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Duke’s History Department —among the top programs in the country —regards the creation of knowledge as one of the fundamental missions of a research university. Our world-renowned faculty , who work closely with our students and collaborate with colleagues across disciplines, are at the cutting edge of research in their fields as they address society’s greatest challenges. And our graduate and undergraduate academic programs —designed to help students critically think about the world around them —successfully prepare students for a wide range of careers.

We are committed to drawing upon our historical knowledge to collectively create and foster a more inclusive, just, and equitable society for all. We condemn racial violence and hatred, in all its forms locally and globally. We stand in solidarity with families who have lost their loved ones and all those who are exercising their constitutional right to assemble and protest against racial injustice and discrimination.

• Statement of Solidarity Against Anti-Asian Violence

In the wake of the murderous attack on Asian American women in Atlanta, Ga., and incidents of hate that include physical assault, civil rights violations, and harassment of several thousand Asian Americans and Asians in the United States, the Duke History community condemns the scapegoating and ethnic-based and racial hatred that has proliferated in this country over the last year.

As historians, we have studied the emergence and reproduction of racist ideas in this country and across the globe . We know the long-enduring impact of bigotry and racism that have targeted Asians and Asian American people since the mid-nineteenth century, unleashing hurt and harm. Continue Reading

Undergraduate Programs

Our curriculum enables our Bachelor of Arts majors to: understand history as a discipline, build critical and analytic abilities, and enhance their written communication skills. Our students focus their studies in two ways:

• Thematic Concentrations to explore contemporary issue and themes from historical perspectives, and
• Geographic Concentrations to explore issues present in specific parts of the globe.

We also offer a History minor.

Featured Courses

Many of the leading Enlightenment philosophes, from Lemonnier, The Reading of Voltaire’s Tragedy of the Orphan of China.   What was the Enlightenment? Were its leading thinkers really so… read more about Topics in History Lecture  »

Graduate Programs

We offer graduate training leading to a Master of Arts and Ph.D. in a wide range of fields, including Early America, Modern America, African-American, Military, Medieval and Early Modern Europe, South Asia, Imperial and Soviet Russia, Traditional and Modern China, Modern Japan, Africa, History of Medicine, and History of Science and Technology.

Selected Faculty Books

Links Between Health and Place in Durham

In Durham, North Carolina, the home of Duke University, crossing from one neighborhood to the next brings many differences, some of which you can see, like the number of trees or bus stops, and others that you can’t, like a high rate of evictions or a low level of voting in primary elections.

As with many cities, some of Durham’s neighborhood boundaries date back to policies in place in the 1920s or 1930s. For instance, maps that were used in approving or denying federally subsidized mortgages or insurance indicated so-called risky neighborhoods in red, and these were often historically Black or integrated neighborhoods. Through this “redlining” practice, nationwide less than 2% of homes insured by the FHA between 1946 and 1959 were available to people of color, according to Bull City 150, a public project that traces Durham’s history.

Such policies still affect neighborhoods today. For instance, the NC Central and College View neighborhood (as defined by the U.S. Census) includes parts of a historically redlined neighborhood, and part of what was once Hayti, a center for Black-owned businesses and banks that was displaced in the 1960s by “urban renewal” and the creation of a highway. Today, most of the residents of this area (78%) are African American, and 62% are cost-burdened, meaning they pay more than is considered affordable for housing based on their income. This area had 71 eviction notices per square mile in 2020, higher than the County average of 14. Among its residents, 14% have kidney disease, and 18% live with diabetes, both much higher than the Durham County averages.

Taking a close look at data about this and 149 other neighborhoods in Durham County, researchers from Duke University School of Medicine and Icahn School of Medicine at Mt Sinai documented in a first-of-its-kind study that some of these differences, which are indicators of structural racism, are linked to health.

Neighborhoods with the highest levels of three chronic diseases — diabetes, high blood pressure, and kidney disease — tended to be those with the lowest proportion of white residents, and vice versa. The study also found that Durham neighborhoods with greater burdens of 12 indicators of structural racism, including lower income and education, lower voter participation in primary elections, higher levels of reported violent crime, and higher rates of eviction and uninsurance, also had higher prevalence of those three chronic diseases.

“The results were not surprising, but I think they’re still very important to share,” said Clemontina Davenport, PhD, co-author of the study published in JAMA Network Open in December 2023. “Structural racism has impacted this country for centuries. But we’re just finally putting the story out there.” Formerly a biostatistician at Duke, Davenport is now an assistant professor in the Department of Biostatistics and Data Science at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

The study made national headlines as lead study author Ebony Boulware, MD, MPH, former Duke internist and clinical epidemiologist now dean of Wake Forest University School of Medicine, was invited to share the findings. But the researchers say that it was just the beginning. Ultimately, they want to identify which elements contribute most to these clusters of disease, help other researchers conduct similar studies in their own cities, and use that data to inform policy efforts.

Why Durham?

Durham has some unique characteristics that made this analysis possible, including a diverse population with extremes of wealth and poverty, a large middle class, and a deeply engaged community that often works with Duke and other entities to improve community health, said the first author of the study, Dinushika Mohottige, MD, MPH. Now an assistant professor of population science and policy and medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Mohottige earned an undergraduate degree at Duke and was a nephrology fellow and chief resident at Duke University School of Medicine. She lived in Durham for 21 years.

The social data for Durham came from multiple sources, including the Durham Neighborhood Compass, an interactive website that anyone can use to track the health and other characteristics of neighborhoods (or census block tracts). The Durham County Public Health Department created the compass in 2014, and in 2016 they partnered with Duke Health and Lincoln Community Health Center to add data from their electronic health records. The two health centers provide summary reports that aggregate data at the neighborhood level and track a list of health conditions identified as high priorities in Durham County.

“This is a really special thing that Durham was able to build, through years of engagement with multiple stakeholders that preceded me,” Mohottige said. “In many other cities or regions, it’s nearly impossible to account for health at a neighborhood level.”

Defining Structural Racism

Residential and economic segregation by race is the general definition of structural racism, but no uniform measure exists. In conducting this study, the researchers identified 17 indicators pf structural racism, including “global indicators,” as well as “discrete indicators.” Davenport explained: “Global measures capture many different measures of structural racism in one indicator. Discrete measures are the smaller pieces.”

“If gentrification breaks up social networks that people use for support, that can have a detrimental impact on people's health.” Nrupen Bhavsar, PhD, epidemiologist

For example, one of the global measures used in the study was the area deprivation index, a composite number that considers levels of education, poverty, and income in a region. Neighborhoods in the study with a higher area deprivation index showed higher rates of chronic disease.

The 2023 study also found links between disease and several discrete indicators of structural racism, including lower voter participation in primary elections and higher rates of evictions. Those two indicators have not been studied much when it comes health, Mohotttige said, but she is excited about exploring them further because they are factors that can be influenced by changing current policies. For example, cities or counties can address disenfranchisement by tackling such issues as unequal policing which can lead to higher rates of felony conviction for certain groups, or insufficient staffing at polling places.

Beyond Durham

Inspired by the Neighborhood Compass, Mohottige, study co-author Nrupen Bhavsar, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Surgery, and colleagues have built a similar site that aims to expand much of the data to the entire country.

The SEED Health Atlas started with data for Durham County as well as multiple counties surrounding it, and it now includes data for the entire country for many of the variables, said Bhavsar, associate professor surgery at Duke. “Can we collaborate with folks at other health systems to do similar work across different areas of the United States to understand whether or not we see similar associations of structural racism and outcomes?”

The atlas draws on the 2010-2019 census and other contextual data to track social, environmental, and climate indicators of health, and Bhavsar is adding data after the 2020 census. That will make the tool useful for tracking change over time, such as gentrification (the influx of healthier, wealthier, and younger people into an area).

“If gentrification breaks up social networks that people use for support, that can have a detrimental impact on people's health,” Bhavsar said. For example, if a church or even a barbershop must move out of a particular neighborhood, residents may lose that built-in support system. “Maybe someone they knew there took them to their physician appointment or was a friend they could talk to when they were stressed. Now they’re no longer there,” he said .

In addition, researchers can use the SEED atlas to target interventions to where they are most needed. For instance, data from SEED as well as Duke Health’s electronic health record and trauma registry were used to create a dashboard that Duke Health executives and researchers used to monitor patterns of gun violence in Durham and target interventions such as a program aimed at increasing enrollment in GED classes for high-risk youth. This effort was detailed in the journal JAMIA Open.

