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Admission Requirements��

Application Deadlines

Application deadlines vary by program, please review the for specific programs. Other important dates and deadlines can be found by using the One Stop calendars.

Admission

To be considered for admission, an applicant must meet����plus these departmental requirements:

1. An undergraduate minor or 18 credits in history or equivalent preparation.
2. Two letters of recommendation from persons familiar with the applicant’s scholastic achievement and potential.
3. A sample of the applicant’s written work that demonstrates their ability to conduct historical research and/or the ability to analyze critically the work of others.

Please visit the History department’s website for information on the��History Department Application.

Applicants may be admitted with course deficiencies provided that the deficiencies amount to no more than two courses. The student is expected to satisfy deficiency requirements within three enrolled semesters. The deficiencies are monitored by the Graduate School and the individual graduate program unit. No course credits earned in making up deficiencies may be counted toward the degree.

Advising

The Director of Graduate Studies provides initial advising for students in selecting courses and assists in selecting a Major Professor for long-term advising; the Director may assign a provisional graduate advisor before students select a Major Professor. Students are required to consult periodically with, and have their schedules approved by, the Director of Graduate Studies, the provisional advisor, or the Major Professor. The Major Professor normally serves as the chair of the student’s academic review and supervises either the writing of the student’s thesis or the student’s reading for the comprehensive exam.

Museum Studies Track

Space is limited in this specialization, and students interested to enroll in this track must first be admitted to the History Department as an MA student with a concentration in Public History. Then prospective students must apply separately for admission to the Museum Studies Certificate Program (MSCP).

Cross-Disciplinary Studies with Thesis Track

Prospective students interested to pursue this track must contact the Public History Director prior to applying for admission to the MA program in History.

Credits and Courses

Minimum degree requirement is 36 graduate credits, 12 of which must be taken in General History courses, 12 in Public History courses, and the remaining 12 in the chosen area of specialization. For students completing either the Museum Studies track or the Nonprofit Administration track, an additional 3 credits in the area of specialization is required for a total of 39 credits.

Before matriculation, students should select a specialization:

• Museum Studies
• Nonprofit Administration
• Historic Preservation
• Archives
• Cross-Disciplinary Studies with Thesis

Museum Studies Track

Space is limited in this specialization, and students interested to enroll in this track must first be admitted to the History Department as an MA student with a concentration in Public History. Then prospective students must apply separately for admission to the Museum Studies Certificate Program (MSCP).

¹

As a substitute for one colloquium or seminar, students may take 3 credits of HIST��716, HIST��717 or another appropriate course, which must be approved in advance by the program director.

²

Students must take a total of 6 credits of , and this requirement is generally completed as two 3-credit internships. However, an individual internship may be taken for 1 to 6 credits. Unless granted an exception by the program faculty, students complete their 701 internship(s) after having taken both and .

Nonprofit Administration Track

¹

As a substitute for one colloquium or seminar, students may take 3 credits of HIST��716, HIST��717, or another appropriate course, which must be approved in advance by the program director.

²

Students must take a total of 6 credits of , and this requirement is generally completed as two 3-credit internships. However, an individual internship may be taken for 1 to 6 credits. Unless granted an exception by the program faculty, students complete their 701 internship(s) after having taken both and .

³

These electives are strongly recommended, but students with prior coursework or employment experience in nonprofit administration may opt for alternatives to one or more of these electives.

Historic Preservation Track

¹

As a substitute for one colloquium or seminar, students may take 3 credits of HIST��716, HIST��717, or another appropriate course, which must be approved in advance by the program director.

²

Students must take a total of 6 credits of , and this requirement is generally completed as two 3-credit internships. However, an individual internship may be taken for 1 to 6 credits. Unless granted an exception by the program faculty, students complete their 701 internship(s) after having taken both and .

Archives Track

¹

As a substitute for one colloquium or seminar, students may take 3 credits of HIST��716, HIST��717,��or another appropriate course, which must be approved in advance by the program director.

²

Students must take a total of 6 credits of , and this requirement is generally completed as two 3-credit internships. However, an individual internship may be taken for 1 to 6 credits. Unless granted an exception by the program faculty, students complete their 701 internship(s) after having taken both and .

³

These electives are strongly recommended, but students with prior coursework or employment experience in archives may opt for other electives.

Cross-Disciplinary Studies with Thesis Track

Students in the Cross-Disciplinary Studies track complete a thesis in public history, and they are required to take 6 Master's Capstone credits and 3 credits of public-history internship. Instead of the 12-15 credits in specialized courses, students in the thesis track must also take 9 credits in cross-disciplinary courses in the humanities and/or social sciences. Selected in consultation with the Public History Director and the student's major professor, cross-disciplinary courses may focus on culture and politics in public history, or they may include coursework in theory or methodology relevant to public history.��

¹

As a substitute for one colloquium or seminar, students may take 3 credits of HIST��716, HIST��717, or another appropriate course, which must be approved in advance by the program director.

²

Students pursuing Cross-Disciplinary Studies with Thesis Track must take 3 credits of . Unless granted an exception by the program faculty, students complete their 701 internship(s) after having taken both and .

Thesis Prospectus

Within the first semester after completing 9 credits (including two of the following courses: HIST��700, HIST��715, a colloquium, and/or a seminar), public history students who choose to write a thesis are subject to an academic review. The review is a one- to two-hour meeting involving the student, the student’s major professor, and two other members of the History Graduate Faculty who will serve as secondary readers of the student’s thesis. With the assistance of their major professor, the student must prepare a thesis prospectus in advance of the review. The review involves an evaluation of the student’s academic progress in master’s coursework, two unrevised course papers, and the thesis prospectus.

Recommendations for Cross-Disciplinary Coursework

The following are recommended courses to fulfill the cross-disciplinary requirement (others may be chosen with the approval of the Public History Director):

Approved Cross-Listed Courses

WGS��501G, with the topic "Women, Gender, & Global Revolutions," counts as a History course.

Teaching Assistantships are the primary form of financial support for history graduate students. These positions provide a salary and tuition remission. Some small scholarships are also available. Click below for more details.