Master of Arts in History
33 credits
Admission requirements
Students must apply to and meet the admission requirements of the Graduate School. All applicants must submit a resume or curriculum vitae, original copies of all official undergraduate transcripts, a writing sample (typically their best undergraduate history paper), and a 300-500 word statement concerning goals and interests. Applicants normally should have earned at least a 3.0 grade-point average (GPA) on a scale of 4.0 in a minimum of 18 semester hours in undergraduate history courses. To qualify for a graduate assistantship in the department, applicants must take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) general test and ordinarily have an undergraduate GPA of at least 3.0 on a scale of 4.0.
Degree requirements
Required Core
Directed electives
A minimum of five courses in American, European, and/or world history distributed over a minimum of two areas. Students must select from the following courses:
American History
European History
World History
American, European, and/or World History (depending upon course topic and/or student project)
| HIST 623 | Special Topics US Europe Hist | 3 |
| HIST 633 | Special Tpcs Comparative Hist | 3 |
| HIST 661 | Seminar in Digital History | 3 |
| HIST 670 | Intro to Teaching History | 3 |
| HIST 671 | Seminar in History Education | 3 |
| Total Credits: | 15 |
Two 500- or 600-level courses in history or with approval in related fields, 6 credits
Thesis concentration, 6 credits
Any student may choose to write a thesis. The history department strongly recommends that students who intend to continue their graduate education at the doctoral level write a thesis.
General concentration, 6 credits
Students who choose not to write a thesis must complete 6 additional credits of 600-level history course work in lieu of a thesis.
| 600-level course work | 6 |
| Total Credits: | 6 |
Digital concentration, 6 credits
Students who choose the Digital History concentration must take HIST 546 (or a suitable alternative digital methods course if they took HIST 446 as undergraduates, as arranged through consultation with the Director of the MA program) and HIST 661 as a directed elective. They must also take CRPR 698 for 6 credits, or CRPR 698 for 3 credits plus 3 additional credits of 600-level work.
| CRPR 698 | Creative Project | 3 OR 6 |
| or | |
| CRPR 698 | Creative Project | 3 OR 6 |
| and 3 additional credits of 600-level work | 3 |
| Total Credits: | 6 |
History Teaching concentration, 6 credits
Students who choose the History Teaching concentration must take HIST 670 and HIST 671 as directed electives. They must also takes THES 698 or CRPR 698 for 6 credits, or CRPR 698 for 3 credits plus 3 additional credits of 600-level work.
| THES 698 | Thesis | 1 TO 6 |
| or | |
| CRPR 698 | Creative Project | 3 OR 6 |
| or | |
| CRPR 698 | Creative Project | 3 OR 6 |
| and 3 additional credits of 600-level work | 3 |
Total Credits: 33
MA Examination
All students choose primary and complementary fields of study, defined by geographical region, chronology, and/or theme. Students must take at least three courses (9 credits) in the primary field of study, at least two of which (6 credits) must be at the 600 level. Students will complete at least two courses (6 credits) in the complementary field of study from a different geographic area. At least one of those courses (3 credits) must be at the 600 level.
The culminating experience for all students is the MA Examination, which includes two components:
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A written examination, consisting of a portfolio of work that includes major papers produced in graduate-level classes and seminars, and an evaluative, reflective essay of 10-15 pages that shows how the process of creating this body of work has enhanced knowledge of the methods, historiography, and historical information pertaining to a student’s primary and complementary fields. The student’s examination committee, consisting of the student’s primary and complementary field advisors and a third faculty examiner, will review the portfolio.
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An oral examination, which consists of a one-hour oral review of the portfolio between the examination committee and the student. The oral examination will be combined with the formal defense for students completing 6-hour theses or creative projects.
The number of papers included in the portfolio, the format of the reviews, and the scheduling of the oral review is determined by the student’s concentration in the History Master of Arts program, and is described in detail in the History Department’s MA Handbook.