To make sure the atlas included input from Durham community members, Bhavsar worked with Mina Silberberg, PhD, a professor in the Duke Department of Family Medicine and Community Health , and Jessica Sperling, PhD, director of the Office of Evaluation and Applied Research Partnership, a collaboration between the Duke Clinical and Translational Science Institute and the Duke Social Science Research Institute .

“We really wanted the community to be able to use it to understand their own neighborhood,” Bhavsar said.

Sperling conducted focus groups with 10 community members and leaders who told them the data could be useful when applying for funding for projects to improve neighborhoods and when speaking with policymakers, she said. They also suggested finding a way to include data about community resources such as food pantries, Black and Latino-owned businesses, and churches.

Residents of Durham understandably have strong opinions about Duke University and Duke Health, as do many people who live in cities that house large, sometimes wealthy, institutions, Bhavsar said. “That’s part of what drives the research that I do:  understanding how to improve the health of individuals and develop a shared goal moving forward.”

Angela Spivey is a senior science writer and managing editor for the School of Medicine’s Office of Strategic Communications.

Eamon Queeney is assistant director of multimedia & creative for the School of Medicine’s Office of Strategic Communications.

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Duke University: A Brief Narrative History

View a timeline of Duke University's history.

Duke University traces its origins to a small school that opened in 1838 in Randolph County, North Carolina. Originally a preparatory school for young men called the Union Institute Academy, it was then chartered as a teaching college named Normal College by the state of North Carolina in 1851. The school underwent another transformation in 1859 when it turned to the Methodist Church for financial support. Reflecting the new partnership, the school’s name changed to Trinity College. 

From 1842 to 1882, Braxton Craven served as the principal and then president of the institution, overseeing its transition from a tiny schoolhouse to a full-fledged college. Shortly before his death, he helped to establish the Cherokee Industrial School at Trinity College, one of numerous schools established in the United States to “westernize” indigenous students, in this case boys and young men from the Eastern Band of the Cherokee. The School at Trinity lasted only a few years. It is worth noting that Craven enslaved several Black people prior to the Civil War, and that a number of other faculty and trustees were also enslavers.

John F. Crowell, Trinity College’s president from 1887-1894, suggested that moving the college to an urban setting would attract more students, faculty, and financial support. With Crowell’s encouragement, the trustees agreed to move the college, and after a spirited competition among regional cities, Trinity opened in Durham in 1892. Local tobacco magnates Washington Duke and Julian S. Carr assisted in providing land and money to Trinity. In 1897, at Washington Duke’s request, the school began admitting women as regular students, making it an early co-educational institution. Carr’s support for Trinity College was recognized with a building named in his honor in 1930. His name was removed in 2018 in light of his virulent white supremacist beliefs and actions.

Trinity prospered in its new location, and in 1924 the school was again transformed through philanthropy. Washington Duke’s son James Buchanan Duke established the Duke Endowment, and the charitable foundation infused the college with funds. The trustees changed Trinity College’s name to Duke University as a memorial to his father. The new funds supported the construction of a new campus, designed in a Gothic style by the Philadelphia architectural firm of Horace Trumbauer. The chief designer of West Campus, as well as the re-envisioned East Campus, was Julian Abele, a Black architect whose role in creating the architecture of Duke University was largely overlooked during his lifetime. In 2016, the main quad on West Campus was renamed Abele Quad in his honor.  

President William P. Few (1910-1940) oversaw this metamorphosis of a small college into a complex university. In 1930, the Trinity College site (today’s East Campus) became the Woman’s College, while the West Campus served as the grounds for the all-male Trinity College. In 1972, Trinity College merged both colleges of men and women into what is now known as Trinity College of Arts and Sciences. Other schools include the School of Religion and Graduate School founded in 1926, the School of Medicine and hospital in 1930, and the School of Nursing in 1931. Originally established in 1904, the Law School reorganized in 1930. In 1938, what is today’s Nicholas School of the Environment opened, and in 1939 the university formed what is now known as the Pratt School of Engineering. The last of James B. Duke’s desires for the university was fulfilled when what is now the Fuqua School of Business, opened in 1969. The Sanford School of Public Policy became Duke’s tenth school in 2005. The school was named for President Terry Sanford, formerly the governor of North Carolina, who supported a number of initiatives in the 1970s and 1980s to build Duke’s reputation for excellence, growing the university’s national and international profile.  

Long a segregated institution, Duke first admitted Black graduate and professional students in 1961 and Black undergraduates in 1963. In 1968, a major student protest known as the Vigil demanded pay increases and better treatment of hourly workers, most of whom were Black. In 1969, Black students protested in what is now known as the Allen Building Takeover, demanding improved services and treatment for Black students. The protest resulted in the formation of what is now called the Department of African and African American Studies. 

Faculty at Duke produce influential scholarship across a wide range of disciplines and professions. Two Duke faculty members have received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry: Professor  Robert Lefkowitz in 2012 and Professor Paul Modrich in 2015. Duke researchers have mapped the human chromosome and led research into the treatment of HIV and AIDS. Duke faculty also research pressing social issues, producing high-impact scholarship on such topics as election districting and public health. Faculty authors have written books of award-winning nonfiction, fiction, and poetry, and have won awards ranging from the National Book Award to the Pulitzer Prize. Fifty Duke faculty are members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Duke students have many opportunities to work with leading faculty in labs and on projects, ensuring hands-on experience during their course of study.

Duke has a number of notable athletic achievements. Best known is the men’s basketball team, coached by Mike Krzyzewski since 1980. The team has earned 5 national championships. The women’s golf team holds the record at Duke for most national championships, at 7. Duke football has been played since the 1880s, when President Crowell coached the team himself. During the 1930s and 1940s, the football team competed in and won a number of bowl games, earning the nickname “Iron Dukes.” The Rose Bowl game of 1942 was played in Durham due to wartime concerns on the West Coast and remains the only Rose Bowl played outside of Pasadena, California.

International programs have expanded over the last several decades, bringing international students to Duke in Durham and expanding international opportunities for Duke students. In 2005, Duke partnered with the National University of Singapore and opened the Duke-NUS Medical School. In 2014, graduate programs at Duke Kunshan University began, followed by undergraduate programs in 2018. DKU is a partnership between Duke and Wuhan University in Kunshan, China. 

The university has changed in many ways since its founding, and like other historically white schools it continues to confront issues of racism, sexism, and other inclusion and equity challenges. Students of color and international students now represent more than 50% of the student body. Duke’s hometown of Durham has also grown and changed, and Duke and Durham collaborate on topics ranging from community service to downtown development. 

Ever evolving, Duke University strives to meet the stated aims of the university: “to foster a lively relationship between knowledge and faith; to advance learning in all lines of truth; to defend scholarship against all false notions and ideals; to develop a love of freedom and truth; to promote a respectful spirit of dialogue and understanding; to discourage all partisan and sectarian strife; and to further the advancement of knowledge in service to society.”

For more information about Duke history, visit the University Archives in the David M. Rubenstein Library: /rubenstein/uarchives .  

Updated September 21, 2020

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Certificate in History and Philosophy of Science, Technology and Medicine

Katherine Brading Director of Graduate Studies HPSTM Program Box 90743 Duke University Durham, NC 27708 919-660-3050

Email: [email protected]

Program Description

The History and Philosophy of Science, Technology and Medicine (HPSTM) is an interdisciplinary graduate certificate program at Duke University designed to complement and enrich the curricula of graduate students studying English, history, philosophy, science, engineering, medicine, or other disciplines.  The program is administered by the History and Philosophy Departments, but is wide-ranging and draws participants from Biological Anthropology and Anatomy, Biology, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Classical Studies, Cultural Anthropology, Economics, English, Germanic Languages and Literature, Literature, Psychology and Neuroscience, Religion, Women's Studies, and other Duke departments and programs.

The interdisciplinary certificate requires the following: HPSTM core graduate seminar taught annually as a cross-listed course in History (HIST 577S), Literature (LIT 521S), and Philosophy (PHIL 541S), and Women's Studies (WOMENST 541S); one elective seminar or directed readings course in the history of science, technology or medicine; one elective seminar or directed readings course in the philosophy of science or the history of the philosophy of science; one elective seminar or directed readings course relevant to the student's HPSTM interests; and, a capstone research paper on a HPSTM-related topic.

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Polysomnography Technician Level II-Pediatric Sleep Lab

Durham, NC, US, 27710

At Duke Health, we're driven by a commitment to compassionate care that changes the lives of patients, their loved ones, and the greater community. No matter where your talents lie, join us and discover how we can advance health together.

