The preliminary examinations (“prelims”) test students’ mastery of their chosen areas of specialization. The structure of the exams and timing of the exams varies somewhat by study program. See the Graduate Program Handbook for details.
In preparing for their preliminary exams, students ordinarily compile a reading list for each field, in consultation with the faculty members who supervise their fields and sit on their prelims committee. Organized below by field are reading lists for a variety of fields that dissertators and recent alums have offered to share.
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Africa
- Africa and the Atlantic Slave Trade (Kathleen Alfin, 2018) (pdf)
- East Africa/Great Lakes (Stephen Pierce, 2011) (pdf)
- Equatorial and Central Africa (Stephen Pierce, 2011) (pdf)
- Gender in African History (Fauzi Moro, 2023) (pdf)
- Liberia (Kathleen Alfin, 2018) (pdf)
- Modern West Africa (Fauzi Moro, 2023) (pdf)
- Precolonial Africa (Kathleen Alfin, 2018) (pdf)
- Precolonial Africa (Stephen Pierce, 2011) (pdf)
- Precolonial Social History (Kathleen Alfin, 2018) (pdf)
- Slavery (Stephen Pierce, 2011) (pdf)
- Southern Africa (Stephen Pierce, 2011) (pdf)
- Urban History (Fauzi Moro, 2023) (pdf)
- West Africa (Stephen Pierce, 2011) (pdf)
- West Africa & the Atlantic World (Fauzi Moro, 2023) (pdf)
Ancient
East Asia
- History of Modern China (J.J.R. Strange, 2023) (pdf)
- Modern Chinese History (Yaowen Dong, 2018) (pdf)
- Modern Japan (Karakaya) (pdf)
- Modern Japan (Kharis Ralph, 2023) (pdf)
- Modern Korea (Kharis Ralph, 2023) (pdf)
- Pre-Modern Chinese History (Yaowen Dong, 2018) (pdf)
- Pre-Modern Chinese Literature (Yaowen Dong, 2018) (pdf)
- Premodern Japan (Karakaya) (pdf)
- Social Ideology (Yaowen Dong, 2018) (pdf)
Europe
- 18th – 19th-Century Europe (Kilian Harrer, 2018) (pdf)
- 18th- and 19th-Century Religion and Society (Lane Sunwall, 2012) (pdf)
- 20th-Century Europe (Maya Holzman, 2011) (pdf)
- 20th-Century Europe (Terry Peterson, 2011) (pdf)
- 20th-Century Europe & Decolonization (Francisco Hernández Moleres, 2023) (pdf)
- 20th-Century Russia (Roberto Carmack, 2010) (pdf)
- Central Middle Ages (Chris Herde, 2024) (pdf)
- Early Medieval/Late Antique (Chris Herde, 2024) (pdf)
- Early Modern Britain (Lane Sunwall, 2012) (pdf)
- Early Modern Christianity (Kilian Harrer, 2018) (pdf)
- Early Modern France (Kilian Harrer, 2018) (pdf)
- Early Modern France (Katherine Guenoun, 2011) (pdf)
- Early Modern France (Francisco Hernández Moleres, 2023) (pdf)
- European Jewry (Katherine Guenoun, 2011) (pdf)
- France, 1500-Present (Terry Peterson, 2011) (pdf)
- Gender and the Body (Maya Holzman, 2011) (pdf)
- Gender and the Body (Terry Peterson, 2011) (pdf)
- German Democratic Republic (2015) (pdf)
- German History (Piotr Puchalski, 2017) (pdf)
- Great Britain and Its Empire (2015) (pdf)
- Greek History (Sheena Finnigan, 2017) (pdf)
- Imperial Russian History (2015) (pdf)
- Imperial Russian History Prelims List (Ethell Gershengorin, 2022) (pdf)
- Imperialism (Lane Sunwall, 2012) (pdf)
- Late European Imperialism (Piotr Puchalski, 2017) (pdf)
- Late Medieval/Mediterranean (Chris Herde, 2024) (pdf)
- Modern Eastern European History (Piotr Puchalski, 2017) (pdf)
- Modern Europe (Lane Sunwall, 2012) (pdf)
- Modern European Gender (Ethell Gershengorin, 2022) (pdf)
- Modern France (Kilian Harrer, 2018) (pdf)
- Modern France (Katherine Guenoun, 2011) (pdf)
- Modern France (Francisco Hernández Moleres, 2023) (pdf)
- Modern Germany (Katherine Guenoun, 2011) (pdf)
- Modern Germany and Central Europe since 1870 (Ludwig Decke, 2023) (pdf)
- Modern Jewish Politics (Ludwig Decke, 2023) (pdf)
- Oral History (Francisco Hernández Moleres, 2023) (pdf)
- Ottoman History (Roberto Carmack, 2010) (pdf)
- Race, Empire, and Human Rights in 20th-Century Europe (Ludwig Decke, 2023) (pdf)
- Roman History (Sheena Finnigan, 2017) (pdf)
- Russian Jewish History (Ethell Gershengorin, 2022) (pdf)
- Soviet History (2015) (pdf)
- Soviet History (Ethell Gershengorin, 2022) (pdf)
- Soviet Union (Maya Holzman, 2013) (pdf)
- Women and Gender in Rome (Sheena Finnigan, 2017) (pdf)
