Religion and War in U.S. History - What Schools?

[Josh J.]

Hello all,

I am in the midst of working on PhD applications.  This is my second round.  One thing that has been pounded into my head is the question of fit.  Last year, I applied to some top programs, but my fit probably wasn't the best (it wasn't awful, but not great).  I want to change that this year. I'm going to be applying to various schools, with two very different projects, but I will tailor my SOP to fit each program. Last year, I did religion and war exclusively.  This year, I've added environmental history--another passion--but have found that most of the schools I'm looking at are a better fit for environmental than for religion and war.

So, where might I apply that has strong graduate faculty in Religion and War in U.S. History?  Vanderbilt and the University of Tennessee are already on my list.  Where else should I be looking?  I should probably clarify, I am most interested in history programs, and not religion programs.

[AfricanusCrowther]

Have you looked at Duke? They have a large (cultural and social history of the) military group.

EDIT: UNC also has a few. They have a collaborative program with Duke.

Edited November 8, 2015 by AfricanusCrowther

[knp]

Check out Christopher Grasso at William and Mary.

Does Drew Faust, at Harvard, take students, or is she too busy being university president?

Neither of these are sufficient on their own—they're more Civil War/early Republic than you are, I think—but they came to mind.

[TMP]

Michigan and Wisconsin comee to my mind as I have a colleague who studied at those places for US religious history.

[dr. t]

8 hours ago, knp said:

Does Drew Faust, at Harvard, take students, or is she too busy being university president?

As far as I know, she does not. Not sure I would want to be her advisee even if she did.

[emhafe]

Baylor University takes a couple of students each year into their history PhD for religion focused dissertations. While war isn't my area of interest, I have looked at their religious history professors and they have a well rounded group.