Many professional organizations produce guides to graduate programs in their fields. These can include information about research programs, faculty who teach at an institution, areas of specialization in a department, and funding opportunities. It is worth looking through these to assess how the programs align with your interests - a top ranked engineering program might not specialize in the subfield that most interests you - so a top program might not be your top choice.
One way to try and match this is to look for departments where you are familiar with some faculty member's work. When you read an interesting article, find out where the person who wrote it works - you may be able to do research with, or take classes with, that person.

Here are some links to professional organizations you could contact for more information.

African Studies Association
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Academy of Religion
American Anthropological Association
American Antiquarian Society
American Association for the History of Medicine
American Comparative Literature Association
American Dialect Society
American Economic Association
American Folklore Society
American Historical Association
American Musicological Society
American Numismatic Society
American Oriental Society
American Philosophical Association
American Philosophical Society
American Political Science Association
American Schools of Oriental Research
American Society for Aesthetics
American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies
American Society for Environmental History
American Society for Legal History
American Society for Theatre Research
American Society of Church History
American Society of Comparative Law
American Society of International Law
American Sociological Association
American Studies Association
Archaeological Institute of America
Association for Asian Studies
Association for Jewish Studies
Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies
Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies
Association of American Geographers
Association of American Law Schools
Bibliographical Society of America
College Art Association
College Forum of the National Council of Teachers of English
Dictionary Society of North America
Economic History Association
German Studies Association
Hispanic Society of America
History of Science Society
International Center of Medieval Art
Latin American Studies Association
Law and Society Association
Linguistic Society of America
Medieval Academy of America
Metaphysical Society of America
Middle East Studies Association of North America
Modern Language Association of America
National Communication Association
National Council on Public History
North American Conference on British Studies
Oral History Association
Organization of American Historians
Renaissance Society of America
Rhetoric Society of America
Shakespeare Association of America
Sixteenth Century Society and Conference
Society for American Music
Society for Cinema and Media Studies
Society for Classical Studies
Society for Ethnomusicology
Society for French Historical Studies
Society for Military History
Society for Music Theory
Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study
Society for the History of Technology
Society of Architectural Historians
Society of Biblical Literature
Society of Dance History Scholars
World History Association

	Created by Sarah Egan almost 9 years ago

Some advice on choosing a Graduate School in the US, including questions to ask and contact information for disciplinary associations.

Choosing a Graduate School in the United States