PhD History

This interdisciplinary degree blends advanced doctoral study in both history and anthropology. The program focuses primarily on material culture in the American West, and it involves intensive training in the methods of both archaeological and historical knowledge. As a student in this program, you will design a program of study and lead original research that is uniquely suited to your interests and career goals. You can draw from the research specialties and expertise of faculty members in both the history and anthropology departments. Faculty strengths include areas such as Native American and Latin American cultures, prehistoric Plateau archaeology, archaeological conservation and stabilization, Plateau Indian ethnography, contemporary American culture, human evolution, and indigenous peoples of South America.Students in this program also benefit from the university’s Alfred W. Bowers Laboratory of Anthropology. The lab’s metal artifact cleaning facilities are among the largest and best equipped in the country. The laboratory features an archaeological survey of Idaho, an Asian-American Comparative Collection, and ample space for graduate student research.