History (MA)
Description
The program emphasizes the study of history as a multi-faceted field that is constantly developing new questions about the past, and exploring innovative approaches to answering these questions. It prepares students for careers in education, research, archives management, librarianship, curatorship, and various other forms of public history, as well as for doctoral study in the discipline. The program emphasizes historical research, which trains students in identifying and interpreting sources and in the critical evaluation of different methodologies. The department in tandem with the Simmons School of Library and Information Science offers a dual-degree program in history and archives.
Learning Outcomes
- Students will understand the most prominent methodologies that historians have used over time, including their advantages and disadvantages.
- Students will master a broad body of historical knowledge, including various geographic contexts, topics, and time periods and will gain knowledge of primary and secondary sources that apply to these areas of study.
- Students will be able to identify and apply different types of historical inquiry, such as cultural, gender, political and social analysis.
- Students will be able to conduct independent historical research, applying the conventions of academic writing and integrating different source material as evident in seminar papers, a thesis, and/or a capstone.
- Students will gain experience in participating in classroom discussions and in presenting history in a public forum.
Requirements for entry into program
Applicants must hold a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university. All grade point averages are considered, but a B (3.0) average or higher is preferred.
Degree requirements
This program requires 36 semester hours. All students should take one course in historical methodology, (HIST 597); a series of electives for a total of 24 or 28 credits; and a culminating 4-credit or 8-credit research project or internship (fieldwork, thesis, teaching practicum, or public history internship).
Graduate Seminar Electives
Students select 16 semester hours from the following:
| HIST 450 | Independent Study | 4.00 |
| HIST 527 | Archives, History, and Collective Memory | 4.00 |
| HIST 529 | Film & Historical Representation | 4.00 |
| HIST 560 | Seminar in the History of Women and Gender | 4.00 |
| HIST 561 | Seminar in World History | 4.00 |
| HIST 562 | Reform and Revolutions in Asia | 4.00 |
| HIST 564 | Rape of Nanjing | 4.00 |
| HIST 565 | Seminar: 9/11 Narratives | 4.00 |
| HIST 567 | Memory and the Holocaust | 4.00 |
| HIST 568 | Seminar in Public History: Sites of History | 4.00 |
| HIST 571 | Seminar in Early American History | 4.00 |
| HIST 573 | Seminar in Nineteenth-Century American History | 4.00 |
| HIST 574 | Modern US History: Digital Humanities | 4.00 |
| HIST 575 | Cold War Culture | 4.00 |
| HIST 576 | American Revolution | 4.00 |
| HIST 577 | Topics in Modern Europe | 4.00 |
| HIST 578 | Pilgrims, Prophets, & Profaners Biography & Autobiography | 4.00 |
| HIST 597 | Historical Methods | 4.00 |
History MA students are well prepared for careers in education, research, archives management, librarianship, curation and various other forms of public history.