Rob Schwaller
Ph.D. Candidate in Latin American History
"As a third year grad student at Penn State I feel that the PSU Department
of History provides a supportive atmosphere and a challenging educational enviroment
for its students. From my first day onward, the graduate students and faculty
have been very collegial and accessable. The department has done an excellent
job of providing orientation to new graduate students; and, for ABDs, the department
has helped smooth the transistion from grad student to young professor by offering
professional development workshops and supporting grad student conferences.
In general, the faculty here at Penn State are very approachable and more than
willing to facilitate the growth of students' academic interests. Moreover,
many of our professors are highly qualified and well-known within their fields.
"As a Latin American historian, Penn State has provided me with an excellent graduate education. Dr. Restall and Dr. Vinson have been incredibly helpful in introducing me to current trends within scholarship and aiding me in developing my own perfessional interests. Like many other professors in our department, both Restall and Vinson place a great deal of emphasis on primary document research and my coursework has allowed me to begin using and critically analyzing primary sources. Additionally, Penn State has a Latin American Studies program, run by Dr. Restall, which has allowed me to explore other disciplines and their approaches to Latin American history. Finally, the Penn State Department of Anthropology has one of the primer Mesoamerican archeology programs in the U.S. which has allowed me to explore Mexico's pre-Columbian past. Ultimately, I feel that the Penn State Department of History has provided me with a very collegial and highly motivating graduate student experience."