About Duke University Hospital

Pursue your passion for caring with Duke University Hospital in Durham, North Carolina, which is consistently ranked among the best in the United States and is the number one hospital in North Carolina, according to U.S. News and World Report for 2023-2024. Duke University Hospital is the largest of Duke Health's three hospitals and features 1048 patient beds, 65 operating rooms, as well as comprehensive diagnostic and therapeutic facilities, including a regional emergency/trauma center, an endo-surgery center, and more.

Job Title:  POLYSOMNOGRAPHY TECH Job Code:  4577 FLSA:  N Job Level:  E1 Revised Date:  07/29/2019 Supervisory Responsibility: No

General Description of the Job Class

Provide clinical assessment, physiological monitoring and testing to assist with diagnosis, management, and prevention of sleep related disorders with the use of various diagnostic and therapeutic tools providing care to patients of all ages. These tools include but are not limited to polysomnography, scoring of clinical events according to profession and laboratory guidelines (such as respiratory events, cardiac events, limb movements, arousals, etc.), generating accurate reports by tabulating sleep/wake and clinical event data,.positive airway pressure devices, oximeter, capnography, actigraphy, nocturnal oxygen, screening devices, and questionnaires.

Duties and Responsibilities of this Level

- Verify the medical order and protocol.

- Explain the procedure and orient the patient to the sleep center.

- Prepare and calibrate equipment required for testing to determine proper functioning.

- Perform routine PAP mask fitting.

- Apply electrodes and sensors according to accepted published standards.

- Assist with following "lights out" procedures to establish and document baseline values (such as body position, oxyhemoglobin saturation, respiratory and heart rates, etc.)

- Assist and observe polysomnography data acquisition.

- Document routine observations, including sleep stages and clinical events, changes in procedure, and other significant events in order to facilitate scoring and interpretation of polysomnography results.

- Assist with appropriate interventions (including actions necessary for patient safety and therapeutic intervention (e.g. BPAP, O2 administration).

- Assist with following "lights on" procedures to verify integrity of collected data and complete the data collection process. (e.g. learn to perform the physiological and instrument calibrations and instructs the patient on completing questionnaires, etc.)

- Perform routine polysomnography data acquisition while monitoring study-tracing quality to ensure signals are artifact-free.

- Identify and report signal abnormalities.

- Demonstrate the knowledge and skills necessary to recognize and provide age specific care in the treatment, assessment and education of adolescent, adult, and geriatric patients.

- Perform all duties of the Level 1.

- Review history, physical information, medications, procedure request and study protocol.

- Prepare and calibrate equipment required for testing to determine proper functioning and make adjustments, if necessary.

- Perform "lights out" procedures to establish and document baseline values(such as body position, oxyhemoglobin saturation, respiratory and heart rates, etc.).

- Independently perform routine and c-pap/split polysomnography data acquisition while monitoring study-tracing quality to ensure signals are artifact-free and make adjustments, if necessary.

- Implement appropriate interventions (including actions necessary for patient safety and therapeutic intervention (e.g. BPAP, O2 administration).

- Perform "lights on" procedures to verify integrity of collected data and complete the data collection process. (e.g. learn to perform the physiological and instrument calibrations and instructs the patient on completing questionnaires, etc.).

- Perform all duties of the Level 1 and 2.

- Collect, analyze and integrate patient information in order to identify and meet the patient-specific needs (physical/mental limitations, current emotional/physiological status regarding the testing procedure, pertinent medical/social history) to determine final testing parameters/procedures in conjunction with the ordering physician or clinical director and laboratory protocols.

- Explain pre-testing, testing and post-testing procedures to the patient.

- Perform routine and complex PAP mask fitting.

- Perform routine and complex PAP/split/BPAP/ASV polysomnography data acquisition while monitoring study-tracing quality to ensure signals are artifact-free and make adjustments, if necessary.

- Perform positive airway pressure (PAP) mask fitting.

- Follow procedural protocols [such as Multiple Sleep Latency Test (MSLT), Maintenance of Wakefulness Test (MWT), parasomnia studies, PAP, oxygen titration etc.] to ensure collection of appropriate data.

- Oversees and performs difficult and unusual procedures and therapeutic interventions.

- Performs needed maintenance on equipment to include communication of problem to co-workers, appropriate vendor or the supervisor.

- Troubleshoots equipment and lab issues independently, considered an equipment super user.

- Demonstrates ability to analyze complex situations and apply policy.

- Develops clinical standards and protocols.

- Generate requisitions for patient studies prn/check in patients.

- Assign nightly workload to coworkers.

- Processes daily charges.

- Perform minimum number of hours designated a year as charge tech.

Required Qualifications at this Level

High school diploma or GED or 1 year of post-secondary education, or current enrollment in an accredited educational program leading to an Associates Degree in a health related field with an emphasis in polysomnography.

Associates Degree in a health related field preferred, or successful completion of a polysomnography program, of no less than one year in duration, associated with a state license and/or nationally accredited educational facility.

Associates Degree in a health related field preferred in polysomnography, or successful completion of a polysomnography program, of no less than one year in duration, associated with a state license and/or nationally accredited educational facility.

With an associate's degree in a health related field, no experience required; otherwise 6 months of direct patient care experience.

18 months experience in polysomnography testing preferred or Documented proficiency in all required competencies as a Polysomnography Technician. If no associate's degree in a health related field, must have an additional two years experience in direct patient care.

4 years experience in Polysomnography Technology required.

Degrees, Licensure, and/or Certification

Registered Polysomnography Technologists (RPSGT) required. Maintain current BLS certification.

Distinguishing Characteristics of this Level

Level 1 A Polysomnography Technician develops competency in and performs the basics of polysomnography testing and associated interventions under direct supervision of a Polysomnography Technologist 2 or a Polysomnography Technologist 3,

10 hours of CEUs, selects 1 choice from a list of options for professional growth (e.g., member of national organization, committee work).

Must be enrolled in AASM A-Step on-line education modules.

Level 2 A Polysomnography Technologist 2 performs comprehensive polysomnography testing and analysis, and associated interventions under the general supervision of a Polysomnography Technologist (RPSGT) 3 and/or the clinical director (MD, PhD, DO) or designee. A Polysomnography Technologist 2 can provide supervision of a Polysomnography Technician.

12 hours of CE, 10 must be CEUs, selects 3 choices from a list of options for professional growth.

Level 3 A Polysomnography Technologist 3 works under the general supervision of the clinical director (M.D., D.O., or PhD) or designee to provide comprehensive evaluation and treatment of sleep disorders. This may involve polysomnography, diagnostic and therapeutic services or patient care and education. A Polysomnography Technologist 3 can perform the duties defined for a Polysomnography Technologist 2 and may provide supervision of other staff.

16 hours of CE, 10 must be CEUs, selects 5 choices from a list of options for professional growth.

The intent of this job description is to provide a representative and level of the types of duties and responsibilities that will be required of positions given this title and shall not be construed as a declaration of the total of the specific duties and responsibilities of any particular position. Employees may be directed to perform job-related tasks other than those specifically presented in this description.

Duke is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer committed to providing employment opportunity without regard to an individual's age, color, disability, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or veteran status.

Duke aspires to create a community built on collaboration, innovation, creativity, and belonging. Our collective success depends on the robust exchange of ideas—an exchange that is best when the rich diversity of our perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences flourishes. To achieve this exchange, it is essential that all members of the community feel secure and welcome, that the contributions of all individuals are respected, and that all voices are heard. All members of our community have a responsibility to uphold these values.

Essential Physical Job Functions: Certain jobs at Duke University and Duke University Health System may include essential job functions that require specific physical and/or mental abilities. Additional information and provision for requests for reasonable accommodation will be provided by each hiring department.

Nearest Major Market: Durham Nearest Secondary Market: Raleigh

Duke is an Affirmative Action / Equal Opportunity Employer committed to providing employment opportunity without regard to an individual’s age, color, disability, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or veteran status. Read more about Duke’s commitment to affirmative action and nondiscrimination at hr.duke.edu/eeo.

From Foundations to Future of Informatics in Health

A symposium to celebrate and honor a founder of modern Biomedical Informatics on his 90th birthday. 

This symposium recognizes Ed’s unprecedented career, outstanding  achievements and significant contributions. 

