History

Additional Program Information

• Admission Requirements

  Admitted students are required to demonstrate an ability to research and interpret historical evidence and to write cogently and lucidly. In addition to general regulations for graduate admissions, the applicant must:

  • Attain an undergraduate major in history. Students whose undergraduate major was in a subject other than history, but who nevertheless wish to complete a history graduate degree, must have completed at least 20 undergraduate, upper division quarter credits with at GPA of 3.0 or better prior to full admission to the graduate program. Students with fewer than 20 history quarter credits may be offered probationary admission.
  • Attain a 3.0 cumulative GPA for undergraduate work and a 3.25 GPA or better in the history major. Applicants with a lower GPA may petition the History Department Graduate Committee for special consideration.
  • GRE examination requirement temporarily waived.
  • Submit a 7-10 page writing sample.
  • Choose an advisor and a general area of study.
  • Choose either the thesis track or the examination track.

  Prospective students must be approved in writing by the graduate committee (with the Graduate Director as a voting member), the Department Chair, and the prospective advisor before being granted admission to the graduate program.

• Program Options 

  Thesis:

  A thesis is a lengthy monographic work (usually 50 to 150 pages long) that addresses a historically significant topic in an original way.

  This option is appropriate if you wish to pursue a Ph.D., either immediately after receiving the M.A. or at some point in the future. Students who cannot meet the deadlines listed on page four will not be able to pursue the thesis option. Further, students must attain a 3.5 GPA or better in the graduate program in order to pursue the thesis option without special approval from the graduate committee and the advisor. Students with GPAs below 3.5 will ordinarily do the written examination option.

  Your advisor will help you choose two additional faculty members to serve on your thesis committee. The committee’s job is to help formulate and critique the thesis. After the thesis is completed, you will defend your findings before their thesis committee. At the discretion of the advisor, students opting for the thesis option may be required to meet the Department’s foreign language requirement.

  Written examination:

  The exam consists of three questions in a major field. Generally speaking, committees prefer written exam answers that show your familiarity with historical context, historical periodization, and historiography, and that marshal evidence to make original arguments. The entire written portion of the exam must be completed in eight hours.

  Choose this option if you do not wish to write a thesis. It is especially useful for secondary school teachers who want to attain the M.A. in a timely manner. Students who choose the exam option must select an advisor and adhere to the timeline given on page 4 of the Graduate Handbook.

  Your advisor will help you choose two additional faculty members to serve on your exam committee. The committee’s job is to write questions for the exam and review your answers. In advance of the exam, the committee will work with you to delineate a field and suggest an appropriate reading list. Your advisor may work with you on sample questions and responses in order to better prepare you for the exam. After the exam is completed, you must defend your answers before the committee. Students opting for the exam option do not have to meet the Department’s foreign language requirement.

  Project:

  On rare occasions, if your background or experience allows, and when faculty availability and expertise exists, you may complete a project in lieu of the traditional thesis. In such special cases, proposals for an alternative to the exam or thesis options must be approved by your advisor and committee. Students opting for the project option do not have to meet the Department’s foreign language requirement.

• Fields of Study  

  • 19th Century U.S.
  • Modern East Asia
  • 20th Century U.S.
  • Modern France
  • African Childhood and Education
  • Modern Germany
  • African Gender
  • Modern Ireland
  • African Health and Healing
  • Modern Mexico
  • Colonial Africa
  • Mongol Empire
  • Colonial Mexico
  • Native American History
  • Colonial/Revolutionary North America
  • Pacific Northwest History
  • Comparative Borderlands
  • Pre-Imperial Africa
  • Comparative Colonialism
  • Pre-Imperial Russia
  • Comparative Gender
  • Race and Ethnicity
  • Comparative Nationalism
  • Russian Empire
  • Comparative Revolutions
  • The Soviet Union
  • Environmental History
  • U.S. Cultural History
  • Holocaust
  • U.S. Environmental History
  • Imperial Russia
  • U.S. Foreign Relations
  • Islamic Intellectual History
  • U.S. Imperialism
  • Islamic Sufism
  • U.S. Political History
  • Latin American Cultural History
  • U.S. Social History
  • Latin American Religious History
  • U.S. West
  • Latin American State Foundation
  • Urban Africa
  • Military History
  • Urban History
  • Modern Britain and the Empire
  • WWII