COURSE CURRICULUM

The Master of Arts (MA) in History is a 30-credit-hour graduate program designed to provide advanced training in historical research, historiography, and scholarly writing, while preparing students for doctoral study or professional careers in education, public history, archives, museums, and related fields. Students are expected to maintain a full-time course load during residency, typically registering for at least 9 credit hours per semester, or 6 credit hours for those holding a 0.50 FTE teaching assistantship. All coursework must be at the 500 level or above, ensuring graduate-level rigor, although dissertation research (HY 699) does not count toward degree credit requirements. A core component of the program is the required History Colloquium (HY 665), which all incoming MA and PhD students must complete in their first fall semester unless exempted, providing early engagement with historical research discussions and scholarly methodologies.The program also emphasizes historiography as a foundational requirement. Students must complete at least two historiography courses from different geographic areas, such as American, European, or Latin American history, ensuring broad exposure to historical interpretation and scholarly traditions. These courses, including HY 601, HY 602, HY 603, and HY 605, develop students’ ability to critically analyze historical literature and methodologies across regions and themes. In addition, students in the non-thesis (Plan II) option must complete at least one research seminar and a directed research component (HY 698), while the thesis option (Plan I) includes thesis research (HY 599) and a larger selection of elective coursework tailored to individual academic interests.Elective courses allow students to specialize in areas such as U.S. history, European history, Southern history, military and naval history, and British history, with additional flexibility to take related graduate courses in other disciplines with approval. Overall, the program combines structured core requirements with flexible academic pathways, ensuring that students develop strong analytical, methodological, and research skills necessary for advanced historical scholarship and professional application.