The Bridge Program is an academic partnership between the Department of African American Studies and the Department of History. It is designed to allow students to complete the M.A. in African American Studies and the Ph.D. in the History degree program: students simultaneously meet the basic requirements of the History M.A., while completing the M.A. in African American Studies with a specialization in History.
Although the Bridge Program is designed to attract and retain talented students who are members of underrepresented groups and to strengthen and support their presence in the profession of history, it is open to all applicants.
Our Program
Admissions and Advising
Students may apply concurrently to the two departments, or they may apply to the History Department after they begin their program in African American Studies (usually in the fall of the first or second year).
As soon as a student is admitted to the Bridge Program, a History degree program faculty member from the field of study that the student expects to enter will be designated as academic advisor. This faculty member advises the student on History degree program’s requirements (History 701, languages, minor, etc.) and any field-specific requirements to ensure that some of these requirements are met while the student is completing an M.A. in African American Studies. For their M.A. in African American Studies, Bridge students should choose History as their major area and the Plan A (thesis) option. While completing the M.A., they are expected to take at least two graduate-level seminars in the Department of History. The History advisor typically sits on the student’s African American Studies M.A. thesis committee.
MA Approval and PhD Requirements
Once the M.A. in African American Studies is completed, the Bridge student’s History Department advisor will evaluate it as an outside M.A. and indicate clearly whether the student’s M.A. work meets the requirements of the student’s History field or whether additional work must be done.
Students may count courses taken as a Master’s student in African American Studies that are not in their major area toward their Ph.D. minor requirement, as appropriate. In all other respects, Bridge students will meet the normal requirements of their History field (e.g., regarding preliminary examinations, language requirements, and the minor).
For more information, interested students may contact the Graduate Advisor and Admissions Coordinator in the Department of History and/or the faculty members with whom they would like to work.