Program Requirements -
Master of Arts (M.A.)

This program offers a range of degree plans which allow students to pursue their interest in history while acquiring specific skills useful for professional employment or further academic work. M.A. degrees are offered in European, Latin American, Public, and U.S. History.

Plan I: Thesis Track
Plan II: Public History Track
Plan III: Non-thesis Track

Plan I: Thesis Track

Major area:

Each student must declare a major area of study, selecting from United States, European, or Latin American history. Within the major area, each student must also develop an intensive knowledge of one field, selected from the following:

EUROPE

Hellenistic History, 330-30 B.C.
Early Middle Ages
High Middle Ages
Late Middle Ages
English Legal and Constitutional
Early Modern England
Early Modern European Intellectual History
Ancient Regime and Revolutionary France
Modern Britain & Empire
19th Century Europe
Modern Germany
Modern France
Modern European Social and Women’s History
Modern European Intellectual

LATIN AMERICA

Latin America to 1825
Latin America since 1825

UNITED STATES

United States to 1877
United States since 1877

Course work:

Thirty (30) hours of credit in graduate-level (6000) courses are required, including the following:

a. Fifteen (15) hours of course work in the student’s major area.

• U. S. history students must take at least one readings seminar in the major field area. History 6353: Introduction to Graduate Studies in U.S. History is no longer required; those who have completed the course can count it toward their readings courses.
• European history students must take two historiography classes: History 6321: European Historiography to the Sixteenth Century and 6322: European Historiography from the Sixteenth Century to the Present.
• Latin American history students must take two Latin American historiography courses, one in the colonial and one in the national period.

b. At least three (3) hours of research seminar.

• For US history students, ordinarily this requirement will be met by taking History 6363: Introductory Seminar in U.S. History or 6394: Research Seminar in U.S. History.
• European history students take History 6340: Seminar in European History.
• Latin American history students take 6311, 6313, or 6315, research seminars in Mexican or Latin American history.
• A Special Problems research class in the student’s major field of interest may also be used to fulfill this requirement.

c. Six (6) hours of course work in a minor area.

• Each student majoring in the history of Europe, Latin America, and the United States must declare a minor area of study; Latin American or U.S. for European majors; Europe or U.S. for Latin American majors; Europe or Latin America for U.S. majors.
• A minor in public history may replace a minor in U.S., Europe, or Latin America. This alternative requires six (6) hours of course work, consisting of History 6381 and three (3) additional hours chosen in consultation with the Director of the Public History Program and the Director of Graduate Studies in History.
• A minor in world history also may replace a minor in U.S., Europe, or Latin America. It requires nine (9) hours, consisting of one course in world history, two in a specific geographic area different from the student’s major area. (See your advisor for details.)

d. Six (6) hours of thesis credit.

• A thesis is required as a major exercise in research, interpretation, and writing on a significant historical topic. After completion of other course work, the student must register for at least three (3) hours of thesis credit each semester until the thesis is completed and defended. However, during the semester of graduation the student is required to be enrolled in six (6) thesis hours.

  An oral examination in defense of the thesis will be conducted by the thesis committee after the final draft has been completed. The thesis committee will consist of the thesis director (academic advisor), two other faculty members from the Department of History, and a faculty member from outside the department.

  If a student’s defense is not considered satisfactory, he/she may repeat the examination only once. The committee will designate the student’s achievement by awarding one of three grades: Pass with Distinction, Pass, or Fail.

Foreign Language Requirement:

Before a student is approved for degree candidacy, he/she must demonstrate reading proficiency in a foreign language relevant to the major area in one of six ways:

a. Score of 550 or higher on the Graduate Student Foreign Language Test
(GSFLT) given by Educational Testing Service, Princeton, N.J.

b. Certification of competency by the Modern and Classical Language Department at the main campus of the University of Houston.

c. A grade of B or better in two graduate (6000-level) readings courses in the foreign language. A grade of B- will not be accepted. Please note that these graduate-level courses are currently being taught only sporadically by the Department of Modern and Classical Languages—you should not rely on them being offered in any particular semester.

d. A grade of B or better in one graduate (6000-level) readings course in the foreign language plus a 500 word translation. A grade of B- will not be accepted.

e. Recent completion of beginning and intermediate college levels (four semesters) of foreign language with a grade of B or better. (Placing out of beginning courses may be considered as fulfilling part of the requirement.)

f. If a student cannot satisfy the Language Requirement in another way, it may
be possible for a History Department faculty member with competence in the language to provide certification. Note: This is only an option when it is impossible to satisfy the requirement by options (a) - (e).

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Plan II: Public History Track

Major area:

The student must indicate a major area of study from one of the following: United States, European, or Latin American history. Each public history student will select an appropriate set of courses in the major field in consultation with the Director of the Public History Program.

