
Creager, Angela N. H. (PHD, California, Berkeley, 1991; ; prof. and chair) 20th-century biology; creager@princeton.edu
Dlamini, Jacob S. T. (PHD, Yale, 2012; ; asst. prof.) modern Africa; jdlamini@princeton.edu
Dweck, Yaacob H. (PHD, Pennsylvania, 2008; ; prof.) modern Jewish; jdweck@princeton.edu
Edwards, Laura F. (PHD, North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 1991; ; prof.) legal, 19th-century US; laura.edwards@princeton.edu
Ellis, Liz N. (PHD, North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 2015; ; assoc. prof.) Indigenous, Native American; ee1916@princeton.edu
Garon, Sheldon M. (PHD, Yale, 1981; ; prof.) modern Japan; garon@princeton.edu
Glazer-Eytan, Yonatan (PHD, Johns Hopkins, 2020; ; asst. prof.) early modern Spain and wider Iberian world, interfaith and interethnic relations, religious culture, law; yglazereytan@princeton.edu
Gordin, Michael D. (PHD, Harvard, 2001; ; prof.) physical science, imperial Russia; mgordin@princeton.edu
Grafton, Anthony T. (PHD, Chicago, 1975; ; prof.) Renaissance and Reformation; grafton@princeton.edu
Greene, Molly (PHD, Princeton, 1992; ; prof.) modern Greece and Ottoman; greene@princeton.edu
Guenther, Katja (PHD, Harvard, 2009; ; assoc. prof.) medicine; kguenthe@princeton.edu
Guild, Joshua Bruce (PHD, Yale, 2007; ; assoc. prof.) African American; jguild@princeton.edu
Hunter, Tera W. (PHD, Yale, 1990; ; prof.) African American, women and labor, US South; thunter@princeton.edu
James, Harold (PHD, Cambridge, 1982; ; prof.) modern Germany, European economic; hjames@princeton.edu
Jones, Matthew L. (PHD, Harvard, 2000; ; Smith Family Prof.) digital, historical epistemology, historiography, technology; mljones@princeton.edu
Karp, Matthew J. (PHD, Pennsylvania, 2011; ; assoc. prof.) 19th-century US, Civil War; mjkarp@princeton.edu
Kotkin, Stephen M. (PHD, California, Berkeley, 1988; ; prof.) modern Russia, Soviet Union; kotkin@princeton.edu
Kreike, Emmanuel (PHD, Yale, 1996; ; prof.) Africa, environmental; kreike@princeton.edu
Kruse, Kevin M. (PHD, Cornell, 2000; ; prof. and dir., undergrad. studies) 20th-century US; kkruse@princeton.edu
Laffan, Michael F. (PHD, Sydney, 2001; ; prof.) Southeast Asia; mlaffan@princeton.edu
Lew-Williams, Beth (PHD, Stanford, 2011; ; assoc. prof. and dir., grad. studies) Asian American; bethlw@princeton.edu
Lozano, Rosina A. (PHD, Southern California, 2011; ; assoc. prof.) Mexican American, American West; rlozano@princeton.edu
Milam, Erika Lorraine (PHD, Wisconsin-Madison, 2006; ; prof.) modern life sciences, gender and science; emilam@princeton.edu
Mintzker, Yair (PHD, Stanford, 2009; ; prof.) early modern Europe, Germany; mintzker@princeton.edu
Mota, Isadora Moura (PHD, Brown, 2017; ; asst. prof.) Brazil, slavery and abolition; imota@princeton.edu
Prakash, Gyan (PHD, Pennsylvania, 1984; ; prof.) modern India; prakash@princeton.edu
Pravilova, Ekaterina (PHD, Inst. Russian History, 1997; ; prof.) imperial Russia; kprav@princeton.edu
Rampling, Jennifer M. (PHD, Cambridge, 2009; ; assoc. prof. and dir., grad. studies) Scientific Revolution, alchemy; rampling@princeton.edu
Reimitz, Helmut (PHD, Vienna, 1999; ; prof.) early medieval; hreimitz@princeton.edu
Shawcross, Clare Teresa (DPHIL, Oxford, 2006; ; assoc. prof.) Byzantine; cshawcro@princeton.edu
Tannous, Jack B. (PHD, Princeton, 2010; ; assoc. prof.) late antiquity; jtannous@princeton.edu
Thompson, Emily (PHD, Princeton, 1992; ; prof.) early 20th-century US technology; emilyt@princeton.edu
Vushko, Iryna (PHD, Yale, 2008; ; asst. prof.) modern continental Europe, Russia;
Wailoo, Keith A. (PHD, Pennsylvania, 1992; ; prof.) medicine and science, US cultural and intellectual, African American; kwailoo@princeton.edu
Warren, Wendy A. (PHD, Yale, 2008; ; assoc. prof.) colonial America; wawarren@princeton.edu
Weiss, Max D. (PHD, Stanford, 2007; ; assoc. prof.) modern Islamic world; maxweiss@princeton.edu
Wheatley, Natasha (PHD, Columbia, 2016; ; asst. prof.) Europe, international, legal; nwheatley@princeton.edu
Wilentz, Sean (PHD, Yale, 1980; ; prof.) 19th-century US; swilentz@princeton.edu
Wirzbicki, Peter J. (PHD, NYU, 2012; ; asst. prof.) US intellectual; pw14@princeton.edu
Zeltsman, Corinna (PHD, Duke, 2016; ; asst. prof.) modern Latin America, printing and the book, 19th- and 20th-century Mexican political culture and labor; czeltsman@princeton.edu
Conlan, Thomas D. (PHD, Stanford, 1998; ; prof.; East Asian Studies) premodern Japan; tconlan@princeton.edu
Marcon, Federico (PHD, Columbia, 2007; ; assoc. prof.; East Asian Studies) early modern Japan; fmarcon@princeton.edu
Rustow, Marina (PHD, Columbia, 2004; ; prof.; Near Eastern Studies) medieval Mediterranean Jewish communities, medieval Middle East; mrustow@princeton.edu
Wen, Xin (PHD, Harvard, 2017; ; asst. prof.; East Asian Studies) premodern China; xinwen@princeton.edu
Zelizer, Julian E. (PHD, Johns Hopkins, 1996; ; prof.; Woodrow Wilson Sch.) 20th-century America; jzelizer@princeton.edu
Carrick, Christina R. (MA, Boston Univ., 2014; ; asst. editor; Papers of Thomas Jefferson) American Revolution, early Republic; ccarrick@princeton.edu
Downey, Thomas M. (PHD, South Carolina, 2000; ; sr. editor; Papers of Thomas Jefferson) American South and early Republic; tdowney@princeton.edu
Fagal, Andrew J. B. (PHD, SUNY, Binghamton, 2013; ; assoc. editor; Papers of Thomas Jefferson) early Republic US, military, political; afagal@princeton.edu
King, Martha J. (PHD, William and Mary, 1992; ; sr. editor; Papers of Thomas Jefferson) American Revolution and early Republic; mjking@princeton.edu
McClure, James P. (PHD, Michigan, 1983; ; general editor; Papers of Thomas Jefferson) early Republic US; mcclur@princeton.edu
Scofield, Merry Ellen (PHD, Wayne State, 2014; ; assoc. editor; Papers of Thomas Jefferson) early Republic US; mscofield@princeton.edu
Whitley, W. Bland (PHD, Florida, 2003; ; sr. editor; Papers of Thomas Jefferson) US South, political, religion; wwhitley@princeton.edu
Sandweiss, Martha A. (PHD, Yale, 1985; ; prof. emeritus) American West, visual culture, public; masand@princeton.edu
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