Foundational to biomedical informatics

Ed catalyzed the development of biomedical informatics as a scientific discipline, demonstrating the feasibility of computer-based patient records, fostering international adoption of health information exchange standards, mentoring three generations of students and nurturing the organizations that support the field. Link to “How the Past Teaches the Future: ACMI Distinguished Lecture” by W. Ed Hammond, PhD

Foundational to biostatistics

Ed’s work has had a profound impact on biostatistics by enhancing the integration of statistical methods with medical informatics, advancing research methodologies, and influencing the next generation of data scientists and biostatisticians.

Foundational in the Armed Forces

Ed joined the US Navy in 1957 after graduating from Duke, attending flight school in Pensacola, Florida. Ed was active duty in the Navy until 1960. Dr. Hammond had a 33 year career with the US Naval Reserve, retiring in 1989 as a Captain. He served as the commanding officer of several units, including Emergency Response Team 6 and created an underwater navigation system for unmanned deep submersibles. 

Foundational in education

Dr. Hammond has played a foundational role in educating students through his extensive contributions in several key areas such as innovative curriculum development, mentorship and guidance, research leadership, integration of theory and practice, and promoting interdisciplinary education. Hammond’s work has left a lasting impact on Duke’s educational programs, equipping students with the knowledge, skills, and experience needed to excel in their respective fields.

Awards & Honors

Dr. William (Bill) Stead has led the nation in thinking about how biomedical informatics methods and architectures can improve health care systems for decades. His ideas coupled with his leadership have been significant at the local and the national level. He was the first editor of the  Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association (JAMIA) , a role that he held for ten years. The AMIA Stead Award for Thought Leadership in Informatics acknowledges people who have influenced our thinking about informatics, especially improving health and health care in ways that are visionary and transformative.

The 2015 award recipient was  William Edward Hammond II.  

The American College of Medical Informatics (ACMI) is an honorary society established to recognize those who have made sustained contributions to the field. As President of ACMI, Ed created the Morris F. Collen, M.D. Medal for Outstanding Contributions to the Field of Medical Informatics and presented the inaugural award to Morrie Collen in 1993.  Dr. Collen’s efforts as a pioneer in the field stand out as the embodiment of creativity, intellectual rigor, perseverance, and personal integrity.  In his introductory remarks, Ed noted that “a sign of maturity occurs in a field when we recognize that the field has produced an individual who has made defining, significant and lasting contributions to it. That moment has arrived in Medical Informatics.”  Ed went on to receive the Award in 2003.  

Once a year, when appropriate, the College gives its highest recognition to those whose attainments have, throughout their careers, substantially advanced the science and art of medical informatics.

The article “Presentation of the Morris F. Collen Award to William Edward Hammond II, PhD” highlights the award ceremony where William Edward Hammond II was honored with the Morris F. Collen Award. The article details Hammond’s outstanding achievements in the field, including his pioneering work and innovations that have significantly advanced medical informatics. The ceremony celebrated Hammond’s career, his impactful research, and his dedication to improving healthcare through the use of technology and data. The award reflects his exceptional contributions and the high regard in which he is held by his peers. Read the article in it’s entirety here .

Paul Clayton presented the 1999 AMIA President’s Award to Ed, “a pioneer in the field who has advanced the level of standards and served faithfully as treasurer of AMIA during a demanding time.”

Reed Gardner presented the 1997 AMIA President’s Award to Ed, “in recognition of his dedicated work in the development and promotion of medical informatics standards and his work as the champion of AMIA members and Working Groups.”

AIMBE’s College of Fellows is comprised of almost 3,000 individuals who have made significant contributions to the medical and biological engineering (MBE) community in academia, industry, government, and education that have transformed the world.

Chair of the Data Standards Working Group of the Connecting for Health Public-Private Consortium

Chair of the Computer-based Patient Record Institute and on the CPRI Board

Ambassador to Developing Countries

Chair of the Joint Initiative Council of ISO/CEN/HL7

President of the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) and AMIA Board member

President and Fellow of the American College of Medical Informatics

    *three terms as Chair of Health Level Seven and HL7 committees

    *two terms as the Convenor of ISO Technical Committee 215 Working Group 2

Chair of the Computer-based Patient Record Institute and on the CPRI Board.

Chair of ACM SIGBIO

Chair of the Steering Committee for the Rockefeller-sponsored Open Enterprise eHealth Architecture Framework Project

Member of the Institute of Medicine Committee on Patient Safety Data Standards

Member of the National Library of Medicine Long Range Planning Committee

Member of the Healthcare Information Technology Advisory Panel of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations

~ A Tribute to Ed ~

Ed - Congratulations on your 90th! ~ Bill Stead | Vanderbilt

‘‘You are special – what others see as impossible, you view as a challenge, and you find a way to make it happen. 

I have been truly blessed to have you as Professor, partner & friend for 54 years!”  Bill Stead, Professor of Medicine

Happy Birthday! ~ Anru Zhang | Duke

‘‘Ed’s wisdom and support have been invaluable to us. On Ed’s 90th birthday, I want to express my deep gratitude for his mentorship and the long-lasting impact on our careers and community” Anru Zhang, Associate Professor

Happy Birthday! ~ Warren Kibbe | National Institutes of Health/NCI

“Ed is the most innovative, energetic, and free thinking quantitative scientist!” Warren Kibbe, Deputy Director

Happy Birthday ~ Ben Goldstein | Duke

“Happy Birthday – What an amazing life!” Ben Goldstein, Professor 

Happy Birthday Ed! ~ Elizabeth Thermos | Duke

“Happy Birthday Ed!”  Elizabeth Thermos, Student & Assistant to Ed

Happy Birthday ~ Jeremy Warner | Brown University

“Such a joy to get to know you at the NLM Georgia Short Course – looking forward to this celebration!” Jeremy Warner 

Dear Ed - Happy Birthday! ~ Patti Brennan

“ There is nothing better than to have traversed one’s career as an FoE (that’s FRIEND OF ED)!!” Patti Brennan, Professor Emerita, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Happy Birthday! ~ Betsy Humphreys

“Dear Ed, Happy Birthday — and thanks for never giving up on health data standardization.” 🙂 Betsy Humphreys, National Library of Medicine, retired

Happy 90th Ed! ~ George Hripcsak | Columbia University

“Thank you for the tremendous impact you have had so many careers including mine.” George Hripcsak, Professor

Toggle Title

"bringing together clinical information resources" 1991 duke sicu video.

This historical video captures The Medical Record (TMR) at it’s peak of which Ed was instrumental in developing. Content specialists for the video include William W. (Bill) Stead, MD, Kevin Fitzpatrick, PA, Ruby Grewal, Joseph Moylan, MD, and Edward Hammond, PhD.  

“We believe the bedside computing system will be a powerful tool for hospital based epidemiologic studies.” Dr. Peter Kussin, Medical Director, MICU

Historical video courtesy of William W. Stead

AMIA 2003 Morris F. Collen Award

© 2024 All Rights Reserved.

​Making Public History

This summer, the inaugural History+ program became a new member of Duke’s “plus” suite of collaborative summer research experiences .

Since Data+ launched in 2015, students of all levels have worked on research projects alongside other teams on campus. Other “plus” programs include Applied Ethics+ , Arts+ , Climate+ , Code+ , CS+ , I&E+ and Math+ .

In History+, four teams of undergraduates were paired with graduate mentors and faculty or professional sponsors. Teams collaborated with their clients to envision, research and ultimately produce deliverables either for direct public consumption or contribution to a larger project ultimately intended for public display.

After eight weeks of working together, History+ participants gathered in East Campus’s Classroom Building to celebrate and share insights from their personal and communal work.

Duke and the Evolution of Higher Education

Conceived as part of the Centennial celebration of Trinity College’s 1924 transformation into a comprehensive research university, this project helped place the evolution of Duke into historical context through interviews with people who have led, or been part of, innovations that have shaped the university and the trajectory of higher education over the past five decades.

Building on the efforts of a Bass Connections team , students engaged with best practices in oral history, conducted and transcribed multiple interviews with retired faculty and staff members, adding to the range of perspectives reflected in the project, and collected relevant photographs. Team members also wrote brief biographies to contextualize the interviews, which, along with interview transcripts and audio, will become part of a public-facing archive.

The team of five students was mentored by graduate student Sydney Marshall and sponsored by Ed Balleisen , vice provost for interdisciplinary studies, and Jenny Wood Crowley , assistant vice provost for undergraduate education.

Gentrification in Durham

In this partnership with the Museum of Durham History , five students created an archive of material from which to draw for the museum’s Spring 2025 exhibit on the history of gentrification and housing inequality in Durham. The team was mentored by graduate student Katlin Risen and sponsored by Michelle Needham , the museum’s director of education programs and exhibits.

