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History - PhD

University of kent, different course options.

• Key information

Course Summary

Tuition fees, entry requirements, university information, similar courses at this uni, key information data source : idp connect, qualification type.

PhD/DPhil - Doctor of Philosophy

Subject areas

Course type.

When joining a research programme within History at Kent, you will become an active part of a welcoming, cutting-edge community, that delivers world-leading research.

There are two types of History programme. The MA by Research entails producing a 40,000-word thesis; the PhD programme demands a high level of research and analysis resulting in a 100,000 (PhD) word thesis. We welcome research applications across the range of expertise within the School.

About the School of History

The School of History at the University of Kent offers a great environment in which to research and study. Situated within the beautiful cathedral city of Canterbury, with its own dynamic history, the University is within easy reach of the main London archives and is convenient for travelling to mainland Europe.

Teaching and assessment

The MA by Research entails producing a 40,000-word thesis; the PhD programme demands a high level of research and analysis resulting in a 100,000 word thesis.

As the job market becomes increasingly competitive, postgraduate qualifications are becoming more attractive to employers seeking individuals who have finely tuned skills and abilities, which our programmes encourage you to hone. As a result of the valuable transferable skills developed during your course of study, career prospects for history graduates are wide ranging.

Our graduates go on to a variety of careers, from research within the government to teaching, politics to records management and journalism, to working within museums and galleries – to name but a few.

UK fees Course fees for UK students

For this course (per year)

International fees Course fees for EU and international students

A first or second class honours degree in a relevant subject (or equivalent). All applicants are considered on an individual basis and additional qualifications, professional qualifications and relevant experience may also be taken into account when considering applications.

The University of Kent is an internationally renowned institution located in Canterbury and offers an impressive portfolio of postgraduate degree courses. The university teaches advanced skills, and provides access to fantastic professional networks and learning facilities to help postgraduate students realise their academic and personal goals. Kent's campuses are based in amazing locations, with two UK campuses in Canterbury and Medway... more

American Studies - PhD

Full time | 3 years | 23-SEP-24

History - MA

Full time | 1 year | 23-SEP-24

American Studies - MA

Modern history ma, ancient history ma.

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Centre for Anglican History and Theology

Featured story.

The University of Kent offers a range of options for postgraduate study.

History - MA, PhD

Theology and religious studies - phd, no matching results.

Opinion The grim history of using troops against student protesters

Brian VanDeMark’s book “Kent State: An American Tragedy” will be published in August.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Republican Sens. Tom Cotton (Ark.) and Josh Hawley (Mo.) are among the conservative leaders suggesting that the National Guard might be needed to control campus protests across the country against Israel’s war in Gaza . Such calls stir memories of the tragedy 54 years ago at Kent State University in northeastern Ohio.

On May 1, 1970 — a Friday night — several hundred Kent State students poured out of downtown bars near closing time and began harassing motorists, smashing store windows and spray-painting buildings with antiwar slogans. Mayor LeRoy Satrom, a conservative Democrat elected by Kent voters six months earlier on a get-tough platform against “long-haired students,” telephoned the governor’s office the next day. Saying that outside agitators were fomenting subversion and disorder in his town, the mayor asked that the National Guard be dispatched to Kent.

University officials had a different plan. They preferred to deal with the situation by using university police, with county sheriff’s deputies as reinforcements and Ohio State Highway Patrol officers as a last resort. But they were not consulted.

That Saturday night, student protesters against the Vietnam War put Kent State’s ROTC building to the torch. University police in riot gear eventually drove off the protesters with tear gas. By then, Gov. Jim Rhodes had acted on the mayor’s request, and, a short time later, a line of armored personnel carriers, jeeps and trucks reached campus carrying several hundred Ohio National Guardsmen.

The following afternoon, on May 3, Rhodes met in Kent with state and local officials. Rhodes was in the final year of his second four-year term. Barred by the state constitution from running again, he was seeking the Republican nomination for a U.S. Senate seat in a primary election just 48 hours away. Trailing in the polls, Rhodes had positioned himself as the candidate who would use “all the force that was necessary” to end campus disturbances throughout the state.

Though university officials were invited to the meeting, Rhodes brushed them off and effectively silenced the very authorities who best understood the students’ tempers and attitudes. Instead, the governor defined the Guard’s mission as applying “whatever force necessary to break up a protest on campus.” When someone asked Rhodes to define a protest, he replied: “Two students walking together.”

