Contents > College of Liberal Arts and Sciences > Department of History
Master’s and Doctoral Programs
www.asu.edu/clas/history/grad/graduate
Snell Family Dean’s Distinguished Professor of History: Longley
Distinguished Foundation Professors of History: Fixico, Fuchs
Professors: Adelson, Batalden, Burg, Davis, Gratton, Green, Lavrin, MacKinnon, Rosales, Samuelson, Simpson, Stowe, Tillman, von Hagen, Warnicke
Associate Professors: Barnes, El Hamel, Gray, Gullett, Harzig, Hirt, Rush, Smith, Stoner, Thompson, Thornton, VanderMeer, Warren-Findley, Whitaker, Wright
Assistant Professors: Holian, Kaplan, Manchester, Plotkin, Wood
Professor of Practice: Calder
North American Center for Transborder Studies
Professor: Hoerder
Transborder Chicana/o and Latina/o Studies
The faculty in the Department of History offer graduate programs leading to the MA and PhD degrees in History. Candidates are offered an opportunity to develop knowledge of a specific historical field, to study comparative history, and to learn research techniques.
Students admitted to the Master of Education (MEd) degree program with a major in Secondary Education may elect history as the subject matter field.
See Master’s Degrees for general requirements.
Applications for the master’s program must be accompanied by
2. copies of unofficial transcripts;
4. a graduate assistantship application (optional);
5. the applicant’s scores on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE);
6. three letters of recommendation from faculty members or others who are qualified to judge the applicant’s potential for advanced study in history;
9. a statement of ambitions and career goals; and
10. TOEFL scores and TSE scores for students applying from outside the U.S. whose native language is not English must be submitted to the Graduate College. TWE scores are also requested. On the TOEFL, students are required to score 600 or higher on the regular examination (or an equivalent score on the computerized version). Unofficial scores should be sent directly to the History Department. Policy exceptions can be obtained from www.asu.edu/graduate/international.
Application forms and instructions for filling them out are available from the graduate program coordinator, the Graduate College Web site (www.asu.edu/graduate), and the Department of History Web site (www.asu.edu/clas/history). MEd applicants must submit scores from both the GRE aptitude and advanced history tests. For MEd program requirements, see MEd Degree in Secondary Education.
The candidate selects a field of study from the following: North America, East/Southeast Asia, Europe, Latin America, or public history. For information on the concentration in public history, see Public History Concentration below. Under the North American field of study, students may choose to specialize in a variety of areas; examples are African American, American Indian, Chicana/Chicano, environmental, gender, politics and policy, and U.S. West.
A minimum of 30 semester hours of graduate course work are required for the MA in History. Upon matriculation, the student, in consultation with the graduate director, selects a faculty advisor in the student’s area of concentration. The faculty advisor directs the student toward completion of required course work. The 30 semester hours must conform to the following guidelines:
1. At least 24 semester hours of course work in history is required. With the approval of the supervisory committee, candidates may add to the 24 semester hours, six semester hours of closely related course work in another academic unit (this does not apply to students in the public history concentration).
2. Eighteen of the 24 semester hours must be in 500-level history courses. If 400-level courses are included in the program of study, documented proof must be provided that they were taken for graduate credit. Contact the graduate program coordinator for details.
3. At least three of the 24 semester hours must be in HST 591 Seminar (normally in the major field of study).
4. At least six semester hours of HST 599 Thesis are required of students writing an MA thesis. The thesis equivalent substitutes six semester hours of HST 592 in place of six semester hours of HST 599 and incorporates an additional three semester hours of HST 591 into the program.
Candidates admitted to the MA degree in History with a concentration in public history select two areas of emphasis (one of which is public history; the other is a geographic field, e.g., U.S. history) and must complete HST 502 and at least two short courses (of one semester hour each). Beyond these requirements, each of the six emphases within public history has other specific requirements, which are listed in the department’s graduate handbook. The following is a list of the differing minimum number of semester hours for a degree in each of the six emphases: business, 41 semester hours; community history, 40; historic preservation, 40; historical administration, 37; public sector, 39; and scholarly publishing, 44. A module in museum studies is offered in conjunction with the anthropology degree program in the School of Human Evolution and Social Change, and culminates with the award of a certificate. Course work taken outside of the department for inclusion in the program of study must be approved in advance by the appropriate program director.