Students were also tasked with helping the museum to craft, materially and visually, the story they wanted to tell — a multifaceted narrative touching on race, gender, environmental justice and law that is unique to Durham, but reflective as well of countless cities across the country.

This effort involved combing through many decades of internal and public records of housing, education, religious and political entities and organizations, not to mention newspaper archives, as well as old-fashioned legwork, familiarizing themselves with the city’s layout, past and present, and its distinct districts and communities.

Latinx History and Conservatism

This project was a deep archival dive into conservative social and political movements throughout American history, unearthing its adaptive political attitudes and their evolving expressions toward immigrant and Latino populations. Students also examined how these attitudes, and the policies that accompanied them, changed- either fundamentally or in tone, and how, over many years, these policies came to attract a growing percentage of the non-native and first-generation American populace.

UNC’s Wilson Library and Duke’s Rubenstein Library both contain rich resources on these themes, including collections on racist and anti-racist movements in 20 th -century Southern history.

The four students, mentored by Sydney Marshall and sponsored by Cecilia Márquez , Hunt Family Assistant Professor of History, also produced a public-facing pamphlet for the benefit of other students who might be new to archival research and could benefit from some guidelines and tips on process and perspective, as well as an awareness of the need for self-care in the face of potentially traumatic material. The team produced a glossary of data that will aid Márquez’s research and potentially help journalists and other researchers mining similar veins of history.

Bennett Place

The Bennett Place project carried the work of the North Carolina Lives and Legacies initiative into its second year. Best known as the site of the largest surrender of Confederate troops during the Civil War, Bennett Place encapsulates key dimensions of 19 th -century southern social history, offering up not just insight into the war, but personal narratives of its own inhabitants, the surrounding population and the Native Americans who first walked the land.

The four students worked with mentor Katlin Risen and sponsors Robert Buerglener , research associate in Information Science + Studies, and Carson Holloway , librarian. Kalei Porter, a graduate student investigating land-use history at Bennett Place, provided additional assistance. The team performed archival research in the North Carolina and Southern Historical collections at UNC’s Wilson Library, spent time deciphering James Bennett’s early-19 th -century account book, and identified additional research materials, with an aim toward extending the outward meaning of Bennett Place, excavating and rendering a truer and more inclusive history of this state historical site.

A Successful First Year

The inaugural History+ summer program offered hands-on research experience to fledgling historians, history majors and non-majors alike.

In addition to their project-based work, all team members received training in relevant research techniques and technologies. They also attended a speaker series programmed by recent History Ph.D. Avrati Bhatnagar. Featuring a variety of guests — ranging from Emily Margolis, curator of contemporary spaceflight at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, to Alyssa Smith, research coordinator for Duke’s Malinda Project on the history of race relations at Duke — the series provided students with rich perspectives on public history.

The 18 student participants in History+ met the unique requirements of a historian’s work head on, learning to confront new and emerging interests and overcome impediments to knowledge and discovery. As one participant stated, “I got to tackle a question that a lot of historians may have raised but none have really done the work of answering… I think [my project] establishes the need for further interrogation of a narrative that has gone unchallenged far too long.”

Considering new ideas and reconsidering old patterns of understanding — the work of a lifetime for dedicated historians, and the overriding purpose of History+ and the Department of History at Duke.

Main image: History+ “Gentrification of Durham” team members Ella Patterson, Clarke Campbell, Joe Hammond, Brighton Greathouse and Gargi Sahasrabudhe in downtown Durham

About the author: Craig Kolman is the director of undergraduate studies assistant and program coordinator in the Department of History.

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Ph.d. program.

Our doctoral program offers students solid training in theory, contemporary research methods, and proposal writing with the aim of enabling students to develop an anthropology sensitive to the challenges and complexities of human experience and of our times.

Two PhD Tracks

Students have the option, with permission of the dissertation committee advisor, of leaving for the field after five or after six semesters. If they leave after five semesters, they will take 15 courses in total (three per semester) and convene their committee for a Portfolio workshop in December of that fifth semester. At the workshop they will discuss their grant proposals, three annotated reading lists (with 25 citations each), and a course syllabus (for a class to be taught in the future). If they leave after six semesters, they will take 18 courses in total (three per semester) and convene their committee for a Portfolio workshop in April of their sixth semester. At the workshop they will discuss their grant proposals, three annotated reading lists (with 35 citations each), and a course syllabus (for a class they will teach in the future).

If students receive external funding for fieldwork, they can spend a year and a half in the field (with one semester covered by the department and two by their grant). If they do not receive external funding, they will remain in the field for one year (with the one year covered by the department).

Funding (tuition, fees and stipend) for each student is guaranteed for five years, or five and an half for those who receive external funding for their fieldwork. The department is not responsible for the financial support of those who do not finish within these time frames, but will work closely with each student who does not finish to find external funding to cover continuation fees, health insurance, and stipends.

Students who choose the 3-year (six-semester) plan are required to take 18 graded courses. The program’s required courses (two semesters of Theories, Fieldwork Methods, and Grant Writing) comprise four of these 18. An additional six courses must be graduate seminars with primary faculty in Cultural Anthropology. Two of the 18 courses must be in a discipline outside Cultural Anthropology. A student on this plan may take a maximum of five independent studies. 

Students who choose the 2.5-year (five-semester) plan take 15 graded courses. The program’s required courses (two semesters of Theories, Fieldwork Methods, and Grant Writing) comprise four of these 15. An additional five courses must be graduate seminars with primary faculty in Cultural Anthropology, but the department strongly encourages taking six. Under exceptional circumstances, and with support of their committee chair, students on the 2.5-year plan may petition the DGS to allow 8 courses with primary faculty. Two of the 15 courses must be in a discipline outside Cultural Anthropology. A student on this plan may take a maximum of three independent studies.

Students on either plan have the option to take up to two graduate seminars in Anthropology at UNC-Chapel Hill. These may be counted towards the required courses with primary faculty in Cultural Anthropology.

Required Courses

• Theories:  The two-semester Theories course (CULANTH 801-802), taken in Fall and Spring of the first year, focuses on core debates and themes within the history of socio-cultural anthropology and related fields.
• Research Methods:  The Research Methods seminar (CULANTH 803), taken in the Spring of the second year, focuses on ethnographic methods, grant writing, and reading list annotation.
• Grant Writing:  The Grant Writing seminar (CULANTH 804), taken in the Fall of the third year (the fifth semester), focuses on the development of grant proposals for dissertation research support.

Other Requirements

• Plan of Study
• Portfolio of Work
• Foreign Language Requirement
• Research or Teaching Service
• Summer Field Research
• Department Colloquia
• Dissertation

Certificate Programs

Cultural Anthropology PhD students are encouraged to apply for a certificate in another department or field. Our students have acquired certificates in: Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies; African and African American Studies; Latin American and Caribbean Studies; Asian and Middle Eastern Studies; Documentary Studies; International Development Policy. 

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Duke doctorate student diversity for history, male-to-female ratio.

Of the students who received their doctor’s degree in history in 2019-2020, 25.0% of them were women. This is less than the nationwide number of 40.9%.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

Around 25.0% of history doctor’s degree recipients at Duke in 2019-2020 were awarded to racial-ethnic minorities*. This is higher than the nationwide number of 19%.

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A Mural to Celebrate 50 Years of Biddle Music

In late August, visual artist Natalie Robinson took a short break from the mural she was creating in the lobby of Duke University’s Mary Biddle Duke Music Building.

Just days from completion, Robinson’s work honors the namesake of the Mary Duke Biddle Music Building and the legendary jazz artist, Mary Lou Williams, Duke’s first artist-in-residence.

The brightly colored mural in the pale brick Georgian building was commissioned by a committee of Duke Music Department faculty members to highlight the 50th anniversary of its opening in the fall of 1974.

Robinson, a 23-year-old Greensboro native, was outfitted in white coveralls decorated with splotches and smears of brightly colored acrylic paints.

Surrounded by a rush of paint cans, brushes and tape, she stood on metal scaffolding in the music building lobby and surveyed her nearly completed work -- a visual celebration of the two Marys and the historic, half-century old building.

Mary Duke Biddle was the granddaughter of Washington Duke , a graduate of Trinity College in 1907, and an ardent patron of the arts who in 1956, established the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation , which contributed more than $650,000 toward the construction of the music building.

