The History Department at the University of Kentucky takes pride in offering a small, distinguished program that puts its students first. We offer the Ph.D. in 17 major fields, as well as a range of complementary minor fields and graduate concentrations. Our 31 faculty members and approximately 90 graduate students (some off-campus) provide a supportive and dynamic environment.  Admission is competitive, with seventeen to twenty students admitted each year. 

Students work closely with well-known historians experienced in conveying teaching skills, directing research, and placing students in full-time jobs. Our graduate seminars meet once a week for two hours and generally contain 10-15 students. Seminars focus on reading and discussing the literature of a field. Our students take a combination of theme seminars, which are organized around key areas of conceptual inquiry and encourage graduate students to explore these issues as they relate to their own areas and periods of interest; field seminars, which focus on the history and historiography of specific regions and periods; and research seminars, which help students develop their research skills and explore questions of scholarly interest. We also encourage graduate students to take courses in other departments and programs, including but not limited to, cross-disciplinary programs such as Appalachian Studies, Africana Studies, Gender & Women's Studies, Social Theory, and the Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce . 

The University of Kentucky campus offers excellent resources for historical research. The University of Kentucky Libraries have holdings of over 3.4 million volumes, as well as a number of specialized archival collections. UK Libraries has the largest collection endowment of any public university in the country. The library system offers a wide range of electronic databases, remote access to databases and electronic journal from off-campus locationss and an efficient Interlibrary Loan Service allows access to non-UK holdings. Students can contact subject-specialist librarians to schedule research consultations.