Welcome to the Graduate History Department

The TCU History Department has offered graduate degrees in in History for almost 40 years, and many of our graduates are employed in colleges, universities and other institutions around the country. We can also boast a significant number of graduate degree seekers who have studied with our outstanding faculty for their personal enrichment and avocations.

The program is designed to provide professional training in History, but even more importantly, it is committed to excellence and the highest standards of scholarship. The Department offers two advanced degrees, the Master of Arts and the Doctor of Philosophy.

The TCU Graduate History program offers a "personal touch," a nurturing atmosphere for learning, the opportunity to study with an outstanding and dedicated faculty, as well as the chance for students to tailor a program of study and research to meet their particular interests. This program will include courses, directed readings, seminars, research and writing, as well as participation in professional activities. The department's Graduate Guide offers applicants a detailed view of how the TCU program works. In addition, the department maintains an active speaker and seminar program that allows students to be introduced to a wide variety of topics and methods.

History Graduate Students also draw heavily on TCU's Mary Couts Burnett Library, which has more than 1.8 million-volumes, more than 5,400 current subscriptions to journals, and excellent collections in several historical periods and areas. Included in its holdings are newspaper and microfilm collections, and long runs of journals in significant research areas. The open-stack library, accredited by the American Association of Research Libraries, is also a Federal Records Depository, and has major data bases and access to a variety of other online resources through the internet as well as through TCU's reciprocal arrangements and membership in the Alliance for Higher Education (AHE). The University Archives is a repository for documents relating to local history and the history of Texas and the Southwest. Nearby in Fort Worth is the National Archives-Southwest Regional Branch, which is a repository for federal records from Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas; and the Amon Carter Museum, whose library possesses a sizeable and impressive newspaper collection. Within one hour are other specialized collections at SMU and UTA. A few hours south, in Austin, are located the Nettie Lee Bensen Latin American Collection, the Barker Texas History Collection, the LBJ Library, and the Castaneda Library of the University of Texas. TCU has formal and informal working relationships with these institutions that prospective students will find valuable.