At this point, reporters who had learned of the meeting entered the room. Rhodes grew theatrical. Pounding his fists on the conference table, he declared in an angry voice, “We’re going to put a stop to this!” and “we are going to eradicate the problem!” and “they’re the worst type of people that we harbor in America!” The table-thumping performance only added fuel to the blaze of confrontation.

As the meeting ended, Portage County prosecutor Ron Kane, a blunt-speaking man who understood the mood in Kent as well as anyone, followed the governor into the men’s room for a private talk. Away from reporters, Kane implored Rhodes to close the university while passions cooled. “We’re sitting on a keg of dynamite that could blow at any minute,” the prosecutor warned, adding in saltier language that people were likely to get hurt. “No, we mustn’t do that,” Rhodes replied. “We must not knuckle under.”

As many as 3,000 students gathered the next morning — Monday, May 4 — on the university commons for a previously scheduled antiwar rally. The commander of National Guard forces on the scene, Assistant Adjutant General Robert Canterbury, decided to disperse the protesters. As Kane and others had feared, the presence of armed troops inflamed the students; what had been planned as a protest against the war became a protest of a different sort. “It wasn’t an antiwar rally,” said a student. “It was now a National Guard get-the-hell-off our campus rally.”

Canterbury ordered eight officers to lead 96 Guardsmen to break up the crowd — roughly one Guardsman for every 30 protesters. They received scant guidance. “We had no understanding as to the amount of force we were supposed to use to accomplish that mission,” remembered one of the troops. “There had not been a briefing before we moved out to explain what to do and how to do it.” Looking back years later, another Guardsman wondered: “Why would you put soldiers trained to kill on a university campus to serve a police function?”

Weary after a series of 12-hour shifts, and having slept little the night before, the troops were in poor condition for the tense confrontation. “The only thing I saw among the guys was fatigue and nerves,” said one Guard officer. Some of the Guardsmen were teenagers. Some were inexperienced with their rifles. Most wore a gas mask and a helmet that made it difficult to hear commands.

The reckless Canterbury also failed to warn protesters — as required by Ohio National Guard regulations for crowd control — that his men were armed with loaded rifles containing high-velocity bullets that could kill at a range of 1,000 yards and at 200 yards could pierce a steel helmet and pass straight through a human head. Unaware of the risk, students advanced toward the nervous Guardsmen, and at 12:24 p.m., several of the troops opened fire. Four Kent State students were killed, and nine were wounded, one of them paralyzed for life.

This entirely avoidable tragedy had its bloody roots in the table-pounding performance of a politician angling for votes. Rhodes should be an object lesson for officials such as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), who have called for force to quell today’s student protests over the war in Gaza. So far, campus demonstrations have been nuisances, even disruptions. Where there has been antisemitic harassment by protesters, the demonstrations have included reprehensible expressions of intolerance and hate. But they have not been violent, and violence should not be threatened in response. University officials, not state authorities and armed troops, possess the knowledge and insight best suited to dealing with these constitutionally protected expressions of dissent. The goal of university and college administrators should be to guarantee the safety of all students while fostering civil engagement over passionately held views. This is the lesson of Kent State University.

About guest opinion submissions

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• Opinion | Why campus protests against Israel probably won’t be effective April 25, 2024 Opinion | Why campus protests against Israel probably won’t be effective April 25, 2024
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US has long history of college protests: Here's what happened in the past

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators have taken over parts of college campuses across the U.S., the latest in a decades-long string of protests ignited by political activism — some of which have spiraled into violence amid police crackdowns .

In the past, free speech sit-ins quickly escalated into massive rallies, Vietnam War college demonstrations turned deadly and U.S. civil rights protests ended in mass arrests.

The circumstances of each protest were different, but the story is familiar: Young people demanded changes on their campuses or in the world — and their impassioned demonstrations often escalated amid clashes with authorities.

Columbia , the university at the center of the current wave of protests, has even seen similar protests before, including during the Vietnam War in 1968. Demonstrations led the university to end classified war research and stop military recruitment, among other changes, wrote Rosalind Rosenberg, a professor of history at Barnard College, for Barnard Magazine .