MEd Degree in Secondary Education
Candidates for the MEd degree in Secondary Education with an emphasis in history must complete 15 semester hours of history course work. Overall, 12 of the 15 semester hours must be in 500-level history courses. If 400-level courses are included in the program of study, documented proof must be provided that they were taken for graduate credit. Contact the department for specific details. All candidates for the MEd must maintain at least a 3.00 GPA in HST courses.
The student is expected to have a reading knowledge of one foreign language or an advanced research skill approved by the student’s committee and documented by enrollment in at least one semester hour of HST 692.
A master’s thesis or its equivalent is required. Students have two options: They can either write an MA thesis or take the MA thesis equivalent. The MA thesis is approximately 100 pages in length and is based on original research. Students who choose this option must enroll for six semester hours of thesis work (HST 599).
The MA thesis equivalency is composed of two parts: (1) two three-semester-hour seminars (HST 591) and (2) two three-semester-hour research courses (HST 592).
Both the MA thesis and the MA thesis equivalent must be prepared according to Graduate College requirements, defended, and approved by a thesis committee. Consult the graduate handbook for more information.
The PhD degree in History offers candidates the opportunity to study past and contemporary civilizations and to learn research and writing techniques that may be used in scholarly careers at leading academic institutions, in historical societies and agencies, in the public sector, and in business.
Major emphasis is placed upon developing a disciplined mind, expertise in a chosen subject area, and competence in research methodology. The program is composed of small classes that bring students into a close working relationship with faculty and other students and offers flexibility in designing degree programs.
The graduate handbook details the fields of study and offers a full description of the program.
See Doctor of Philosophy for general requirements.
Applications for the PhD degree in History must be accompanied by
2. copies of unofficial transcripts;
4. a graduate assistantship application (optional);
5. the applicant’s scores on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE),
6. three letters of recommendation from faculty members or others who are qualified to judge the applicant’s potential for doctoral study;
9. a statement of ambitions and career goals; and
10. TOEFL scores and TSE scores for students applying from outside the U.S. whose native language is not English must be submitted to the Graduate College. TWE scores are also requested. On the TOEFL, students are required to score 600 or higher on the regular examination (or an equivalent score on the computerized version). Unofficial scores should be sent directly to the History Department. Policy exceptions can be obtained from www.asu.edu/graduate/international.
Application forms and instructions for filling them out are available from the graduate program coordinator, or access www.asu.edu/graduate and www.asu.edu/clas/history/grad/graduate.
For students admitted to the doctoral program with a master’s degree or other graduate credits in hand, the requirements for the PhD are an additional 54 semester hours of credit in residence, of which 24 semester hours are dissertation research and writing. All 54 semester hours have to be taken after admission to the program. A minimum of 84 semester hours is required for the doctorate.
For students admitted to the doctoral program directly from a baccalaureate program, the requirements for the PhD are 84 semester hours of course work, of which 24 semester hours are dissertation research and writing. A minimum of 54 semester hours must be taken while the student is in residence after admission to the doctoral program.
Upon matriculation, the student, in consultation with the graduate director, selects a faculty advisor in the area of concentration. Together the faculty advisor and student select a PhD committee consisting of at least three faculty members. In consultation with the student, the committee draws up the program of study and helps direct the student to the completion of required course work.
The program of study must conform to the following guidelines (consult the graduate handbook):
1. at least 36 semester hours must be at the 500-level or above;
2. if 400-level courses are taken as part of the program of study, the student must have documented proof that they were taken for graduate credit, contact the graduate program coordinator for details;
3. a course is required on research, theory, and methodology: HST 500 (three semester hours);
4. at least nine semester hours must be in research seminars (HST 591);
5. 24 semester hours of dissertation research and writing are required; and
6. at least three out of four of the core HST 598 courses offered by faculty in the North American and European history fields are required (for only those students majoring in these two fields).
The student is expected to have a reading knowledge of one foreign language or an advanced research skill approved by the student’s committee and documented by enrollment in at least one semester hour of HST 692.
