AHA Directory of History Departments and Organizations

Institution Details


George Mason University
George Mason University Dept. of History and Art History
4400 University Dr., MSN 3G1
Fairfax, VA 22030
Phone: 703.993.1250
Fax: 703.993.1251
Email: mkarush@gmu.edu
Website: https://historyarthistory.gmu.edu/


While maintaining a reputation for excellence in the traditional academic pursuits of teaching and research, the Department of History and Art History undertakes three additional and distinctive missions: we make use of digital media to preserve and present the past in new ways; we approach the past from an essentially multidisciplinary perspective; and we seek to engage the broader public in a discussion about the past.


Chair: Matt Karush
Director of Graduate Studies: Stephen Robertson (MA); Suzanne Smith (PhD)
Director of Undergraduate Studies: Jane Hooper
Degrees Offered: BA,MA,PHD,Cert. (digital public humanities)
Academic Year System: SEM
Areas of Specialization: US, Europe, Latin America, Africa, Middle East
Undergraduate Tuition (per academic year):
   In-state: $11598
   Out-of-state: $35763
Graduate Tuition (per academic year):
   In-state: $11340
   Out-of-state: $26800

Enrollment 2023-24:
Undergraduate Majors: 295
Students in Program: 0
New Graduate Students: 79
Full-time Graduate Students: 39
Part-time Graduate Students: 24
Degrees in History: 0 AA 56 BA 0 BS 21 MA 0 MS 9 PhD
Students in Undergrad. Courses: 0
Students in Undergrad. Intro Courses: 0
% of Online-Only Courses: 0
Undergraduate Addresses:
   Admissions: https://www.gmu.edu/admissions-aid
   Financial Aid: https://www.gmu.edu/financial-aid
Graduate Addresses:
   Admissions: https://www.gmu.edu/graduate
   Financial Aid: https://www.gmu.edu/financial-aid

Areas of Specialization: US, Europe, Latin America, Africa, Middle East

Not applicable


Doctoral Program Information

A. Program Description. Please visit the department website for more information regarding the PhD program: historyarthistory.gmu.edu/programs/la-phd-hist.

B. Special Programs. Digital History Fellows program for students planning to specialize in digital history at the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media (RRCHNM). For more information, please contact the program director, Prof. Suzanne Smith (smisuze@gmu.edu), or the director of RRCHNM, Dr. Lincoln Mullen. (lmullen@gmu.edu)

C. Financial Aid. Funding packages (typically 4-5 years, plus tuition waiver and student health insurance) for all admitted full-time students. For need-based aid, please visit the Office of Financial Aid website at financialaid.gmu.edu/.

D. Degree Requirements. Please visit the department website for more specific information regarding the degree requirements for the PhD (historyarthistory.gmu.edu/programs/la-phd-hist) or contact the Program Director, Prof. Suzanne Smith (smisuze@gmu.edu).

Directory of History Dissertations

Doctoral Program Statistics 2023-24:
PhD students currently enrolled: 61
PhD applications received: 47
New PhD students: 8
% of students receiving tuition waivers: 33
% of students receiving stipends: 33