Today's demonstrators also have specific changes in mind, often involving divestment from Israel , citing the deaths of more than 34,000 Palestinian people who died in Gaza amid Israel's bombardment and ground assault. That military campaign was triggered by Hamas' incursion into southern Israel on Oct. 7, when about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and more than 240 people were taken hostage.

But as campus authorities react swiftly, citing safety concerns and calling in police to break up encampents, it's unclear if or how the current protests will influence the Israel-Hamas war.

USA TODAY revisited four monumental campus protests to explain how college protests have become a staple of American life and often influence the outcomes of political strife. Here's a look at how previous campus protests unfolded — and whether they were successful in their causes.

University of California, Berkeley: Free Speech in 1960s

At the University of California Berkeley starting in 1964, students protested the university's limits on political activities and free speech during the civil rights movement and Vietnam-war era.

"In the wake of  McCarthyism’s  anti-Communist sentiments during the 1950s, public universities in California had enacted numerous regulations limiting  students’ political activities ," wrote Karen Aichinger for the Free Speech Center at Middle Tennessee University. "At the University of California, Berkeley, student groups taking part in any on- or off-campus political activities were banned from campus."

What transpired were "small sit-ins and demonstrations" that "escalated into a series of large-scale rallies and protests demanding full constitutional rights on campus," reads the UC Berkeley website.

Nearly 800 students were arrested by local police as a result.

The students' protest ultimately worked in their favor. The university eventually overturned policies that would restrict the content of speech or advocacy, according to the college.

"Today, the Movement stands as a symbol of the importance of protecting and preserving free speech and academic freedom," reads the UC Berkeley website.

Kent State University in Ohio: Vietnam War in 1970

The most prolific university protest of the Vietnam War happened at Kent State University in Ohio in May 1970. Students started protesting the Vietnam War and the U.S. invasion of Cambodia on their campus on May 2. Two days later, the National Guard opened fire into a sea of antiwar protesters and passerbys. The soldiers killed four young people – Allison Krause, Jeffrey Miller, Sandra Scheuer, and William Knox Schroeder – and injured several others with their violence.

"The impact of the shootings was dramatic," wrote Jerry Lewis and Thomas Hensley in an article for Kent State University. "The event triggered a nationwide student strike that forced hundreds of colleges and universities to close."

The shootings also influenced national politics, Lewis and Hensley wrote.

"In The Ends of Power, (H.R.) Haldeman, (a top aide to President Richard Nixon), states that the shootings at Kent State began the slide into Watergate, eventually destroying the Nixon administration," the article reads.

Today, the protest and shootings "certainly come to symbolize the deep political and social divisions that so sharply divided the country during the Vietnam War era," Lewis and Hensley wrote.

Jackson State College in Mississippi: Racial Injustice in 1970

Days after the shootings at Kent State, police opened gunfire at a college dormitory Jackson State College in Mississippi, a school with a predominantly Black student population.

Black students there were protesting racial injustice, including how they were treated by white drivers speeding on campus, according to the university .

Police received a call that Black young people were throwing rocks at white drivers near the campus. Police arrived at the scene and shot hundreds of bullets into Alexander Hall, according to an FBI report, NPR reported . Police killed two students – Phillip Lafayette Gibbs and James Earl Green – and injured 12 others. The college also canceled its graduation due to the killings and unrest.

At a 2021 commencement ceremony, the university honored 74 of the students who were unable to walk the stage in 1970, NBC reported . At the commencement ceremony, Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba said police “unjustly gunned down two innocent young Black men, terrorized and traumatized a community of Black students and committed one of the gravest sins in our city’s history," NBC reported .

The killings at Jackson State College and Kent State University national sparked outrage. College students across the nation protested on their campuses, according to the Zinn Education Project , a collaboration of historical content from the groups  Rethinking Schools  and  Teaching for Change .

"The spring of 1970 saw the first general student strike in the history of the United States, students from over four hundred colleges and universities calling off classes to protest the invasion of Cambodia, the Kent State affair, the killing of two black students at Jackson State College in Mississippi, and the continuation of the war," wrote Howard Zinn in the book "You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train ."

Angus Johnston, an adjunct assistant professor at Hostos Community College of the City University of New York and a historian of student activism, said after both events: "There was a period of about 30 years or so where it tended to be fairly unlikely that campuses would respond with mass arrests even in the case of admin building occupations."

Nationwide: South Africa anti-Apartheid protests in 1985

Another form of popular college campus protest occurred in the 1980's. Students across the country wanted their colleges to cut ties with groups that supported from the South African apartheid.