Mary Lou Williams was an acclaimed and highly influential jazz pianist and composer who was influenced by the pioneering pianists,  Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe “Jelly” Roll Morton , Thomas Wright “Fats” Waller and Earl “Fatha” Hines . Williams played with the art form’s greatest artists, including Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong , Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington , and Benny Goodman , and served as a mentor for bebop pioneers Dizzy Gillespie , Thelonious Sphere Monk and Charlie Parker .

One of the mural committee members, Verena Mösenbichler-Bryant , chairs the music department, and serves as a professor of the practice of music.

Mösenbichler-Bryant said the faculty members had long discussions on how to celebrate the building’s anniversary.

“It’s a really important milestone that coincides with the centennial, so it was important to mark this important occasion and to somehow capture how the department has grown over the last few years,” said Mösenbichler-Bryant, who also directs the Duke University Wind Symphony, and is the artistic director and conductor of the Durham Medical Orchestra .

Mösenbichler-Bryant added that the music department considered other artists who could capture the history of the music department and worked closely with several of them before choosing Robinson for the project.

“Her work was inspiring,” she said. “It really captured our intentions, and it was so beautiful, and how she combined it into one beautiful artwork.”

The building’s foyer features a turn of the century portrait of Mary Duke Biddle that’s replicated by Robinson in her mural. The whimsical, colorful work was also inspired in part by a Mary Lou Williams’ drawing titled, “ History of Jazz .”

The mural begins with Morton, Waller and Hines, who inspired Williams before it segues into the figures of her contemporaries, Armstrong, Ellington and Goodman, who were also sources of inspiration for her.

There’s a twisting, brown vine throughout the work, and flowers painted in the same colors as Williams’ musical inspirations that speaks to connectivity, growth and love.

Williams is seated at the piano with the notes from her composition, “ What’s Your Story Morning Glory ,” flowing behind her. 

Robinson is a graduate of the University of North Carolina-Greensboro. Her work has been featured across the state, and in Brooklyn, Miami, Chicago, Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C. She is “absolutely honored” to create art that commemorates the building’s half-century mark. 

The work has added significance because her father, Michael Robinson, a recently retired physician, attended Duke’s medical school.

“I hope this piece really inspires others to chase their dreams and accomplish whatever it is they want to do,” Robinson said. “And it’s also a special tribute to my dad, because he graduated from here and he pursued medicine. So to have this contrast of the arts and science is a beautiful thing.”

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June 14, 2024

A Living Space for Music: The Mary Duke Biddle Music Building Turns 50

Read on Trinity College of Arts and Sciences

MPhil in History (Intellectual History)

• Entry Requirements
• Funding and Costs
• College Preference
• How to Apply

About the course

The Intellectual History strand of the MPhil in History takes an interdisciplinary approach, with a chronological and global reach. 

The MPhil in History has a sustained period devoted to archival research and writing, and is designed to give you a thorough training in historical research, improve your ability to conceptualise and engage with historical problems, and enlarge your understanding of the historical and historiographical context in which your own research is set. All strands of the MPhil can serve as either free-standing graduate qualifications, or as a springboard to doctoral study. Students wishing to proceed to doctoral study will be encouraged to develop their doctoral proposals during the first few months of the second year. Skills training and option-choice are flexible and open-ended, to allow you to gain the knowledge and training needed to complete your research project. 

You will have the opportunity to study thinkers and ideas from the fourth to the twenty-first centuries, in diverse transnational geographical contexts. The course is designed to encourage you to work in and between areas such as Global Intellectual History, the History of Scholarship, the History of Science, the History of Art, Historiography and the History of Political Ideas. Oxford is home to one of the largest communities of intellectual historians in the world, with expertise in every major area of Intellectual History, supported by world-class resources. Further information about Intellectual History research and activities can be found through the faculty website. All graduate students are encouraged to engage with the faculty’s lively research culture of seminars, workshops, and discussions groups . There’s something happening nearly every day of the week and sessions often involve leading international scholars. The faculty also runs the Oxford History Graduate Network , which fosters conversation and collaboration between graduate students. Interdisciplinary activities are available through The Oxford Centre for Research in the Humanities (TORCH) .

Course structure

You will take three compulsory core papers and two optional papers, as well as undertake an original research project. There is also a research masterclass, which is not assessed. This structure gives access to a wide range of both general and specialised training within the field of history.

Core courses

1. Sources and Historiography

This is a weekly 1.5 hour seminar in Michaelmas term of the first year (with MSt students in the same strand). It will introduce you to the philosophical background and methodological approaches to Intellectual History. You will study a combination of key thinkers for example, Michel Foucault, Arthur Lovejoy, and Quentin Skinner, along with new approaches to the discipline such as comparative, feminist and global intellectual history.

2. Theory and Methods

The format is a 1.5 hour weekly seminar in Michaelmas term of the first year (with MSt students in the same strand). It will cover current methodological and theoretical approaches. Students and course tutors will choose six of these from a syllabus of nine. 

3. Writing History

This is a weekly class in Trinity term of the first year exclusively for MPhil students, with all MPhil students taught in one or two classes. The classes range widely across history and involve critical reading and thinking about published work.

4. Research Master Class

Taught in weekly classes in Michaelmas term of the second year, during which students present and receive feedback on their work. 

Optional subject course

A free choice of the options on offer taught in six weekly classes during Hilary term of the first and second year.  Options of particular interest to Intellectual history include:

• Selfhood in History: 1500 to the present
• The Twelfth Century Renaissance
• The Dawn of the Global World, 1450-1800: Ideas, Objects, Connections
• Creating the Commonwealth: Politics and Religion in Grotius, Hobbes and Locke
• The Enlightenment, c.1680-1800: Ideas and the Public Sphere.

More information on options is available through the faculty website. Not every optional subject listed may be on offer every year.

Research Project

You will work on original research project throughout both years, under the guidance of your supervisor. You are expected to commit the summer vacation between the two years and the Michaelmas term of the second year to archival research.

Skills Provision

Additional lectures, classes, and tutorials take place in Michaelmas and Hilary terms to provide general and specific training. You will discuss what training you need to undertake your research project with your supervisor. Training available includes document and object handling, palaeography, oral history, text analysis software, GIS software, and statistical analysis.  Language training is also available, with the Faculty organising special courses for historians in French, German, Spanish, and Italian. Other modern language courses are available through the University’s Language Centre. Courses in Latin and other medieval languages are also available. Further details on language learning can be found on the faculty website.

The course is full-time and requires attendance in Oxford. Full-time students are subject to the University's Residence requirements.

Resources to support your study

As a graduate student, you will have access to the University's wide range of world-class resources including libraries, museums, galleries, digital resources and IT services.

The Bodleian Libraries is the largest library system in the UK. It includes the main Bodleian Library and libraries across Oxford, including major research libraries and faculty, department and institute libraries. Together, the Libraries hold more than 13 million printed items, provide access to e-journals, and contain outstanding special collections including rare books and manuscripts, classical papyri, maps, music, art and printed ephemera.

The University's IT Services is available to all students to support with core university IT systems and tools, as well as many other services and facilities. IT Services also offers a range of IT learning courses for students, to support with learning and research.

You will be able to draw on the specialist resources offered by the Bodleian History Faculty Library which provides dedicated support and training courses for all graduates. You can also access the many college libraries and college archives which house significant collections of personal papers as well as institutional records dating back to the middle ages.

Supervision

The allocation of graduate supervision for this course is the responsibility of the Faculty of History and it is not always possible to accommodate the preferences of incoming graduate students to work with a particular member of staff. Offers will only be made if appropriate supervision is available.

It is usual practice that MPhil students have one supervisor, but a co-supervisor will be appointed if additional specialist knowledge is required. One supervisor must be a member of the Faculty of History, but a co-supervisor can be appointed from a different department.

Your supervisor(s) is there to provide advice, guidance, and support throughout. You should arrange to meet your supervisor(s) early in your first term to establish a clear framework for your research and writing, and identify any skills training needed to undertake your research. There is no set timetable for the frequency of future meetings, but it is recommended that you arrange to meet your supervisor several times each term, to discuss progress of your research and writing. You should also agree a timetable for the submission and return of drafts of your dissertation.

If you contact a potential supervisor prior to submitting your application, any indication made by an academic that they may be willing to supervise a potential project, is not a guarantee that you will be offered a place, or that the supervisor in question has capacity to supervise you in that particular year.

