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2024-2025 Undergraduate and Graduate Catalog
History, MA
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 Return to: Programs of Study
The Master of Arts degree program in history provides intensive graduate training in European, Latin American, Public, and United States history. The program prepares students to pursue doctoral studies, to teach history at the secondary, community, or junior college levels, or to find employment in public history fields, and it provides rigorous study in the humanities for those from non-academic professions.
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Prerequisites
Students applying to the M.A. program in history should have twenty-one hours of undergraduate history, including 6 hours each of European and American history or the equivalent. For regular admission to the M.A. program in history, a student must submit three letters of recommendation, transcripts, a writing sample (8-12 pages), and a statement of purpose.
M.A. Degree Programs
Thesis and exam tracks may be arranged in consultation with the student’s committee chair and the Graduate Coordinator in History.
Thesis Track:
The thesis track requires a minimum of 30 hours of graduate courses, with at least 18 hours in courses numbered above 500 (with a limit of 12 hours in courses numbered HIST 515 , HIST 525 and HIST 535 ). At least 24 of the 30 hours must be taken in graduate history courses including (1) HIST 590 - Historiography (taken during the student’s first year); (2) HIST 505 - Research Writing Seminar (taken during the student’s first year); (3) a minimum of 9 semester hours, including a graduate seminar, in the student’s major field of history; (4) a minimum of 6 semester hours, including a graduate seminar, in the student’s minor field of history; and (5) HIST 599 - Thesis Research and Thesis . The student is admitted to the thesis track only after receiving approval from the student’s thesis prospectus committee and the Graduate Coordinator for his/her thesis prospectus. The thesis prospectus should be approved in the student’s second semester of full-time graduate study in history. Six hours may, with the approval of the student’s committee chair and the Graduate Coordinator, be taken in a discipline other than history.
Exam Track:
The exam track requires a minimum of 33 semester hours of graduate courses, with at least 15 hours in courses numbered above 500 (with a limit of 12 hours in courses numbered HIST 515 , HIST 525 and HIST 535 ). At least 27 of the 33 must be taken in graduate courses in history, including (1) HIST 590 - Historiography (taken during the student’s first year); (2) HIST 505 - Research Writing Seminar (taken during the student’s first year); (3) a minimum of 12 hours (including a graduate seminar) in the student’s major field of history; (4) a minimum of 6 semester hours, including a graduate seminar, in the student’s minor field of history; and (5) satisfactory completion of HIST 592 Capstone Readings Course (taken during student’s final semester). Three hours, may, with the approval of the student’s committee chair and the Graduate Coordinator, be taken in a discipline other than History. The Public History emphasis as a major field is pursued under this track and requires the completion of an Internship, which may necessitate travel to an internship site.
Areas of Graduate Study
The Department of History offers courses in four areas: European, Latin American, Public, and United States history. Students pursue both a major and a secondary field of study. Language Requirements
The department does not require knowledge of an approved language other than English for the master’s degree. Reading knowledge of one or more foreign languages may be required depending on area of specialization, however. The language examination must be satisfactorily completed before any part of the comprehensive examination is taken.
Comprehensive Examination
In the final semester of coursework, students in the exam track of the M.A. program in history are required to complete a comprehensive examination that includes written and oral components. The comprehensive examination assesses students’ familiarity with the historical narrative and significant scholarship in the major and secondary fields of study. Students are expected to demonstrate more specialized knowledge in areas in which they took graduate courses. Thesis-track students also are required to pass an oral defense of thesis upon completion of the thesis. The thesis must be submitted to each committee member well in advance of the oral defense.
Procedures
Following admission to the M.A. program in history, students will register for courses upon the advice of the Director of Graduate Studies in History. The Director of Graduate Studies will assist the student in preparing a comprehensive, but perhaps tentative, coursework projection and in selecting a major field. After the completion of 12 hours of graduate history course work, the student will declare a major field and consult with the Director of Graduate Studies to select the student’s committee chair. The chair of the student’s committee and the Director of Graduate Studies in History will select the other members of the student’s committee. The chair of the student’s committee will assume the functions of comprehensive, long-range planning and advise the student regarding each semester’s registration. The Director of Graduate Studies will continue to advise the student each semester.
The maximum course load for a graduate student in history is fifteen semester hours during a regular semester and nine semester hours during a summer session. Graduate assistants with full assistantship responsibilities are restricted to a maximum of nine semester hours during a semester. It is expected that full- time students will complete all requirements for the M.A. degree within two years. However, to apply toward a master’s degree, course credit must be earned within six years immediately preceding the date on which the student completes degree requirements. |
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