HISTORY DEPARTMENT HOMEPAGE

Degree Requirements, M.A. in History [NOTE: These are the requirements up to 2005; they are not the CURRENT requirements]

Degree requirements:
     The M.A. in History requires 32 graduate credits, with all graduate courses designated at four credits, for a total of eight courses. Students must take at least one course in each of four of the program's five areas of concentration, the Historical Methods course, and either the thesis option or the project option.

     During the program's first year, two courses will be offered each semester and one in the summer. (Students are not required to take courses during the summer, unless they have been unable to maintain the pace of two courses a semester.) In subsequent years there will be four courses each semester, and one during the summer.

Areas of concentration:
     History of Africa and the Middle East
     History of Asia
     History of Europe
     History of Latin America and the Caribbean
     History of the United States

Thesis or project option: students choose either the thesis or project option.

Thesis Option: Students in their third semester will take a single four-credit thesis seminar, with an additional four credits granted during the fourth semester for a thesis tutorial.

a. In the thesis seminar students will develop the topic of their thesis, begin research, and receive instruction in research methodology and historical writing. Thesis students will choose a thesis director and a second reader from the department faculty.

b. The thesis director will continue to supervise the thesis student during the fourth semester in a thesis tutorial. The thesis will be accepted in partial completion of the degree when it is defended before the thesis director and second reader, has been signed, and has been deposited in the department's archives.

Project Option: Students will take a four-credit project seminar their last semester, with the final research paper to be presented as a lecture to the seminar.

a. In the project seminar students will identify an historical area of particular interest, demonstrate their knowledge of that area, assemble and analyze historical materials, investigate methods (including multi-media technology) for presenting their findings, and will finally present the results of their work in a written report and a lecture that demonstrates expert competence in understanding and presentation.

b. High school teachers will be encouraged to relate their projects to the history curriculum of the secondary schools.