Areas of Graduate Study:
United States
The strength of the U.S. division lies in its breadth and diversity. The faculty cover all periods of American history and offer many different emphases and methodological approaches. Students are encouraged to take courses throughout, and even outside of, the department and to explore diverse approaches to their chosen topic. Among the division's particular thematic strengths are Race and Ethnicity, African-American, Women and Gender, the West, and Labor. In addition, the department is one of the few to offer expertise and graduate training in the areas of African-American Intellectual, Native American, and Environmental history. Graduate students may develop fields that are defined thematically or methodologically (e.g., Asian-American, the West, Cultural) as well as fields that are defined chronologically (Colonial, Nineteenth Century, Twentieth Century). Students are encouraged to study key topics in U.S. history (Ethnicity, Gender, Colonialism) in comparative or transnational frameworks. Beyond the department's core faculty in U.S. history, students also benefit from the involvement of faculty in American Indian Studies, American Ethnic Studies, Women Studies, and Urban Design and Planning.
The University of Washington maintains an outstanding library for studying American history. It has an excellent book and journal collection, a rapidly expanding network of on-line primary and secondary sources, and an extensive collection of microforms, government documents, and scientific publications. The library's Special Collections division documents the history of the Pacific Northwest and includes among its holdings substantial material on the region's ethnic and minority communities and an impressive photography collection. In addition, the regional repository of the National Archives and Records Administration is located a few minutes from the campus.
Special resources for students studying American history at the University
of Washington include the Center
for the Study of the Pacific Northwest, which houses The Pacific
Northwest Quarterly and promotes research and teaching related to
the local region and the American West, and the Harry
Bridges Center for Labor Studies (co-sponsored by the departments
of History and Political
Science), which hosts speakers and conferences and funds research
related to labor. Both Centers offer financial support to graduate students.
In addition, the department has several fellowships designated for incoming
students in American history.
Associated Faculty
Stephanie Camp
Associate Professor
African American; Nineteenth Century; Women & Gender; slavery
John Findlay
Professor
US West
Erasmo
Gamboa (adjunct, American Ethnic Studies)
Associate Professor
Hispanics in the US
Susan
Glenn
Professor
Twentieth Century U.S.; Cultural and Social History; Gender
James Gregory
Professor
Twentieth Century US; Labor; Immigration/Migration
Alexandra
Harmon (adjunct, American Indian Studies)
Professor
Indigenous Peoples
Bruce Hevly
Associate Professor
History of Science and Technology
Richard Johnson
Professor
Colonial America
Moon-Ho Jung
Associate Professor
Asian American History
Linda Nash
Associate Professor
Environmental History
Gail
Nomura (adjunct, American Ethnic Studies)
Associate Professor
Asian American History
Margaret O'Mara
Associate Professor
Urban History, Policy and Political History
Vicente Rafael
Professor
Filipino American History
William Rorabaugh
Professor
Nineteenth Century; 1960s
Elizabeth
Salas (adjunct, American Ethnic Studies)
Associate Professor
Hispanic Women
Stephanie Smallwood
Associate Professor
Sixteenth, Seventeenth, Eighteenth Century; Slavery
Quintard Taylor
Professor
Twentieth Century African American History