Barnes, Steven A. (PHD, Stanford, 2003; ; assoc. prof.) 20th-century Europe, Russia; sbarnes3@gmu.edu
Bauman, Lisa (PHD, Northwestern, 1984; ; term assoc. prof.; Art Hist.) ; lbauman@gmu.edu
Bristol, Joan (PHD, Pennsylvania, 2001; ; assoc. prof.) colonial Latin America, African diaspora; jbristol@gmu.edu
Carton, Benedict (PHD, Yale, 1996; ; assoc. prof.) sub-Saharan Africa, southern Africa, comparative colonial frontiers; bcarton1@gmu.edu
Chang, Michael G. (PHD, California, San Diego, 2001; ; assoc. prof.) modern China; mchang5@gmu.edu
Chavis, Charles Lester, Jr. (PHD, Morgan State, 2018; ; assoc. prof.; dir., African and African American Studies; founding dir., John Mitchell Jr. Program for History, Justice, and Race) racial violence and civil rights activism, Black and Jewish relations in American South; cchavis2@gmu.edu
Collins, Samuel W. (PHD, California, Berkeley, 2005; ; assoc. prof.) medieval Europe; scolline@gmu.edu
Crew, Spencer R. (PHD, Rutgers, 1979; ; Robinson Prof.) African American, slavery, public; srcrew@gmu.edu
DeCaroli, Robert (PHD, UCLA, 1999; ; prof.; dir., Art Hist.) South and Southeast Asian art; rdecarol@gmu.edu
Elzey, Christopher (PHD, Purdue, 2004; ; term assoc. prof.) Western civilization, sports; celzey@gmu.edu
Gearhart, Heidi (PHD, Michigan, 2010; ; assoc. prof.; Art Hist.) ; hgearhar@gmu.edu
Genetin-Pilawa, C. Joseph (PHD, Michigan State, 2008; ; assoc. prof.) 19th century, indigenous, public; cgenetin@gmu.edu
Greet, Michele (PHD, NYU, 2004; ; prof.) 20th-century Andean art, Latin American artists in Europe; mgreet@gmu.edu
Gregg, Christopher (PHD, North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 2000; ; term assoc. prof.; Art Hist.) classical archaeology, Roman imperial architecture and sculpture; cgregg@gmu.edu
Hamdani, Sumaiya A. (PHD, Princeton, 1995; ; assoc. prof.) Islamic, women, modern Middle East; shamdani@gmu.edu
Hamner, Christopher Heald (PHD, North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 2004; ; assoc. prof.) US military; chamner@gmu.edu
Ho, Angela (PHD, Michigan, 2007; ; assoc. prof.; Art Hist.) Renaissance art, Baroque art; aho5@gmu.edu
Hooper, Jane (PHD, Emory, 2010; ; prof. and dir., undergrad. studies) history and trade in early modern Madagascar, transatlantic and Indian Ocean slave trades, precolonial African state-building; jhooper3@gmu.edu
Huneke, Samuel Clowes (PHD, Stanford, 2019; ; assoc. prof.) ; shuneke@gmu.edu
Karush, Matthew B. (PHD, Chicago, 1997; ; prof. and chair) Latin America, Argentina; mkarush@gmu.edu
Kierner, Cynthia A. (PHD, Virginia, 1986; ; prof.) early America, US to 1850; ckierner@gmu.edu
Lair, Meredith H. (PHD, Penn State, 2004; ; assoc. prof.) US military, Vietnam; mlair@gmu.edu
Landsberg, Alison (PHD, Chicago, 1996; ; prof.) US film and culture; alandsb1@gmu.edu
Lebovic, Sam (PHD, Chicago, 2011; ; prof.) 20th-century US, 19th-century US, global; slebovic@gmu.edu
Madden, Amanda Grace (PHD, Emory, 2011; ; asst. prof.) Renaissance and early modern Italy, digital, spatial; amadden8@gmu.edu
Manuel-Scott, Wendi N. (PHD, Howard, 2003; ; prof.) Caribbean, African diaspora; wmanuels@gmu.edu
Matthews, C. Kevin (PHD, London School of Economics, 2000; ; asst. prof.) ; cmatthe2@gmu.edu
McCord, Theodore B. (PHD, American, 1991; ; term assoc. prof.) Virginia, US; tmccord@gmu.edu
McGuire, Heather (PHD, Virginia Commonwealth, 2010; ; term asst. prof.) modern and contemporary art; hmcguir@gmu.edu
Mullen, Lincoln (PHD, Brandeis, 2014; ; prof.; dir., Roy Rosenzweig Center for Hist. and New Media) US, American religions, digital; lmullen@gmu.edu
O'Malley, Michael H. (PHD, California, Berkeley, 1988; ; prof.) 19th-century US social and cultural; momalle3@gmu.edu