"Under apartheid, race restricted every aspect of life for South Africans who were Black, Indian and colored — a multiracial classification created by the government," The New York Times reported . "There were strict limits on where they could live, attend school, work and travel.

Columbia University was at the center of the movement. Students led by the Coalition for a Free South Africa at Columbia University "blockaded Hamilton Hall, the university’s administrative building, leading to the first successful divestiture campaign at the university," reads a summary of the events from the Zinn Education Project .

There was less pushback for protesters during this time, due to a “certain embarrassment among elites in the United States that there was complicity with South Africa’s white government,” said Daniel Farber, a history professor at the University of Kansas who has studied American activism, reports Vox Media .

Columbia University was one of the first colleges to divest from doing business with South Africa and 155 universities followed suit. U.S. Congress also passed the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act in 1986, which aimed to prevent new trade and investment between the nation and South Africa.

What is the future of college protests in America?

Free speech experts told USA TODAY that students should continue to peacefully protest in open campus spaces to avoid conflict.

Alex Morey, the director of campus rights advocacy for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, encourages universities to remain neutral in times of unrest and not to call in authorities unless a demonstration turns violent. The national nonprofit defends Americans rights to free speech and thought.

"Peaceful protest is a hallmark of a healthy speech climate on American college campuses and it has been for decades – whether it's the Berkeley free speech movement, or students protesting the Vietnam War era or civil rights," Morey said. "Generations of students have felt passionately about certain issues and the open air places on campuses are great places to support their views."

Contact Kayla Jimenez at [email protected] .  Follow her on X at @kaylajjimenez.

University Catalog 2023-2024

History - m.a..

About This Program

The Master of Arts in History build on your undergraduate studies and allow you to specialize in a particular historical period, region, or theme. With rigorous coursework, research opportunities and close mentorship from faculty, you'll develop the skills needed to succeed in a wide range of careers. Read more...

Contact Information

• Program Coordinator: Lindsay Starkey | [email protected] | 330-672-8907
• Connect with an Admissions Counselor: U.S. Student | International Student

Program Delivery

• Kent Campus

For more information about graduate admissions, visit the graduate admission website . For more information on international admissions, visit the international admission website .

Admission Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in history from an accredited college or university 1
• Minimum 3.000 undergraduate GPA on a 4.000 point scale
• Official transcript(s)
• Goal statement describing professional objectives and proposed field of study
• Significant piece of written work that integrates primary and secondary sources
• Three letters of recommendation (preferably academic)
• Minimum 550 TOEFL PBT score
• Minimum 79 TOEFL IBT score
• Minimum 77 MELAB score
• Minimum 6.5 IELTS score
• Minimum 58 PTE score
• Minimum 110 Duolingo English score

Students who have not earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in History are eligible to apply for admission if they have completed 12 credit hours of upper-division history courses (with a minimum 3.30 GPA).

Application Deadlines

• Priority deadline: February 1 Applications submitted by this deadline will receive the strongest consideration for admission .
• Rolling admissions

Program Requirements

Graduation requirements, major requirements.

Students must complete at least one research seminar ( HIST 61070 ) no matter their specific program choice.

Students can count no more than 3 credit hours of HIST 60092 toward their degree no matter their specific program choice.

Additional Requirements for Students Not Declaring a Concentration

Students selecting the thesis option must demonstrate a reading knowledge of one or more foreign languages if their advisers determine that it is necessary for research.

Students may elect to take two graduate-level courses in fields outside of history. Students who choose to pursue outside field coursework must take history graduate courses in two of the following three areas: American history, European history and global history (non-Western). Students who do not take outside field coursework must complete 12 credit hours of graduate coursework in history, and they must include coursework in each of the following areas: American history, European history and global history (non-Western).

Students may elect to take two graduate-level courses in disciplines outside of history. Students who choose to pursue outside discipline course work must take history graduate courses in two of the following three areas: American history, European history and global history (non-Western). Students who do not take outside discipline coursework must complete 15 credit hours of graduate coursework in history and they must include coursework in each of the following areas: American history, European history and global history (non-Western).

History for Secondary School Teachers Concentration Requirements

Electives are to be approved by faculty advisor and may include courses from other disciplines, if appropriate. Maximum 3 credit hours of pre-approved workshops for teachers.

