The Department of History supports graduate study in Public History and US and Social and Cultural History with specialties in Urban history, Digital history, and Women’s and Gender history. We offer master's programs in history and public history.  History master’s students work closely with faculty in and out of the classroom as they train to become academic historians, public historians, teachers, archivists, museum professionals, and researchers as well as possess sufficient preparation to pursue other career pathways.

Curriculum

The Master of Arts program requires 30 credit hours, a comprehensive exam, and a research tool. This degree may be completed en route to the PhD with agreement of the Graduate Program Director.

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Required Courses
HIST 400	Twentieth Century Approaches to History	3
Two Research Seminars (one in major field)		6
Select Three Courses in Major Field		9
Select Three Courses in Minor Field		9
Select One 400-level elective 1		3
Total Hours		30

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400 level history courses can be found here.

Major and Minor Field

Students in the MA program are required to select a major field in United States history. In addition, they will choose a minor field in United States, Public, and Gender and Women's history. Thematic minor fields (such as race and ethnicity of colonialism and empire) may be created with the approval of the Graduate Program Director. Students may also select a minor field from another discipline with approval of the Graduate Program Director. Students wishing to pursue a minor field in public history must meet with the Public History Program Director and formally declare their intention to fulfill the minor.

Research Tool Requirement

All master's level students must demonstrate competence in a research skill (oral history, public history media, or a reading knowledge of a foreign language, for example) appropriate to their major field. They are expected to master this skill before advancing beyond 18 credit hours. Coursework taken to master a language, oral history, or public history media does not apply toward graduation.

Comprehensive Examinations

Toward the end of their graduate program, students must pass a take-home written examination in the major field. The student will produce two 10–15 page historiographical essays based on a reading list developed in conjunction with a two-member committee of history faculty of their choosing. The committee should be established no later than the beginning of the semester in which the student intends to take the examination. Students will have one week to complete the exam, which will be evaluated by the committee. In addition, students satisfy the examination requirements in the minor field through earning nine credit hours with at least a B (3.0) average.

Graduate & Professional Standards and Regulations

Students in graduate and professional programs can find their Academic Policies in Graduate and Professional Academic Standards and Regulations under their school. Any additional University Policies supercede school policies.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the Master of Arts in History, graduates will be able to:

• Use the historical method to solve historical and historiographical problems while applying the perspectives of class, race, gender, etc. to historical events and trends;
• Identify and criticize interpretive paradigms and methodologies relevant to historical scholarship and the historical profession;
• Perform historical research in archives and libraries and evaluate the provenance, context, validity, and biases of these sources from the past;
• Apply the necessary research skills to produce original scholarship on a chosen historical topic using primary sources while evaluating the validity, context, and biases of secondary source literature produced by other scholars;
• Demonstrate the ability to deploy multiple forms of communication (written, oral, and new media) to discuss their own historical scholarship and graduate-level knowledge of their chosen fields.