The Sources and Historiography and the Theory and Methods core courses are examined by an assessed essay submitted at the end of Michaelmas term of year one. You must also submit an annotated bibliography and dissertation proposal at this time. The optional subjects will be examined according to the regulations governing the course, which could be by assessed essay or by examination, at the end of Hilary term in years one and two. The Writing History core course is examined by an assessed essay submitted at the end of Trinity term of year one.  The research project is examined by a 30,000-word dissertation that is submitted in week six of Trinity term of year two.

Graduate destinations

About a quarter of master’s students proceed to doctoral work at Oxford; others continue academic study at other institutions. Other career destinations are as diverse as, but broadly in line with, undergraduate history career destinations: law, finance, management consultancy, civil service etc.

Changes to this course and your supervision

The University will seek to deliver this course in accordance with the description set out in this course page. However, there may be situations in which it is desirable or necessary for the University to make changes in course provision, either before or after registration. The safety of students, staff and visitors is paramount and major changes to delivery or services may have to be made if a pandemic, epidemic or local health emergency occurs. In addition, in certain circumstances, for example due to visa difficulties or because the health needs of students cannot be met, it may be necessary to make adjustments to course requirements for international study.

Where possible your academic supervisor will not change for the duration of your course. However, it may be necessary to assign a new academic supervisor during the course of study or before registration for reasons which might include illness, sabbatical leave, parental leave or change in employment.

For further information please see our page on changes to courses and the provisions of the student contract regarding changes to courses.

Entry requirements for entry in 2025-26

Proven and potential academic excellence.

The requirements described below are specific to this course and apply only in the year of entry that is shown. You can use our interactive tool to help you  evaluate whether your application is likely to be competitive .

Please be aware that any studentships that are linked to this course may have different or additional requirements and you should read any studentship information carefully before applying. 

Degree-level qualifications

As a minimum, applicants should hold or be predicted to achieve the following UK qualifications or their equivalent:

• a first-class or strong upper second-class undergraduate degree with honours (a minimum of 68% overall and 68% for the dissertation) in a relevant discipline in the humanities or social sciences.

For applicants with a bachelor's degree from the USA, the minimum overall GPA that is normally required to meet the undergraduate-level requirement is 3.6 out of 4.0. However, successful candidates normally have a GPA of 3.75 or higher.

Applicants are not expected to have a previous degree in history, but are expected to have experience of working historically. You will need to ensure that you link your proposed dissertation topic with your previous expertise, explain why you want to switch to study history, and show that you have already done some background research. Your submitted written work should show your writing and research skills in their best light, as it will be important to show that you have the necessary skills required for historical research.

If your degree is not from the UK or another country specified above, visit our International Qualifications page for guidance on the qualifications and grades that would usually be considered to meet the University’s minimum entry requirements.

GRE General Test scores

No Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or GMAT scores are sought.

Other qualifications, evidence of excellence and relevant experience

• In the case of mature students/intended career changes professional experience in cognate areas may compensate for shortcomings in the formal academic record.
• Publications are not required.

English language proficiency

This course requires proficiency in English at the University's  higher level . If your first language is not English, you may need to provide evidence that you meet this requirement. The minimum scores required to meet the University's higher level are detailed in the table below.

*Previously known as the Cambridge Certificate of Advanced English or Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) † Previously known as the Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English or Cambridge English: Proficiency (CPE)

Your test must have been taken no more than two years before the start date of your course. Our Application Guide provides  further information about the English language test requirement .

Declaring extenuating circumstances

If your ability to meet the entry requirements has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic (eg you were awarded an unclassified/ungraded degree) or any other exceptional personal circumstance (eg other illness or bereavement), please refer to the guidance on extenuating circumstances in the Application Guide for information about how to declare this so that your application can be considered appropriately.

You will need to register three referees who can give an informed view of your academic ability and suitability for the course. The  How to apply  section of this page provides details of the types of reference that are required in support of your application for this course and how these will be assessed.

Supporting documents

You will be required to supply supporting documents with your application. The  How to apply  section of this page provides details of the supporting documents that are required as part of your application for this course and how these will be assessed.

Performance at interview

Interviews are not normally held as part of the admissions process.

Assessors may get in touch with an applicant by email in case of any queries, but this is very rare.

Offer conditions for successful applications

If you receive an offer of a place at Oxford, your offer will outline any conditions that you need to satisfy and any actions you need to take, together with any associated deadlines. These may include academic conditions, such as achieving a specific final grade in your current degree course. These conditions will usually depend on your individual academic circumstances and may vary between applicants. Our ' After you apply ' pages provide more information about offers and conditions . 

In addition to any academic conditions which are set, you will also be required to meet the following requirements:

Financial Declaration

If you are offered a place, you will be required to complete a  Financial Declaration  in order to meet your financial condition of admission.

Disclosure of criminal convictions

In accordance with the University’s obligations towards students and staff, we will ask you to declare any  relevant, unspent criminal convictions  before you can take up a place at Oxford.

Other factors governing whether places can be offered

The following factors will also govern whether candidates can be offered places:

• the ability of the University to provide the appropriate supervision for your studies, as outlined under the 'Supervision' heading in the About section of this page;
• the ability of the University to provide appropriate support for your studies (eg through the provision of facilities, resources, teaching and/or research opportunities); and
• minimum and maximum limits to the numbers of students who may be admitted to the University's taught and research programmes.

History in Oxford stretches from c 300 to the present, and embraces in addition to its British and European heritage an exceptionally broad range of World history. It comprises an active research community of up to 800 senior academics and graduate students, all contributing to a range of research seminars, lectures, academic societies, and personal contacts.

Research in the faculty is organised around historical periods and research centres, or in collaborative and individual research projects, and you will always be welcome at seminars, workshops and conferences across all periods and themes.

You will be encouraged to make use of these opportunities as widely as possible without endangering your own degree work. Striking the right balance between intellectual curiosity and temptation and intellectual discipline, and remaining focused without becoming blinkered, should be an integral part of a successful graduate career. The Oxford environment provides all the ingredients for this.

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For entry in the 2025-26 academic year, the collegiate University expects to offer over 1,000 full or partial graduate scholarships across a wide range of graduate courses.

If you apply by the January deadline shown on this page and receive a course offer, your application will then be considered for Oxford scholarships. For the majority of Oxford scholarships, your application will automatically be assessed against the eligibility criteria, without needing to make a separate application. There are further Oxford scholarships available which have additional eligibility criteria and where you are required to submit a separate application. Most scholarships are awarded on the basis of academic merit and/or potential.

To ensure that you are considered for Oxford scholarships that require a separate application, for which you may be eligible,  use our fees, funding and scholarship search tool  to identify these opportunities and find out how to apply. Alongside Oxford scholarships, you should also consider other opportunities for which you may be eligible including  a range of external funding ,  loan schemes for postgraduate study  and any other scholarships which may also still be available after the January deadline as listed on  our fees, funding and scholarship search tool .

Details of college-specific funding opportunities can also be found on individual college websites:

Select from the list:

Please refer to the College preference section of this page to identify which of the colleges listed above accept students for this course.

For the majority of college scholarships, it doesn’t matter which college, if any, you state a preference for in your application. If another college is able to offer you a scholarship, your application can be moved to that college if you accept the scholarship. Some college scholarships may require you to state a preference for that college when you apply, so check the eligibility requirements carefully.

Further information about funding opportunities  for this course can be found on the faculty's website.

Annual fees for entry in 2025-26

Information about course fees

Course fees are payable each year, for the duration of your fee liability (your fee liability is the length of time for which you are required to pay course fees). For courses lasting longer than one year, please be aware that fees will usually increase annually. For details, please see our guidance on changes to fees and charges .

Course fees cover your teaching as well as other academic services and facilities provided to support your studies. Unless specified in the additional information section below, course fees do not cover your accommodation, residential costs or other living costs. They also don’t cover any additional costs and charges that are outlined in the additional information below.

Where can I find further information about fees?

The Fees and Funding  section of this website provides further information about course fees , including information about fee status and eligibility  and your length of fee liability .

Additional information

There are no compulsory elements of this course that entail additional costs beyond fees and living costs. However, as part of your course requirements, you may need to choose a dissertation, a project or a thesis topic. Please note that, depending on your choice of topic and the research required to complete it, you may incur additional expenses, such as travel expenses, research expenses, and field trips. You will need to meet these additional costs, although you may be able to apply for small grants from your department and/or college to help you cover some of these expenses.

Living costs

In addition to your course fees and any additional course-specific costs, you will need to ensure that you have adequate funds to support your living costs for the duration of your course.