Students may petition the graduate coordinator to count other courses in pedagogy, regardless of department, toward the electives for this concentration.

• Minimum B- grade is required in all specified courses.
• The culmination of the program's writing component for those students intending to go on to doctoral work is the completion of a substantial thesis based on original primary-source research and the oral defense of that thesis.

Program Learning Outcomes

Graduates of this program will be able to:

• Analyze primary sources (texts, artifacts, images); locate, assess and analyze primary sources and incorporate those sources into original historical research projects with a high level of proficiency.
• Conceptualize, research and write book reviews, annotated bibliographical essays, historiographical essays and research papers.
• Dissect secondary sources in a variety of areas of historical specialization, and participate actively and positively in class discussions of those sources.
• Understand that interpretation is one of the foundations of graduate-level study in the discipline, and offer their own interpretations of work both orally and in writing.

Full Description

The Master of Arts degree in History offers students the opportunity for advanced study in a variety of areas. Coursework emphasizes interpretation, methodology and original research. A student's program of study allows for the opportunity to conduct historical inquiry, research and analysis at the highest level. While students will be able to develop a core competence in their chosen field study, they will also study the histories of regions and times far removed from their central interests. Students may also pursue interdisciplinary work in cognate fields composed of courses in outside disciplines.

Students who anticipate continuing their graduate study beyond the M.A. degree should pursue one of the thesis tracks. Those who choose the thesis option, which is required of students on graduate assistantships, will produce a thesis based on original primary source research that engages a historiographically significant research question. Non-thesis options are available for those who do not expect to go on to doctoral work.

The program develops graduates who are educated scholar-citizens committed to historical empathy and in possession of critical thinking and communication skills honed by rigorous training.

The History major includes the following optional concentration:

• The History for Secondary School Teachers concentration is for educators interested in the advanced study of history. Coursework is focused on current scholarship and approaches to history. While the concentration's focus is not in history pedagogy, it is designed to encourage the application of current historical scholarship to the work responsibilities of the practicing teacher. The program provides school professionals with a structured but flexible approach to analyzing and teaching history while permitting interdisciplinary work in related fields or areas particularly relevant to students' professional objectives.

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ALUMNA DIGS UP DREAM JOB AT THE CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY; Kent State Today; April 9, 2024

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Have you ever seen a Mona monkey skull ? Do you know what a Dunkleosteus terrelli is? Well, thanks to alumna Hailey Majewski you can see 3D images of both of these items and many more through the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Majewski is the digital asset manager at the museum, a role that still surprises her.

“I thought I would be an archaeologist and every six months I'd be going to a new place in the world and always funding my next thing,” Majewski said. “I never expected I'd be this deep into digital at all.”

Majewski, a Cleveland native, graduated with a Bachelor of Science in anthropology with a concentration in archaeology from Kent State.

In her role, Majewski manages and disseminates the museum’s digital assets, coordinates the digitization of the museum’s collections, and oversees 3D model creation and 3D printing for education and outreach programs. That’s where the Mona monkey skull and Dunkleosteus terrelli come in.

“I am essentially responsible for all of the digital assets at the museum and that includes marketing information,” Majewski said. “I am also helping assist the research and collections departments and all of the digitization efforts that are currently going on at the museum.”

Majewski is no stranger to this museum; she spent a lot of her childhood there, and — how’s this for dedication to your field of study — she even got married there.

“I grew up at this museum. So honestly, being able to work here it's kind of a dream come true,” Majewski said. “I am very deeply embedded in the museum culture, and I would like to stay here as long as possible.”

It started in 2015 when Majewski served as a volunteer in the invertebrate zoology department for the digitization of the museum's insects.

“It included taking images of the insect and their labels and then transcribing the label verbatim. Assigning things like locality, collection, date, collector and taxonomy to it. And then uploading all of that online,” Majewski said. “Apparently I did well enough that they decided to bring me on as a funded digitization technician, and I ended up more or less running the project for about four years, then in 2020 I became permanent staff.”

She then began serving more of the research and collections divisions at the museum, of which there are 13 separate departments.

Recently, the museum has submitted two successful grants for a building-wide rehaul and new facilities. Majewski was a co-investigator on the $800,000 grant for the paleo collections.

“That is probably my biggest professional accomplishment,” Majewski said. “I was responsible for the entire digitization strategy involved in that and a lot of the educational content.”

