History Master of Arts

Description

For more than half a century, the Department of History has offered high quality and rigorous graduate training in history to a diverse student body, including secondary school teachers seeking professional certification in Adolescence Social Studies or advanced training; students committed to museum, archival and records management careers; PhD aspirants; and mid-life professionals seeking new horizons. Their common feature has been a love of history and a desire to study it intensively. Our MA in History can be pursued entirely in person, online (with both synchronous and asynchronous courses), or a combination of both modalities.

Admission to the Program

Applicants to the Master of Arts in History program must submit a completed application. Application requirements and materials are available online.

For further information about the application process, contact the Center for Graduate Studies.

Program Requirements

Students must meet the University’s standards for graduate study.

The MA in History is a 30-credit degree program. Up to 12 credits of graduate course work with a grade of “B” or better may be transferred from other institutions with the approval of the History Department Graduate Program Director.

Each student admitted to the Master of Arts in History program will be assigned an advisor. The advisor assists the student with selecting appropriate electives and creating a plan of study.

Major Department Requirements (30 credits)

• HST 600 Introduction to Historical Study (3 credits)
• Electives (21-24 credits)
  
  • Students choose eight electives in consultation with their advisor. Their selections must meet the following criteria:
    
    • Electives must be at the 500 level or above
    • At least 12 credits must be at the 600 level or above, excluding HST 710, which will count as one of the eight electives but will not count toward the 600 level or above requirement.
  • Students taking HST 701 as their capstone will only take seven true electives (21 credits); their eighth elective is the first semester of HST 701.
• Capstone (3-6 hours)
  
  • Students choose from one of the following three options:
    
    • HST 701 Master’s Thesis (6 credits, taken over two semesters; a 3.80 GPA is required for this option) OR
    • HST 702 Public History Capstone (3 credits) OR
    • HST 703 History Capstone Project (0 credits) + 600-level History course (3 credits)

Additional Degree Requirements

• All courses must carry graduate credit (500 level or above).
• All coursework typically will be in the discipline of history. Any coursework in related fields will require approval prior to taking the course.
• Students may not apply more than 12 credits of the following non-classroom courses to the MA degree:
  • HST 503 Graduate Internship
  • HST 585 Public History Internship
  • HST 599 Independent Study in History
  • HST 691 Research in American History
  • HST 695 Research in World History
  • HST 699 Independent Study in History
  • HST 700 Historical Integration
  • HST 701 Masters Thesis
  • HST 702 Public History Capstone
  • HST 710 College Teaching Practicum

Fields of Study

Students may define (but are not required to define) a major field. Those doing so will work with their advisors to create an appropriate plan of study. The following are offered as examples of common fields of study.

U.S. History

In addition to the required HST 600 Introduction to Historical Study, it is recommended that students wishing to pursue U.S. history as a major field will take courses primarily in U.S. history, for example:

• HST 614 Reading Seminar in Early America
• HST 615 Reading Seminar in Modern America

At least half of the student’s course work should center on U.S. history or on thematic courses that combine U.S. and World history topics. The remainder of their elective courses may be in either US or World history

With advisement from their advisor and/or the Graduate Director, students with U.S. history as their major field may take either HST 701 Master’s Thesis (3.80 GPA required) or write a capstone paper for HST 703 (0 credits) as a co-requisite for any 600-level seminar offered in the student’s final semester.

World History

It is recommended that students wishing to pursue world history as a major field take a range of 600-level Regional Seminars in addition to the required HST 600 Introduction to Historical Study. At least half of the student’s course work should center on world history or on thematic courses that combine U.S. and world history topics.

With advisement from their advisor and/or the Graduate Director, students with world history as their major field may take either HST 701 Master’s Thesis (3.80 GPA required) or write a capstone paper for HST 703 (0 credits) as a co-requisite for any 600-level seminar offered in the student’s final semester.

Combined US and World, or Comparative History

Students with a broad interest in history, or those wanting training in both US and World histories for professional reasons, may pursue a combined program that divides the course work between US history, World history, and thematic courses, according to their interests. Such a field may be especially of interest to Social Studies teachers who wish to have solid training that gives them the flexibility to teach either US or Global History, or to students interested in approaching history from a comparative perspective.

With advisement from their advisor and/or the Graduate Director, students with world history as their major field may take either HST 701 Master’s Thesis (3.80 GPA required) or write a capstone paper for HST 703 (0 credits) as a co-requisite for any 600-level seminar offered in the student’s final semester.

Public History

A fourth possible major field is Public History: professional training for how to use the historian’s expertise to help institutions and communities tell their stories. This highly specialized field comes with a more elaborate set of recommended courses, in addition to the required HST 600 Introduction to Historical Study.

Students wishing to pursue Public History should plan to take at least two of these four 500-level core courses:

• HST 509 American Mind
• HST 512 Public History
• HST 513 Rochester Reform Trail
• HST 527 Material Culture

With permission of the graduate director, the student may substitute one 500-level graduate-level course in a related field for one of these core courses. In addition, hands-on experience is important for the public historian, so students are recommended to take two graduate-level internships:

• TWO internships (either 3-credit internship may be taken twice):
  • HST 503 Graduate Internship
  • HST 585 Public History Internship

The student should complete the 30-credit requirement with four elective courses in History, as “content” from any combination of courses in U.S. or world history, or up to 3 in related fields by advisement.

Capstone

• HST 702 Public History Capstone

Student Learning Outcomes

Upon graduation, History MAs will be able to:

1. Identify an historical problem and articulate a thesis that responds to it so that they may master an essential step in analyzing, communicating, and using historical knowledge.
2. Construct a logical sequence of arguments in defense of an historical thesis to learn to apply critical thinking skills to historical evidence and to advance an analysis of historical knowledge.
3. Apply relevant evidence drawn from primary and secondary sources in support of an historical thesis to prepare them to realize their academic and professional aspirations.
4. Evaluate the significance of an historical thesis by relating it to a broader field of historical knowledge (historiography) to prepare them to realize their academic and professional aspirations.
5. Produce clear written and oral communication to prepare them to realize their academic and professional aspirations.
6. Use the discipline’s standard for documentation (The Chicago Manual of Style) to prepare them to realize their academic and professional aspirations.