Living costs for full-time study

For the 2025-26 academic year, the range of likely living costs for a single, full-time student is between £1,425 and £2,035 for each month spent in Oxford. We provide the cost per month so you can multiply up by the number of months you expect to live in Oxford. Depending on your circumstances, you may also need to budget for the  costs of a student visa and immigration health surcharge and/or living costs for family members or other dependants that you plan to bring with you to Oxford (assuming that dependant visa eligibility criteria are met).

Further information about living costs

The current economic climate and high national rate of inflation make it very hard to estimate potential changes to the cost of living over the next few years. For study in Oxford beyond the 2025-26 academic year, it is suggested that you budget for potential increases in living expenses of around 4% each year – although this rate may vary depending on the national economic situation. For further information, please consult our more detailed information about living costs , which includes a breakdown of likely living costs in Oxford for items such as food, accommodation and study costs.

College preference

Students enrolled on this course will belong to both a department/faculty and a college. Please note that ‘college’ and ‘colleges’ refers to all 43 of the University’s colleges, including those designated as societies and permanent private halls (PPHs). 

If you apply for a place on this course you will have the option to express a preference for one of the colleges listed below, or you can ask us to find a college for you. Before deciding, we suggest that you read our brief  introduction to the college system at Oxford  and our  advice about expressing a college preference . 

If you are a current Oxford student and you would like to remain at your current Oxford college, you should check whether it is listed below. If it is, you should indicate this preference when you apply. If not, you should contact your college office to ask whether they would be willing to make an exception. Further information about staying at your current college can be found in our Application Guide. 

The following colleges accept students for the MPhil in History (Intellectual History):

• Balliol College
• Blackfriars
• Brasenose College
• Campion Hall
• Christ Church
• Corpus Christi College
• Jesus College
• Keble College
• Kellogg College
• Lady Margaret Hall
• Linacre College
• Lincoln College
• Magdalen College
• Merton College
• New College
• Oriel College
• Pembroke College
• The Queen's College
• Regent's Park College
• Reuben College
• St Anne's College
• St Catherine's College
• St Cross College
• St Hilda's College
• St Hugh's College
• Somerville College
• University College
• Wadham College
• Wolfson College
• Worcester College
• Wycliffe Hall

Before you apply

Our  guide to getting started  provides general advice on how to prepare for and start your application. You can use our interactive tool to help you  evaluate whether your application is likely to be competitive .

If it's important for you to have your application considered under a particular deadline – eg under a December or January deadline in order to be considered for Oxford scholarships – we recommend that you aim to complete and submit your application at least two weeks in advance . Check the deadlines on this page and the  information about deadlines and when to apply  in our Application Guide.

Students are admitted to this course via one of nine strands, so you must decide which strand you would like to follow and select it when you choose your course. It may be possible to change your strand after admission in exceptional cases.

Application fee waivers

An application fee of £75 is payable for each application to this course. Application fee waivers are available for the following applicants who meet the eligibility criteria:

• applicants from low-income countries;
• refugees and displaced persons; 
• UK applicants from low-income backgrounds; and 
• applicants who applied for our Graduate Access Programmes in the past two years and met the eligibility criteria.

You are encouraged to  check whether you're eligible for an application fee waiver  before you apply.

Do I need to contact anyone before I apply?

You do not need to contact anyone in the faculty before you apply and you are not responsible for finding your own supervisor. However, you are strongly encouraged to familiarise yourself with the  research expertise within the faculty  when preparing your research proposal, to make sure that there is a supervisor available in the same area as your proposed project. Offers will only be made if appropriate supervision is available. The faculty determines supervision arrangements, taking due account of the workload and commitments of its academics. If you are made an offer, a supervisor will be assigned to you, and identified in the offer letter.

Completing your application

You should refer to the information below when completing the application form, paying attention to the specific requirements for the supporting documents .

For this course, the application form will include questions that collect information that would usually be included in a CV/résumé. You should not upload a separate document. If a separate CV/résumé is uploaded, it will be removed from your application .

If any document does not meet the specification, including the stipulated word count, your application may be considered incomplete and not assessed by the academic department. Expand each section to show further details.

Proposed field and title of research project

Under the 'Field and title of research project' please enter your proposed field or area of research if this is known. If the department has advertised a specific research project that you would like to be considered for, please enter the project title here instead.

You should not use this field to type out a full research proposal. You will be able to upload your research supporting materials separately if they are required (as described below).

Proposed supervisor

It is not necessary for you to identify a potential supervisor in your application.

However, please check that a supervisor with expertise in your proposed area of research is available before applying. Details can be found on the faculty website. You are free to consult a specialist in your field for advice on your project, if you think that would be helpful.

Referees: Three overall, academic preferred

Whilst you must register three referees, the department may start the assessment of your application if two of the three references are submitted by the course deadline and your application is otherwise complete. Please note that you may still be required to ensure your third referee supplies a reference for consideration.

References should generally be academic, though if you are returning to study after extended periods of non-academic employment then you are welcome to nominate professional referees where it would be impractical to call on your previous university tutors.

Your references will support intellectual ability, academic achievement, motivation, ability to work in both a group environment and sustained individual and self-motivated investigation.

Official transcript(s)

Your transcripts should give detailed information of the individual grades received in your university-level qualifications to date. You should only upload official documents issued by your institution and any transcript not in English should be accompanied by a certified translation.

More information about the transcript requirement is available in the Application Guide.

Statement of purpose and research proposal: A minimum of 500 to a maximum of 1,000 words in total

The statement of purpose and research proposal should be written as one combined piece.

You should convince the faculty that you have the right intellectual qualities, academic knowledge and skills to undertake the course, focusing on how you see the course as building upon your previous study

You should discuss what kinds of problems and issues you hope to engage with; what the current state of your knowledge and understanding of these is, and how you hope to advance that.

You should include a preliminary research proposal and title for your intended dissertation. This should supply a research question identifying the central issue or problem with which you intend to grapple, some account of the current state of scholarship in this area and an indication of the kinds of sources you hope to use.

You may also include what you hope to do with the qualification you gain.

Your statement and research proposal must be written in English. A bibliography may also be provided and is not included in the word count, though any footnotes should be included.

If possible, please ensure that the word count is clearly displayed on the document.

It is anticipated that your ideas will change and develop once you have begun the programme and have been exposed to new approaches, sources and methods. However, students applying to this course are expected to have a clear sense of the kind of research they wish to undertake.

This will be assessed for:

• your reasons for applying
• evidence of motivation for and understanding of the proposed area of study
• the coherence of the proposal, the ability to present a reasoned case in English
• commitment to the subject, beyond the requirements of the degree programme
• reasoning ability
• ability to absorb new ideas, often presented abstractly, at a rapid pace.

Written work: An academic writing sample of no more than 4,000 words in total length

Written work should be from your most recent completed qualification, but does not need to relate closely to your proposed area of study. Extracts from a longer piece of work are welcome, but please include a preface which puts the work in context.

The work will be assessed for your:

• understanding of problems in the area
• ability to construct and defend an argument
• powers of analysis
• powers of expression.

It must be submitted in English (if this work has been translated, you must indicate if the translations are your own, or what assistance you had in producing the English text).

If possible, please ensure that the word count is clearly displayed on the document. Any footnotes should be included in the word count. A bibliography may also be provided and is not included in the word count.

Start or continue your application

You can start or return to an application using the relevant link below. As you complete the form, please  refer to the requirements above  and  consult our Application Guide for advice .

Apply Continue application

After you've submitted your application

Your application (including the supporting documents outlined above) will be assessed against the entry requirements detailed on this course page. Whether or not you have secured funding will  not  be taken into consideration when your application is assessed. You can  find out more about our shortlisting and selection process  in our detailed guide to what happens next.

Find out how to manage your application after submission , using our Applicant Self-Service tool.

ADMISSION STATUS

Open to applications for entry in 2025-26

12:00 midday UK time on:

Tuesday 7 January 2025

Latest deadline for most Oxford scholarships Final application deadline for entry in 2025-26

† Combined figure for all History MPhil courses, except for TP_HN1, TP_HS1 and TP_LVBY1 *Three-year average (applications for entry in 2022-23 to 2024-25)

Further information and enquiries

This course is offered by the Faculty of History

• Course page on the faculty's website
• Funding information from the faculty
• Academic and research staff
• Faculty research
• Humanities Division
• Residence requirements for full-time courses
• Postgraduate applicant privacy policy

Course-related enquiries

Advice about contacting the department can be found in the How to apply section of this page

✉ [email protected] ☎ +44 (0) 1865 615000

Application-process enquiries

Application guide