The program for the master’s degree in history offers students graduate work that serves a variety of needs and purposes. It can be an end in itself for students whose personal and/or professional goal is an M.A. degree. It can be combined with an advanced certificate in archival management. The M.A. can also be a preparatory graduate degree en route to the doctorate.

The Master of Arts degree requires the completion of 32 points, of which at least 24 must be within the history department. No more than 8 points may be transferred from other graduate schools. A request for transfer credits must be made within the first year of enrollment. There is no area specialization requirement at the master’s level, but students must take at least one seminar in which a substantial research paper is completed. The student must achieve a grade of B or better in the seminar.

There is no general language requirement. However, a student specializing in Middle Eastern history for an M.A. degree must demonstrate proficiency in Arabic, Persian, or Turkish by passing, with a grade of B or better, at least two courses at the advanced level or beyond in one of those languages.

MASTER OF ARTS PROGRAM IN WORLD HISTORY

The M.A. program in world history is intended for students who seek a contemporary approach to historical study that combines inquiry into the methods and approaches to world history with comparative and thematic work and concrete training in one or two regions of the world. Among those whose needs it may serve are high school or college teachers, people involved in international occupations, writers and others involved in the field of communications, and those exploring their own interest in further study.

Requirements for the program normally include eight one-semester courses (32 credit points), consisting of three core courses, three courses in a major field of study, and two courses in a minor field. Students must present a master’s essay, and they must demonstrate a reading knowledge of a foreign language relevant to their work. Students may take cognate courses in world history in the Draper Interdisciplinary Master’s Program in Humanities and Social Thought, and, with approval, up to two courses in anthropology, sociology, politics, economics, and literature.

Students must undertake study of two regions of the world, one of which will be designated the major field and one as the minor. The available regions are Africa, East Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and North America. Students must elect at least one field outside of Europe and North America.

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