|
|
-
Only game in town
If you're searching for a Ph.D. program in agricultural history
you don't have to go any further than Ross Hall
-
If there was any doubt in Doug Hurt's mind about the quality of the Agricultural
History and Rural Studies program at Iowa State, it was quickly dispelled
during a recent job search.
"We were looking for an agricultural historian at the assistant professor
level," said Hurt, professor of history and director of the Agricultural
History and Rural Studies graduate program.
"We quickly found out that our graduate students still in the program
had better qualifications and better publications than those candidates
that we interviewed.
"That's a good indication of the quality of the program and of our
students."
So instead of hiring an assistant professor, the Department of History
hired a faculty member at the associate professor level to teach the agricultural
history courses.
Iowa State has been a leading proponent of agriculture history, offering
the first such course in the nation in 1914. Since that time, agricultural
and rural history have become an integral part of the historical training
in the Department of History, which has been offering a Ph.D. in the field
for nearly 25 years. Iowa State has the only Ph.D. agricultural history
program in the country.
The Agriculture History and Rural Studies program emphasizes the history
of agriculture and rural life in the United States and Latin America from
the colonial period to the present. Courses are also taught on Europe
since the Middle Ages.
"This unique graduate program particularly stresses American agricultural
and rural history, broadly conceived, with strong supporting specialty
areas in social, culural, political and women's history, as well as the
history of technology, and science, and the regions of the Midwest, West
and South," Hurt said.
The program stays constant with about a dozen students enrolled at any
one time. Several new students are admitted each year.
It may seem small but Hurt says it's by design.
"Our program has a national reputation," he said. "People
from all over the country apply and do very well here.
"Our students are very competitive in the job market. They have a
solid record in all areas."
One reason why the program has garnered a national reputation is the Center
for Agricultural History, which serves as the editorial office for
Agricultural History, the international journal of record for the
field. The journal is edited by Hurt and is published quarterly for the
Agricultural History Society.
Currently in its 74th year, the journal has been housed at Iowa State
for the past seven years.
"Agricultural History provides a scholarly analysis of the
field. It brings considerable visibility to the Department of History,
the Agricultural History and Rural Studies program, as well as Iowa State,"
Hurt said. "It is a well-known, well-read journal that creates considerable
visibility for the humanities at Iowa State."
Students in the graduate program have the opportunity to participate in
the editorial process for the academic journal. And they can research
most anything - agribusiness, family and social history, New Deal agricultural
reforms - if they meet just one requirement.
"When they enroll, I tell students that they can conduct their research
on anything that isn't strictly urban in nature," Hurt said. "They
are really limited only by their imagination."
Around LAS
November 5-11, 2001
|
|