A lot of the digital work that Majewski uses, she’s learned and picked up along the way, but she still holds onto her knowledge from Kent State.

“Even though I’m not directly utilizing that knowledge from my science degree in an archaeological setting, I still use it all the time,” Majewski said. “Knowing about biology and how taxonomy and anatomy works.”

Majewski recalled her time at Kent State and some experiences that helped her on her education journey.

“My capstone experience kind of reinforced my love of science because when I came to college, I originally wanted a history degree,” Majewski said. “Then I took my first anthropology course and realized that it was kind of that bridge between science and history that I really love because I could actually physically prove things happened and existed in a certain place at a certain time.”

Majewski was also thankful for one of her professors, Neil Wells, Ph.D., earth sciences professor, who had a positive impact on her.

“The way that he makes himself available to his students to ask questions and how to learn from them was amazing,” Majewski said

Majewski is thankful for the experiences she’s had at the museum. Her love of this work is clear.

“I spend literally every day learning something new. Being able to see and explore things that are over 100 years old that we have collected over 100 years ago,” Majewski said. “I've been able to interact with the skeleton of a great auk, which went extinct in the 1800s. I just find it really cool.”

See more of the work that Majewski has done at the non-human primate collections and ornithology collections sites of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

Learn more about Kent State’s Department of Anthropology.

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WRITTEN BY: JORDAN BRYSKI, FLASH COMMUNICATIONS

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Art history graduate student: ‘Here at ASU, I learned just how capable I am’

Sarah “Gigi” Brazeal is graduating with BA in art history and a minor in anthropology. 

Editor’s note:  This story is part of a series of profiles of  notable spring 2024 graduates .

Sarah “Gigi” Brazeal never thought she would get a college degree from a four-year university. 

“Higher education has never been something I felt I could attain,” she said, “nor did I feel like someone from my economic background had a chance of succeeding here.” 

Brazeal, who graduated high school in 2001, said her experiences in high school and her economic situation initially kept her from fully pursuing her academic dreams. 

“I was not encouraged by my high school academic advisor and was even told that higher education wasn’t for ‘people like me,’” she said. “I was not popular with the administration, as I was quite a little revolutionary and battled them with regard to student rights and the lack of inclusion for students of non-traditional faiths or LGBTQIA+ students. Though steadfast in what I thought was right for us, the students, I was still a child who took it to heart when I was told I wasn’t good enough for the university setting.”

She said after that experience, she didn’t try that hard in school, especially because she knew her single mother could not afford to send her to college. 

But now, 23 years later, she is finally earning her BA in art history from the School of Art in the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts and a minor in anthropology from School of Human Evolution and Social Change in The College.

“Here at ASU, I learned just how capable I am,” Brazeal said. 

Despite her doubts about college, after high school she tried to pursue her academic dreams by attending community college, but after a year she said she ended up burning out and leaving.

Brazeal then pursued professional acting and was a traveling performer with the Renaissance Festival for many years. During that time, she returned to the community college system multiple times to finish her AA in her free time. In 2009, she landed a position with Microsoft Corporation  and applied to ASU with the intention of earning her BA. 

“However, I had a boss who was wholly unhappy with the thought of me advancing my education and leaving the company,” she said. “He made it impossible for me to attend, denying my tuition reimbursement requests and insisting I was needed during times when classes I needed were being offered. Again, I gave up.”

She left Microsoft to pursue a career in art. 

“I have always been an artist,” Brazeal said. “Before ASU, I worked mainly in pen and ink, charcoal and skin. I found that tattooing was a very lucrative way to have a career centered on art.” 

“Unfortunately, COVID made it very hard to work, since tattooing is very much not essential,” she said. “But, I finally had the time and zero obstacles to my education, and I returned to ASU.” 

She said the scholarships and funding she received also enabled her to achieve success. 

“It literally means everything. I would not be where I am today without these scholarships, and I certainly wouldn’t be able to spend so much time on my artistic practice of archaeological research,” she said.

Some of the scholarships she received include Osher Reentry Program Scholarship , the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at ASU Intergenerational Learning Service Scholarship , the Seymore Rosen Studio Art Scholarship , the Windgate Foundation Studio Art Scholarship, the School of Art Special Talent Award – Studio Art and the Jack Breckenridge Art History Scholarship. She also works as a communications specialist with the School of Art. 