A potential advisor is specifically identified and assigned at the time of admission to the doctoral program based on the application information provided by the applicant. Upon arrival the student may elect to change a graduate chair with the approval of the director of graduate study and with the approval of the new chair. At the beginning of the first semester, the chair works with the student to identify the other two committee members based on the fields of study, select an initial set of courses for the program of study, and establish the schedule for the first year leading to the first-year review. The committee chair and committee along with the director of graduate study are the final determiners of the program of study, which must be in place by the end of the first year of doctoral study. The initial supervisory committee serves as a mentoring committee for the student. As the student determines the dissertation topic more exactly, the committee may need to change before the prospectus defense in order to guide the writing of the dissertation.
Each spring, each field selects a committee of three faculty members to assess the work of each first-year student in the field. To assist the first-year review committee in making its recommendations, each first-year student ensures his or her portfolio is ready for the first-year review committee no later than the day of spring commencement. In reviewing each student’s work, the committee decides whether the student should be encouraged to continue. Consult the graduate handbook for more details.
The department administers written and oral qualifying examinations that signify that the candidate is qualified in the literature of the field and discipline area and ready to proceed to the next stage of dissertation prospectus and defense. The qualifying examination is normally administered in the early fall of a student’s third year in the program. Students entering the program with a master’s degree may volunteer to take the examination before that time. Doctoral students must complete all course work on the program of study (except for HST 792 and 799 for dissertation credit) and satisfy the research skill requirement before taking the qualifying examination. Consult the graduate handbook for more details.
Upon satisfactory completion of the qualifying examination, the candidate immediately begins to prepare for the submission of the prospectus. The process of developing the prospectus begins when the student selects the research field and committee during the first semester of study. The candidate is expected to defend the prospectus before the close of the semester following the one in which the qualifying exam has been passed. Consult the graduate handbook for more details.
The dissertation must be an original contribution to knowledge and demonstrate the candidate’s proficiency in independent research. Consult the graduate handbook for more details.
Oral Defense of the Dissertation
Defenses include a presentation of the argument of the dissertation by the candidate and questions from each of the committee members. The candidate must take the final oral examination in defense of the dissertation within five years after passing the qualifying examinations. Consult the graduate handbook for more details.
Graduate Preparation in Public History (MA and PhD)
The department offers several public history emphases preparing students to apply the skills of the historian in careers beyond the classroom. Public historians focus their historical insight, expertise, and critical abilities in the broad—that is, public—community. Six areas of emphasis are offered within public history: business applications, community history, scholarly publishing, historic preservation, historical administration, and the public sector. Graduate course work in public history may be included in both master’s and doctoral programs of study.
The public history core combines specially designed course work and specific program requirements with traditional degree requirements. The department imposes additional admission requirements and includes periodic evaluations of public history students’ progress. (The business applications emphasis requires prerequisites in the business field.) Enrollment is limited to provide careful preparation and advising. The curriculum integrates required course work in a public history component with courses in a geographic area concentration. As a special feature of the program, short courses are taught each year by visiting public historians. Each emphasis requires completion of two short courses. Courses from other disciplines, such as anthropology, business, public administration, fine arts, geography, political science, and architecture (architectural history and preservation planning) may be included in a program of study when students have the necessary prerequisites and if the courses meet particular student needs or are required within the various emphases of the concentration. Students who select the scholarly publishing option must be admitted to the Scholarly Publishing Certificate program and complete all certificate requirements. (See Scholarly Publishing for more information.)
Course work for all areas of the program begins each fall semester with a required special workshop during the fall orientation week before classes start. Students are admitted for the fall semester, though some class work outside the public history field may be started earlier. With concentrated full-time study, the master’s public history component may be completed in four semesters, depending on the public history area selected for emphasis. In some instances, the mandatory internship or other program requirements must be completed during the summer months.
Each student in the program completes a core of courses appropriate to an area of emphasis. Basic to each core is the completion of HST 502 Public History Methodology during the first semester of study. The work introduced in this methodology class is continued in the public history research seminar (HST 591), required or optional, depending on the area of emphasis.
At the satisfactory completion of the training work and upon the recommendation of the appropriate director and the department, a certificate of completion is issued by the department. Assistance is provided in job placement.
Students interested in this curriculum should consult the department’s graduate handbook, which provides details about public history work.
COURSES
Information about all courses is available on the Web at ASU Interactive. For more information, see Classification of Courses.
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