Master of Arts in History

 Graduate Catalog | Master's

The Master of Arts in History provides its students with an exhaustive array of opportunities to pursue the world’s great personalities, events, nations, trends, periods, conflicts, and markings of progress. The Master of Arts History major has recently been re-designed to best suit your professional aspirations and interests. The new major ensures that you will learn about the "big picture" through exposure to four historical perspectives or concentrations in Ancient and Classical, American, European, and Global History, while allowing you to tailor the major to your individual needs during graduate study.

There are two options for Ancient and Classical, American, European, and Global History.

Comprehensive Examination Option
This option requires a minimum of 36 hours of coursework. A minimum of 21 hours must be taken within the concentrations and 9 credits in electives. A non-thesis student receives the MA degree upon successful completion of the required coursework and passing HIST698 / HS700 (Comprehensive Examination).

Capstone Seminar Option
The thesis option requires a minimum of 36 hours of coursework. A minimum of 21 hours must be taken within the concentrations and 6 credits in electives. The student must prepare a thesis proposal and complete an original thesis by the conclusion of the program prior to granting the degree. The thesis (HIST699 / HS798 - Master’s Capstone Seminar in History) requires 3 semester hours (16 week class format).

Degree Program Objectives

In addition to the institutional and degree level learning outcomes objectives, the Master of Arts in History also seeks the following specific learning outcomes of its graduates. With reference to each of the respective areas of history, graduates in this degree program will be able to:

  • Appraise different approaches to history and historical method in order to evaluate and propose a specific methodology for a particular research project or examination
  • Define, classify, and articulate in oral or written form the major trends, events, and people that have shaped world history, and evaluate them in context by comparison and contrast
  • Define, classify, and articulate in oral or written form the major trends, events, and people that have shaped Ancient, European, American, and Global history, and evaluate them in context by comparison or contrast
  • Examine, analyze, and evaluate at least one specialized historical sub-discipline
  • Synthesize historical issues into a coherent and comprehensive paradigm of the human condition
  • Analyze data, information, and concepts pertinent to various methodologies of historical research
  • Create an historical research proposal in which data, information, and concepts can be evaluated and synthesized

Degree Program Requirements
Major Courses

The Master of Arts in History is a multi-faceted degree that allows a student to select one of several areas within the rich field of general history. A student may currently elect a concentration in Ancient and Classical History, American History, European History, or Global History.

Concentration in Ancient and Classical History (21 semester hours)
Objectives

Upon successful completion of this concentration, the student will be able to:
  • Explain and critique Ancient Greece’s political, economic, social and intellectual movements
  • Explain and critique Roman history from its beginnings until the Age of Constantine, including the political and social developments in the Republic and the early empire
  • Examine and appraise great Byzantium leaders, the spread of Christianity throughout the Roman Empire, the recapture of Constantinople from the crusaders, and the impact of Byzantium culture on Western intellect
  • Explain and assess European social, political, economic and religious institutions and cultural and intellectual phenomena in the light of the changing historical environment from the end of the Ancient World to the Renaissance
  • Explain and assess the medieval church and rise of the Renaissance papacy; growth of humanism, including painters, architects, and sculptors; city-states and monarchies of the Holy Roman Empire; religious upheavals of Protestantism; Anabaptists; the Catholic Reformation

Required Courses:


Concentration in European History (21 semester hours)

Objectives

Upon successful completion of this concentration, the student will be able to:

  • Distinguish the major social, political and cultural changes of the Enlightenment in Europe from the death of Louis XIV to the fall of Napoleon
  • Investigate the intellectual, social, and economic history to include the industrial revolutions, the age of ideologies, the new imperialism and the coming of the Great War
  • Discern the origins of World War I in Europe and assess the combatants, strategy and tactics, technological innovation; war in France; war at sea; the peace settlement; and the occupation
  • Compare and contrast the economies, industry, society and culture of the United States, Great Britain, Japan, and Germany during World War II
  • Assess modern European history since the Congress of Vienna to include social, economic, cultural and political experiences common to Europe and how developments differentiated from those in most other parts of the world

Required courses:

AND choose one below:


Concentration in American History (21 semester hours)

Objectives

Upon successful completion of this concentration, the student will be able to:

  • Compare and contrast historical context of 18th century British and colonial American political and constitutional philosophies, social norms and societal structure, economics, religious concepts, and foreign and diplomatic policy
  • Discern and assess the political, economic, cultural, and social aspects of the Civil War, including the causes and the conflict's aftermath
  • Explain changes in American society such as industrialization, immigration, and urbanization; isolationism and collective security; World War I; changing values; stock market crash; the Great Depression, and the cultural, social, political, military, and economic growth to the present
  • Critique the history of expressive and material culture; historical contexts of various artistic movements; cultural imperialism; cultural appropriation, creativity, and identity; and expressions of social difference and deviance in the United States
  • Discern the origins, content, and judicial interpretations of the U.S. Constitution and the Supreme Court’s evolving decisions on issues as States’ rights, civil rights, the Commerce Clause, Due Process in criminal and other proceedings, and protected freedoms

Required courses:

AND choose one below:

Concentration in Global History (21 semester hours)

Objectives

Upon successful completion of this concentration, the student will be able to:

  • Contrast and compare the history, scope, and consequences of the American, French, Mexican, Russian, Chinese, Cuban, Vietnamese, and Iranian revolutions
  • Analyze the relationships among technology, culture, and politics in a variety of social and historical settings ranging from 19th century factories to 21st century techno dance floors
  • Explore the recent historiographical approaches within the history of science from the seventeenth through the twentieth centuries, from the physical sciences to natural history and medicine
  • Examine the practice of piracy in ancient times in the 18th century and the rise of modern piracy with high-speed boats and automatic weapons in the 21st century
  • Distinguish the historical development, central beliefs, and practices of each of the major world religions

                       

Required Courses:

AND choose one below:


Graduate Electives (Select 9 semester hours for COMP EXAM Program Option or 6 semester hours for CAPSTONE Program Option)

Select from Graduate courses not already taken to meet Core or Concentration requirements.


End of Program Requirement - Select either Comprehensive Exam OR Capstone

Total 36 semester hours


 Graduate Catalog | Master's

 

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