Graduate Information

The Ohio State History Department offers a graduate program in the history of environment, health, technology, and science (EHTS). This programme has great chronological, geographical, and thematic breadth. Our faculty members work on (and teach) environmental history, the histories of medicine and public health, the history of technology, climate history, water history, urban history, food history, deep history, Big history, the history of science, energy history and the history of capitalism. We have a strong commitment to researching all these themes in a world-historical context, although individual faculty members are also experts in particular geographical and chronological fields, from Latin America to Japan.

a lake and forest with a curvy highway

Courses in Environment, Health, Technology, and Science (EHTS)

Environment, Health, Technology, and Science Faculty
 

Interdisciplinary Research Centers

Graduate students within the environmental history program will find professional colleagues (both faculty members and fellow graduate students) and interdisciplinary research centers throughout Ohio State University. The following are some inter-and-multidisciplinary research centers that provide forums for collaboration and research funding for graduate students undertaking cutting-edge historical research:
 
The Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center is an Office of Research center at The Ohio State University focused on maintaining research excellence and supporting public engagement in polar and climate studies at Ohio State. The Byrd Center promotes interdisciplinary research across campus and provides dedicated and expert project support. 
 
The Center for Urban and Regional Analysis is an interdisciplinary group of scholars in social, natural, and environmental sciences; applied economics; agriculture; engineering; health and medical professions; and the humanities. We offer a wide range of support services for research that applies to urban and metropolitan areas, rural areas, and broader regional issues. Some of our services include GIS data processing, spatial analysis, and cartographic services. Our mission is research and outreach to foster more sustainable, resilient, and connected communities in Ohio and beyond using geospatial science and technologies. 
 
The Global Arts + Humanities is the gateway to the integrated arts and humanities at Ohio State. The mission of the Global Arts + Humanities is to invest in cross-disciplinary collaborations that amplify the transformative power of the arts and humanities to respond to critical societal challenges to drive social change.
 
The Global Water Institute at Ohio State was formed in recognition of the critical nature of water issues facing Ohio, other parts of the USA, and the world. As population climbs, urban centers continue to expand, and the impacts of climate change threaten human health and livelihoods, the need for availability of and access to abundant, fit-for-use water has never been more urgent. We connect the creative abilities of our university community and external partners to provide practical and innovative solutions to global water challenges. 
 
The Sustainability Institute collaborates with academic and operations units across the university to advance sustainability and resilience scholarship and activities. We aim to establish Ohio State as a leader in sustainability research and applications; educate and empower students; accelerate campus sustainability and living lab opportunities; grow resources to support these efforts; and catalyze a culture of sustainability. 
 

Graduate Courses in Environment, Health, Technology, and Science

Graduate students at Ohio State have the opportunity to take seminars from leading experts in their fields working at the cutting edge of environmental history, the history of health, disease, and medicine, the history of technology, and the history of science. Below is a list, description, and frequency of commonly offered graduate seminars in these fields.

National road 970 and river Teno near Gistugurra in Utsjoki municipality, Lapland, Finland

History 7700: Graduate Readings in Environmental History. This reading seminar is typically offered every autumn semester and its theme, scope, breadth, and depth will vary depending on the instructor's area of emphasis. Students will leave this course with an understanding of environmental history's key themes and relevant historiography. 

yellow tulips and windmills in the Netherlands

History 7705: Graduate Readings in the History of Technology. This reading seminar will familiarize students with the key themes and relevant historiography in the field of history of technology.

Electron microscope image of rabies virus

History 7710: Graduate Readings in the History of Science. This reading seminar will familiarize students with the key themes and relevant historiography in the field of history of science. 

a man hiking in the hills of Indonesia

History 8700: Seminar in Environmental History, Technology, and Science. In this course students will spend the semester devoted to producing a work of original research. This varies between students, but could result in a thesis or dissertation chapter, a conference paper or talk, a grant application, or a public history project.