Course work:

Thirty (30) hours of credit in graduate-level (6000) courses are required, including the following:

a. History 6381: Readings in Public History, and History 6382: Research in Public History.

b. A methodology course drawn from the following list or an alternative through consultation with the Director of the Public History Program:

History 6380: The Uses of Quantitative Methods by Historians
History 6384: Oral History
History 6387: Historical Archives and Records Management
History 6388: Material Evidence
History 6383: Topics in Public History

c. Nine (9) hours of course work in the student’s major field.

d. History 6651: Public History Internship.

• A supervised work experience in Public History, ordinarily in a private business, government agency, museum, community organization, or historical society usually in the Houston-Galveston metropolitan region. The typical internship will require half-time work (20 hours per week) for one semester. Each internship must be approved and supervised by the Director of the Public History Program.

e. Six (6) semester hours of thesis credit.

• A thesis is required as a major exercise in research, interpretation, and writing on a significant historical topic. After completion of other course work, the student must register for three (3) hours of thesis credit each semester until the thesis is completed and defended. However, during the semester of graduation the student is required to be enrolled in six (6) thesis hours.

  An oral examination in defense of the thesis will be conducted by the thesis committee after the final draft has been completed. If a student’s defense is not considered satisfactory, he/she may repeat the examination only once. The committee will designate the student’s achievement by awarding one of three grades: Pass with Distinction, Pass, or Fail.

Foreign Language Requirement:

Before a student is approved for degree candidacy, he/she must demonstrate proficiency in a foreign language relevant to the major area. However, after consultation with the student's advisor and/or the Director of the Public History Program, a student in public history can petition the Director of Graduate Studies to replace the language requirement with a quantitative option—two graduate-level courses—from a list of courses approved by the History Department. Students must receive a B or better in each of the courses.

Before a student is approved for degree candidacy, he/she must demonstrate reading proficiency in a foreign language relevant to the major area in one of six ways:

a. Score of 550 or higher on the Graduate Student Foreign Language Test
(GSFLT) given by Educational Testing Service, Princeton, N.J.

b. Certification of competency by the Modern and Classical Language Department at the main campus of the University of Houston.

c. A grade of B or better in two graduate (6000-level) readings courses in the foreign language. A grade of B- will not be accepted. Please note that these graduate-level courses are currently being taught only sporadically by the Department of Modern and Classical Languages—you should not rely on them being offered in any particular semester

d. A grade of B or better in one graduate (6000-level) readings course in the foreign language plus a 500 word translation. A grade of B- will not be accepted.

e. Recent completion of beginning and intermediate college levels (four semesters) of foreign language with a grade of B or better. (Placing out of beginning courses may be considered as fulfilling part of the requirement.)

g. If a student cannot satisfy the Language Requirement in another way, it may
be possible for a History Department faculty member with competence in the language to provide certification. Note: This is only an option when it is impossible to satisfy the requirement by options (a) - (e).

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Plan III: Non-thesis Track

Major Area:

Before the beginning of the second semester of graduate work, the student must indicate a major area of study from one of the following: United States, European, or Latin American history. Students will also be expected to develop through at least six (6) hours of course work knowledge of the history and interpretations of one field in their major area, selected from the following list:

EUROPE

Hellenistic History, 330-30 B.C.
Early Middle Ages
High Middle Ages
Late Middle Ages
English Legal and Constitutional
Early Modern England
Early Modern European Intellectual History
Ancient Regime and Revolutionary France
Modern Britain & Empire
19th Century Europe
Modern Germany
Modern France
Modern European Social and Women’s History
Modern European Intellectual

LATIN AMERICA

Latin America to 1825
Latin America since 1825

UNITED STATES

United States to 1877
United States since 1877

Course work:

Thirty-six (36) hours of credit in graduate (6000-level) courses are required, including the following:

a. Twenty-one (21) or more hours of course work in the student’s major area.

• All European history students must take two historiography classes: History 6321: European Historiography to the Sixteenth Century, and 6322: European Historiography from the Sixteenth Century to the Present.
• All Latin American history students must take two Latin American historiography courses, one in the colonial period and one in the national period.

b. At least one research seminar.

• Ordinarily this requirement will be met by taking either History 6363: Introductory Seminar in U. S. History or 6394: Research Seminar in U.S. History (for concentrators in U.S. history); History 6340: Seminar in European History (for concentrators in European history); 6311, 6313, or 6315, Research Seminar in Latin American History (for concentrators in Latin American history); or in a Special Problems research class in the student’s major field of interest.

c. Six (6) hours of course work in a minor area (United States, European, or Latin American history, depending on field of concentration), six (6) hours in public history (consisting of History 6381 and three additional hours chosen in consultation with the Director of the Institute of Public History and the Director of Graduate Studies in History), or nine (9) hours in world history (consisting of one course in world history and two courses in a specific geographic area different from the student’s major area).

An oral comprehensive examination:

The student will take an oral comprehensive exam over one field of the major area to be evaluated by a committee of three faculty members approved by the Director of Graduate Studies in History. This examination will normally be taken during the last semester of course work. The examining committee will designate the student’s achievement by awarding one of three grades: Pass with Distinction, Pass, or Fail.

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