After she graduates from ASU this spring, Brazeal plans to complete her MA in art history at ASU and then pursue a PhD. 

“I plan to study the long global history and visual culture of ritual, religion and occult symbolism throughout time and civilizations,” she said. “It is my ultimate hope that I can become a university educator who uses my research and fieldwork to educate new generations of young people. I feel very much that I want to work at a public university and return to the system what I have gotten out of it here.

“Through my studies and the numerous connections with fellow students, staff and faculty, I learned that literally anything is possible to achieve as long as you believe it is.” 

Question: What was your “aha” moment when you realized you wanted to study the field you majored in?

Answer: I had always wanted to pursue a degree in art, but when I started taking art history courses, specifically those on ancient art, I realized just how deep my love of ancient art and culture goes. After taking Dr. Nancy Serwint’s course on ancient Egypt, I added my BA in art history and a minor in anthropology.

Q: Why did you choose ASU?

A: As a nontraditional, returning student, it’s more like ASU chose me! I live in Phoenix, so it was the most logical choice. However, I am very thankful for ASU’s policy of inclusive excellence and its commitment to accessibility rather than exclusivity.

Q: Which professor taught you the most important lesson while at ASU?

A: This may be an impossible question to answer since there wasn’t just one.

Dr. Nancy Serwint helped me realize my academic aspirations and guided me to a fulfilling academic career in art and archaeology.

Dr. Betsy Fahlman helped me hone my writing skills and develop a voice in my writing that has served me well in my research and will continue to drive me forward in my academic career.

melissa button taught me that I do belong here and that I can achieve anything I want; it just takes the right attitude and a little hard work.

Both Hilary Harp and Dean Reynolds challenged me to grow as an artist. They have a way of lighting a fire under me that has forced me to grow by leaps and bounds in my artistic practice.

Erika Lynn Hanson introduced me to an entirely new 3D medium that I would never have tried on my own, and now I can’t imagine my life without it!

Dr. Matthew Kroot and Dr. Brenda Baker , both from the School of Human Evolution and Social Change, took a chance on an art student, let me into their classes and labs, and taught me how my artistic skills are needed and necessary in the fields of anthropology and archaeology.

Everyone I have met here has affected me to the point that I feel as though my success has been an amalgamation of the support and experiences I have had here at ASU. It really does take a village!

Q: What’s the best piece of advice you’d give to those still in school?

A: Never stop asking questions, and never stop pursuing what you want. Cold email people, ask every professor every question you have and never give up. Everyone here really wants you to succeed, and all you have to do is ask for what you want. If you have the drive to succeed, your professors will set you on the right path. But they cannot do that if they don’t know what you want. There’s a way to get where you want to go; you just have to be diligent about finding that way. Leverage your relationships, and make sure to take every opportunity you can to give back to those around you. This is a generative environment where one receives guidance and knowledge, which inevitably makes you the knowledgeable one that people will one day rely on.

Q: What was your favorite place on campus, whether for studying, meeting friends, or just thinking about life? (For online students: What was your favorite spot for power studying?)

A: The studio. There’s nowhere I’d rather be than welding steel or weaving fiber into an abstract representation of what my current academic studies are focused on. It is a special thing to be able to translate my art history and archeological work into works of art that others may enjoy while simultaneously giving me a unique way to express my ideas and passions in metal and fiber.

Now I work mostly in steel and textile, but I still make plenty of ink, charcoal and graphite work —plus the odd tattoo on a friend here and there. I currently have an ink piece at Northlight Gallery and will be installing a textile/steel sculpture in the upcoming show at Gallery 100 at the end of the month.

I also do a fair share of archaeological illustration for both  archaeological projects I work on, which consists of pen and ink and digital work.

Q: If someone gave you $40 million to solve one problem on our planet, what would you tackle?

A: I’m not sure that $40 million would do it, but I would try to make sure that those who don’t come from privileged backgrounds could have more access and opportunity. Education is sorely lacking in this country, and the path to a university education is sadly not something many have. I would do what I could to ensure that students like me knew there was a way to higher education and that they do belong here. I never thought I would be here, preparing for graduation and discussing plans for a future PhD program. I want every person who grew up like me and felt defeated before they even started to know and have access to what I have here at ASU. Perhaps I could use this hypothetical money to create an endowment that ensures those from lower economic backgrounds can and will achieve their academic aspirations.

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