Orens, John R. (PHD, Columbia, 1976; ; term prof.) modern Europe, intellectual; jorens@gmu.edu
Otis, Jessica Marie (PHD, Virginia, 2013; ; assoc. prof.) Europe, early modern Britain, science and math, digital; jotis2@gmu.edu
Park, Sun-Young (PHD, Harvard, 2014; ; assoc. prof.) 19th-century Europe, French cultural, architectural and urban; spark53@gmu.edu
Platt, Brian W. (PHD, Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 1998; ; assoc. prof.) Japan, China, early modern; bplatt1@gmu.edu
Richards, Yevette (PHD, Yale, 1994; ; assoc. prof.) women, African American, labor; yjordan@gmu.edu
Ritterhouse, Jennifer L. (PHD, North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 1999; ; prof.) 20th-century US, women and gender, children and childhood; jritterh@gmu.edu
Robertson, Stephen M. (PHD, Rutgers, 1998; ; prof. and dir., grad. program (MA)) digital, sexual violence, US; srober30@gmu.edu
Schrag, Zachary M. (PHD, Columbia, 2002; ; prof.) 20th-century US; zschrag@gmu.edu
Schulman, Vanessa (PHD, California, Irvine, 2010; ; prof.) 19th- and 20th-century US visual culture, technology; vschulma@gmu.edu
Schulze, Susan E. (PHD, St. Louis, 2006; ; term assoc. prof.) medieval Europe; sschulze@gmu.edu
Scully, Randolph F. (PHD, Pennsylvania, 2002; ; assoc. prof.) colonial and revolutionary America, religion; rscully@gmu.edu
Smith, Suzanne E. (PHD, Yale, 1996; ; prof. and dir., grad. program (PhD)) African American studies, 20th-century cultural, film studies; smisuze@gmu.edu
Stearns, Peter N. (PHD, Harvard, 1963; ; Univ. Prof. and provost emeritus) social and world; pstearns@gmu.edu
Tayac, Gabrielle (PHD, Harvard, 1999; ; assoc. prof.) ; gtayac@gmu.edu
Williamson, Jacquelyn C. (PHD, Johns Hopkins, 2009; ; assoc. prof.) ancient Egypt, gender, religion; jwilli98@gmu.edu
Yilmaz, Huseyin (PHD, Harvard, 2005; ; assoc. prof.) Ottoman Empire, Middle Eastt; hyilmaz@gmu.edu
Zagarri, Rosemarie (PHD, Yale, 1984; ; Dist. Univ. Prof.) colonial and revolutionary America, political, cultural; rzagarri@gmu.edu
Pichichero, Christy (PHD, Stanford, 2008; ; assoc. prof.; Cultural Studies) early modern, Enlightenment, revolutionary; cpichich@gmu.edu
Bakhash, Shaul (DPHIL, Oxford, 1972; ; Robinson Prof. emeritus) modern Near East, Iran, Persian Gulf; sbakhash@gmu.edu
Butler, Larry (PHD, Pennsylvania, 1989; ; prof. emeritus; Art Hist.) medieval, Islamic, architecture;
Censer, Jack R. (PHD, Johns Hopkins, 1973; ; prof. emeritus) France, Europe, social and intellectual;
Censer, Jane T. (PHD, Johns Hopkins, 1980; ; retired prof.) US social, family, US South; jcense1@gmu.edu
Copelman, Dina M. (PHD, Princeton, 1985; ; assoc. prof. emeritus) Britain, women, cultural studies; dcopelma@gmu.edu
Henriques, Peter R. (PHD, Virginia, 1971; ; prof. emeritus) ;
Holt, Mack P. (PHD, Emory, 1982; ; prof. emeritus) early modern France, Renaissance, Reformation; mholt@gmu.edu
Kelly, Mills (PHD, George Washington, 1996; ; prof. emeritus) Czechoslovakia, 20th-century Europe, eastern Europe; tkelly7@gmu.edu
Lytton, Randolph H. (PHD, Penn State, 1973; ; assoc. prof. emeritus) classical Greece and Rome, Alexander the Great;
Mattusch, Carol (PHD, North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 1975; ; Mathy Prof. emeritus) classical art and archaeology, rediscovery of antiquity;
Petrik, Paula (PHD, SUNY, Binghamton, 1982; ; prof. emeritus) 19th-century America, women’s rights, history and new media;
Todd, Ellen Wiley (PHD, Stanford, 1987; ; assoc. prof. emeritus) US;
Wade, Rex A. (PHD, Nebraska, 1963; ; Univ. Prof. emeritus) Russian Revolution, Russian political and cultural;
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