Students beginning coursework before Fall 2008:

Thirty graduate credits (10 courses) are required for the Master of Arts degree. Each student plans his or her program in consultation with a faculty advisor. Students choose a major field from the following seven fields of study:

1. Modern World History 
2. The United States, 1500-present 
3. Europe from Antiquity to 1650 
4. Europe 1500-1850 
5. Europe 1750-present 
6. The Atlantic World, 1500-1850 
7. The Mediterranean World from Antiquity to the Modern Era
   

Students also fulfill distributional requirements (at least two courses each in American and European history, at least one in a non-western field and one historiography course) and are required to pass a comprehensive examination at or near the end of their course work. A master’s thesis is not required, but in exceptional cases students may receive department approval to write a thesis, which will earn six of the 30 credits required for the degree.

Students beginning coursework in Fall 2008 or later:

Thirty graduate credits (10 courses) are required for the Master of Arts degree. Each student plans his or her program in consultation with a faculty advisor. Students must take at least four courses in one of the following concentrations:

Chronological:
14. In consultation with their adviser, students may elect a concentration defined as a particular era, such as: ancient and medieval; early modern, the "long nineteenth century," (1789-1914 in European history); the 20th century (1914-1989 European history); or another period historically coherent epoch.

Public History:
15. HIS 8702 – Public History; HIS 9006 – Graduate Internship in Public History (or Public History Practicum); Two additional courses in American history (HIS 8704-- Material Culture, recommended). Historiography course should be U.S. or comparative with strong U.S. component.

Self-Designed:
16. In consultation with their advisors and with the approval of the director of the graduate program, students may develop their own concentration. The courses must form a coherent and viable program of study. Students must provide their advisor and the director of the graduate program with a written rationale for the concentration and a list of the courses to be taken.

Students must also complete one course in historiography and pass a comprehensive examination at or near the end of their course work. No course may be applied to more than one requirement, e.g. to two concentrations, or to a concentration and the historiography requirement. A master’s thesis is not required, but in exceptional cases students may receive department approval to write a thesis, which will earn six of the 30 credits required for the degree.