Resources

Research facilities
Through OhioLINK, the state's inter-library loan program, students have easy access to every major library in the state, a collection of some 26 million volumes.

The region offers a myriad of opportunities for archival research. Miami's King Library holds rich collections of documents on the Old Northwest, children's literature and readers, Russian history, the European Union, the United Nations, and the United States government. The university's own archives date back to its founding in 1809. In Cincinnati, Proctor & Gamble's company archive is an outstanding resource for the study of corporate culture. The Cincinnati Historical Society's collections feature regional and urban history.
Miami is a consortium member of the Newberry Library in Chicago, which has outstanding collections in Native American cultures and Renaissance studies, among other fields. Students may easily take courses at other Greater Cincinnati Consortium universities for Miami credit, including the University of Cincinnati and Hebrew Union College.

Internal Funding Opportunities for Graduate Students

Travel funding: The department and Graduate School provide funds to support graduate education. The department maintains a fund to help graduate students attend conferences or travel for their research. Applications are accepted for use of these funds twice a year, once in autumn and once in spring semester. To apply submit a letter to the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) explaining the purpose of the travel, how it relates to the degree program and a projected budget. The DGS will take the request to the department Graduate Studies Committee. Deadlines for departmental funding requests are September 15 and February 15.

Funds from the department for travel do not normally exceed: $150 for local or graduate student conference presentation; $300 for other conference presentations in the U.S.; $500 for international conference presentation; $150 for local research; $300 for research elsewhere in the U.S.; $500 for research outside the U.S. Money is not generally available to attend (rather than present at) conferences.

Once the department has approved your application, the Graduate School has other monies that you may be able to draw upon to supplement monies given by the department.

The Graduate School and Graduate Student Association Travel Assistance Fund may match departmental funding up to $250 for graduate student presentations at meetings, conventions, conferences and workshops sponsored by professional organizations. Applications will be considered October 1, March 1, and June 1 of each year. Students can make one travel request per allocation time period; the first travel request during an academic year will be given priority over second and third requests. Students must show proof that their paper, poster or panel has been accepted for presentation or that the presentation was given. The application must include an estimated budget.

Applications will be reviewed by the Student Financial Assistance Committee and two members of the Graduate Student Association. They will simultaneously be considered for funding by the Graduate School Travel Fund and by the Graduate Student Association. The Graduate School will transfer these funds to the History Department; reimbursement will be processed through the department.

The application form is available from the Graduate School office or on the MyMiami website (Web Page Index, Graduate School Forms, Graduate School Travel Fund Guidelines and Application).

Graduate School Research Support: The Graduate School funds expenses associated with research for a master's thesis. There is no application form, but students should submit a brief description of the project, an explanation of why the funds are necessary, and a tentative budget. Requests must be endorsed by the Director of Graduate Studies or the department chair. Deadlines are early November and early April. More information is published in theMiami Bulletin: A Handbook for Graduate Students and Faculty, also on line at www.muohio.edu/oars/.

Center for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching (CELT): CELT and the Graduate School provide small grants for graduate award holders to develop individual teaching skills and to supplement department support for seminars on teaching. Grants are intended to fund modest projects designed to increase graduate student teaching effectiveness and their students' learning. Examples include travel support for first-time attendance at a teaching conference; purchase of experimental software for a course or lab; or hosting an off-campus expert to conduct a pedagogy seminar. Proposals are due October 1, February 15, and April 15; urgent requests may be submitted any time. More information is available from the CELT office and on line at www.muohio.edu/celt/.

Graduate Student Achievement Fund: The Graduate School Council provides awards of up to $300 for "significant achievement in research and creative activity by graduate students." The awards are made on a competitive basis to recognize achievement external to the university, such as presentation of a paper at a regional or national conference with a formal review process. Application deadlines are early November and early March. Eligibility and submission guidelines and an application form are available from the Graduate School, 102 Roudebush Hall.

Speakers and visitors
The history department regularly sponsors visiting scholars and speakers in all its fields. All such talks are open to graduate students, and many departmental speakers also offer a program for graduate students alone. Recent visitors sponsored by the history department include T.H. Breen, the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, Avi Shlaim, Murray Sperber, and Emily Bartels. The department's annual McClellan Symposium brings an international body of scholars together for a conference. Recent McClellan topics have included "Writing Regionally: Historians Talk About the American Middle West," "Metaphysics into Science: Gender and Knowledge in the Early Modern Period," and "The Moral, Social and Economic Life of Coffee ."

The departmental speakers program is a small part of the university's offerings. The university brings prominent speakers of various professional and academic disciplines to the campus. Recent guests include Blanche Wiesen Cook, Charlayne Hunter-Gault, Bernice Johnson Reagon, Storey Musgrave, Lani Guinier, and Itzhak Perlman.