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 program in tandem with the Simmons School of Library and Information Science offers a dual-degree program in history and archives management or cultural heritage informatics.
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
The History (MA) program requires 30 credit hours.
Required Methodology Course (3 credit hours)
All students must take one course in historical methodology.
Graduate Seminar Electives (24 credit hours)
Students select a series of electives from the following:
| HIST 450 | Independent Study | 1–3 |
| HIST 453 | History Thesis Research | 3 |
| HIST 527/LIS 443 | Archives, History, and Collective Memory | 3 |
| HIST 529 | Film & Historical Representation | 3 |
| HIST 552 | Transnational Labor History | 3 |
| HIST 553 | Commodities in World History | 3 |
| HIST 560 | Seminar in the History of Women & Gender: 1790–1920 | 3 |
| HIST 561 | Topics in World History | 3 |
| HIST 562 | Reform and Revolutions in Asia | 3 |
| HIST 563 | Decolonizing the Archive: Non-Western Approaches to History | 3 |
| HIST 565 | Seminar: 9/11 Narratives | 3 |
| HIST 566 | Digital History | 3 |
| HIST 567 | Memory and the Holocaust | 3 |
| HIST 568/LIS 532I | Seminar in Public History: Sites of History | 3 |
| HIST 569 | Early and Medieval China: History and Material Culture | 3 |
| HIST 571 | Seminar in Early American History | 3 |
| HIST 572 | Race and Gender in the Atlantic World | 3 |
| HIST 573 | Seminar in Nineteenth-Century American History | 3 |
| HIST 574 | Seminar in Modern U.S. History | 3 |
| HIST 575 | Cold War Culture | 3 |
| HIST 576 | American Revolution | 3 |
| HIST 577 | Topics in Modern European History | 3 |
| HIST 578 | Pilgrims, Prophets, & Profaners Biography & Autobiography | 3 |
| HIST 579 | Expansion & Empire in U.S. History | 3 |
| HIST 582 | Insurgency and Revolution in Latin America and the Caribbean | 3 |
| HIST 583 | The Cold War in Latin America | 3 |
Capstone (3 credit hours)
The student's MA program will culminate in a research project or internship (fieldwork, thesis, or public history internship).
Students must complete HIST 453 in the semester prior to enrolling in
HIST 455A