Aaron Gibbs, Outstanding Graduate

As soon as I made the decision to become a history major as an undergraduate, I knew that my goal was to eventually teach early American history at the college level. An MA in history was the next step, and the strength of Western’s early Americanist faculty was a significant draw for me. I could not have made a better choice! It was a privilege to work with Professors Price, Neem, and Hardesty, as well as every other faculty member whose classes I attended or TA’d for. I have also enjoyed the many discussions with my fellow graduate students, whether in the classroom or the TA office. WWU has also been quite generous with its research grants, which allowed me to travel to Washington, D.C. and locate documents which were critical to completing my thesis. 

My biggest piece of advice for potential history MA students is to be open to a variety of potential research topics. My original plan was to study the development of states’ rights ideology during the Jackson administration, but a conversation with Dr. Hardesty drove me to explore the popular reaction to the Jay Treaty. Later, Dr. Price’s Atlantic revolutions seminar inspired me to take an Atlantic approach to my own research. I would also advise graduate students to be intentional about how they manage their time, as it can be very difficult to balance thesis research, graduate seminars, language coursework, and TA responsibilities.  

This fall, I will be starting my PhD in history at the University of New Hampshire. I am so excited to have the opportunity to pursue a doctorate, and I am incredibly grateful to the history faculty at WWU for their help during the application process, and for preparing me to move on to the next step in my academic journey.