History of Science, Medicine, and Technology
- American History of Medicine and Public Health (Suzanne Rubinstein, 2023) (pdf)
- American Public Health (Andrew Ruis, 2007) (pdf)
- American Science (Dana Freiburger, 2007) (pdf)
- Ancient Science (Andrew Ruis, 2007) (pdf)
- Environmental History (Megan Raby, 2009) (pdf)
- Global Earth Sciences and Environmental History (Cameron Daddis, 2024) (pdf)
- Global Science, Technology, Medicine & Empire (Cameron Daddis, 2024) (pdf)
- History of Biology (Megan Raby, 2009) (pdf)
- History of Biology (JJ Strange, 2023) (pdf)
- History of Biology and Physiology (Daniel Liu, 2012) (pdf)
- History of Medicine and Science in Latin America (Suzanne Rubinstein, 2023) (pdf)
- History of Physics and Chemistry (Daniel Liu, 2012) (pdf)
- History of Publication and Knowledge Production in China (J.J.R. Strange, 2023) (pdf)
- History of Science and Technology in East Asia (J.J.R. Strange, 2023) (pdf)
- History of Technology (Dana Freiburger, 2007) (pdf)
- International Health (Andrew Ruis, 2007) (pdf)
- Modern Latin America (Suzanne Rubinstein, 2023) (pdf)
- Modern Physical Science (Dana Freiburger, 2007) (pdf)
- Science in America (Megan Raby, 2009) (pdf)
Latin America & Caribbean
Middle East & North Africa
Southeast Asia
- American Military History: Airpower and the American Way of War (Daniel Jackson, 2023) (pdf)
- Biographical Studies (Napakadol Kittisenee, 2023) (pdf)
- Decolonization (Napakadol Kittisenee, 2023) (pdf)
- Modern Southeast Asia: Sovereignty (Daniel Jackson, 2023) (pdf)
- Southeast Asia (William Noseworthy, 2012) (pdf)
- Theravāda Buddhist World (Napakadol Kittisenee, 2023) (pdf)
United States
- 20th-Century Diplomatic History (Aaron Dowdall, 2012) (pdf)
- African American History (2013) (pdf)
- African American History, Diaspora, and the American Empire since 1880 (Simon Fisher, 2014) (pdf)
- American Capitalism (Camden Hutchison, 2014) (pdf)
- American History to the Civil War Era (Denis Alfin, 2018) (pdf)
- American Journalism (2013) (pdf)
- American Legal History (Camden Hutchison, 2014) (pdf)
- American Military History (Denis Alfin, 2018) (pdf)
- American Military History (Thomas Rider, 2016) (pdf)
- Asian-American History (Joy Block, 2015) (pdf)
- Colonial America and the Founding of the United States (Thomas Rider, 2016) (pdf)
- Diplomatic History (Steve Oreck, 2011) (pdf))
- Early American Gender and Women’s History (Brigid Nannenhorn, 2023) (pdf)
- Gender and Women’s History (Naomi Williams, 2011) (pdf)
- Hemispheric Understandings of the Americas (Brand Nakashima, 2023) (pdf)
- History of the American South (Brian Hamilton, 2012) (pdf)
- Post-Civil War Through Interwar (Denis Alfin, 2018) (pdf)
- Race and Political Economy (Dan Guadagnolo, 2014) (pdf)
- Religion in America (Ariana Horn, 2012) (pdf)
- Sexuality, Gender, and Intimacy, 1860s-present (Simon Fisher, 2014) (pdf)
- Social Movement Theory and Historiography (Jillian Jacklin, 2012) (pdf)
- The Twentieth Century (Ariana Horn, 2012) (pdf)
- U.S.-Israel Relations (Aaron Dowdall, 2012) (pdf)
- U.S. Cultural History (Dan Guadagnolo, 2015) (pdf)
- U.S. Cultural History (Spring Greeney, 2015) (pdf)
- U.S. Cultural History (Rachel Gross, 2012) (pdf)
- U.S. Diasporic History 1882 to the Present (Brand Nakashima, 2022) (pdf)
- U.S. Environmental History (Brian Hamilton, 2012) (pdf)
- U.S. Environmental History (Rachel Gross, 2012) (pdf)
- U.S. Environmental History (Spring Greeney, 2015) (pdf)
- U.S. History (Joy Block, 2015) (pdf)
- U.S. Immigration History (Sergio González, 2015) (pdf)
- U.S. Labor and Working-Class History (Sergio González, 2015) (pdf)
- U.S. Labor and Working-Class History (Jillian Jacklin, 2013) (pdf)
- U.S. Labor and Working-Class History (Naomi Williams, 2011) (pdf)
- U.S. Military History (Steve Oreck, 2011) (pdf)
U.S. Syllabi
- American Capitalism in the Long 19th Century (Brian Hamilton, 2012) (pdf)
- History 102 (Spring Greeney, 2015) (pdf)
- History 102 (Ariana Horn, 2012) (pdf)
- History 102 (Jillian Jacklin, 2012) (pdf)
- Re(Defining) Citizenship: Changing Conceptions of Belonging in the United States, 1865-Present (Sergio González, 2015) (pdf)