History Master of Arts

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Description

The Department of History offers 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; those committed to museum, archival and records management careers; PhD aspirants; and mid-life career changers from a variety of professions. Their one common feature has been a love of history and a desire to study it intensively.

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 College's standards for graduate study.

  1. The MA in History is a 30-credit degree program.
  2. 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 Graduate Committee.
  3. All courses must carry graduate credit (500 level or above). At least 15 credits of the courses must be at the 600 level or above, excluding HST 710. All students must take at least one research-intensive 500 level course.
  4. 4. Students may not apply more than 12 credits of the following non-classroom courses to the MA degree::
    • HST 503 Graduate 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

All master's degree students are required to take HST 600 Introduction to Historical Study. The student may then select freely from course offerings, semester-by-semester, with advisement from the Graduate Director. The student's choices may be guided by personal or professional interests, but certain major fields of study are recommended as models.

U.S. History

It is recommended that students wishing to pursue U.S. history as a major field focus upon taking 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.
With advisement from 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 in the context of any 600-level seminar offered in the student's final semester.

Note: Students complete elective courses in American history as necessary to fulfill the 30-credit requirement.

World History

It is recommended that students wishing to pursue world history as a major field focus upon taking courses primarily in world history, such as any combination of 600-level Regional Seminars.
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 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 in the context of any 600-level seminar offered in the student's final semester.

Note: Students complete elective courses in world history as necessary to fulfill the 30-credit requirement.

Public History

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

  • 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:

FOUR elective courses in History or up to 3 in related fields by advisement. The remaining coursework should come as "content" from any combination of courses in U.S. or world history.

Capstone

  • HST 702 Public History Capstone