Graduate Program
Introduction
The Program in History of Science, Medicine, and Technology is one of the largest and most prestigious graduate programs of its kind in the United States. Its coverage includes the history of science, medicine, and technology, with attention both to developments internal to these disciplines and to their broader social and intellectual contexts. While concentrating on Western Europe and America, our coverage extends to other areas of the world that experienced significant encounters with Western science and medicine (such as the medieval Islamic world, China during the seventeenth century, and North Africa since the late nineteenth century). Our graduate faculty includes historians with primary appointments in the Department of the History of Science and the Department of Medical History and Bioethics; many of our faculty members also have affiliations with other departments and programs. The Program in History of Science, Technology, and Medicine also cooperates closely with the Department of History and with the Science and Technology Studies Program.
Graduate Degrees Offered
The department offers the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees, as well as the Ph.D. minor for students enrolled in other Ph.D. programs at UW-Madison. Basic information on M.A. and Ph.D. degree requirements is available from the Graduate Catalog; for more information, see the History of Science Graduate Handbook. Requirements for the Ph.D. minor are available here.
The Program also offers a special M.A. degree in History of Medicine for people who have an advanced degree in the health professions, and who wish to acquire a competence in the history of medicine. Further details are available here.
Applying to the Department of the History of Science
Applicants to the graduate program should note the following deadline for submitting application materials to the Department of History of Science:
- December 15 - Applications for fall admission, including all requests for financial aid
- The department does not accept applications for spring admissions.
Read more about our application procedures.
Campus Resources
Memorial Library of the University of Wisconsin-Madison is an exceptional research library with particular strength in the history of science. Because of the early interest in the history of science at Wisconsin, Memorial Library has been actively collecting periodicals, reference works, historical monographs, and research materials for decades. Especially noteworthy are the holdings of early scientific journals and the special collections of early works relating to the history of chemistry, medicine, and pharmacy. Memorial Library is also very strong in the history of physics and mathematics, in works relating to science in England during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and in nineteenth-century German scientific journals. The history of medicine collection, housed in Ebling Health Sciences Library, provides outstanding opportunities for research in the history of European and American medicine from the seventeenth through the twentieth centuries. Of particular interest to historians of American science, technology, and medicine is the library of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, which is one of America's great research libraries in its own right. The State Historical Society newspaper holdings are second only to those of the Library of Congress.
Tailoring the Program
Graduate students come to the Program in History of Science, Medicine, and Technology from a variety of backgrounds in the sciences and humanities and with diverse professional goals. The Program maintains a policy of maximum flexibility and, insofar as possible, tailors the work required for the degree to fit the individual. Students are encouraged to undertake work in related departments such as History, Philosophy, Science and Technology Studies, and the various sciences. Joint degrees in the History of Science, Medicine, and Technology and another field are possible. In past years such Ph.D. programs have been successfully completed with the departments of Philosophy, Classics, Psychology, History, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Physics. The Program has formally organized joint Ph.D. programs with the departments of History and Philosophy and is an active contributor to the Ph.D. minor in Science and Technology Studies. Although most students who enter the graduate program anticipate completing a Ph.D., the Program also welcomes applications from students whose career goals will be furthered by the M.A. degree.
Graduate students in our program undertake research on an impressively diverse range of topics. For a sample, see the list of dissertations in progress.
Financial Aid
The Program in History of Science, Medicine, and Technology provides financial aid for graduate students in a variety of forms, primarily through teaching and project assistantships. The Program also grants two named fellowships, which were funded by generous donations from emeritus faculty: the John Neu Distinguished Graduate Fellowship and the David C. and Greta J. Lindberg Distinguished Graduate Fellowship. The Department of History of Science also jointly administers the Coleman Dissertation Fellowship in cooperation with the Institute for Research on the Humanities. This fellowship, funded by Louise Coleman in memory of William Coleman, a distinguished professor of history of biology and public health, is given to a student who is in the advanced stages of working on a dissertation.
Applicants may also compete for University Fellowships and for a variety of national fellowships offered by the National Science Foundation and other agencies. In addition, the Department of Medical History and Bioethics offers a Maurice L. Richardson Fellowship to a graduate student who is working with a member of thatepartment or whose research will focus on the history of biomedical science or a closely related subject.
Unless specifically requested otherwise, all application for admission to the Program will also be taken as applications for financial aid from the Program, as well as for University Fellowhships.
Current graduate students should consult the graduate handbook for more information on the department's financial aid policies. Additional information is available here.