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The Department of History offers PhD students a unique doctoral concentration called "Body, Place, Identity." Thematic fields organize this specialization rather than fields defined primarily by region or period. It emphasizes the methodologies of cultural and social history as tools for understanding the complicated connections between historical actors and the communities and landscapes they inhabited. The concentration highlights how bodies, places, and identities are fluid historical categories that are mutually constituted. In addition to researching and writing about the past, students in this concentration will also learn how to interrogate critically the production of historical knowledge and will be encouraged to explore the significance of their scholarship across multiple fields of intellectual inquiry. Students interested in any geographical or chronological topic may pursue this concentration.

Areas of study for doctoral students: Body, Place, and Identity