Handouts - A Guide for Graduate Students in History
History

To facilitate your successful completion of the graduate program in History, the History faculty has prepared the following guide. It should be read along with the statement of requirements in the Graduate Catalog and supplemented by the handout “M.A. Degree in History: Frequently Asked Questions,” available from the secretary in Room 724 of the Auditorium Building or Suite 600 of the Schaumburg Campus. If you should have any questions after reading these materials, please see a graduate advisor in History.

1. Credit Hours and Required Courses

All students must complete 33 hours of graduate work, 36 hours for the non-thesis program, with a B average or better and no more than one C in a History course. All courses must be taken at the 400-level, including two required courses: History 401, Introduction to Graduate Studies (offered in the fall semester, rotating between the Chicago and Schaumburg campuses) to be taken during the first year in the program; and History 450, the Graduate Seminar, offered annually in the spring semester (it rotates between the Chicago and Schaumburg campuses). Both History 401 and History 450 are open to graduate students only. Nine hours of graduate work per semester is considered a full load.

2. The Master’s Thesis

Students may choose the thesis track (30 hours of course work and 3 hours of Hist 490, the Thesis).

The Thesis requires defining an original topic in consultation with the faculty member who best knows the field and will act as your sponsor. Further, it requires research in primary sources, and the writing of an extended narrative that is scholarly in format and in level of analysis. It also requires considerable time for faculty review. The deadline for submitting an approved copy of your thesis is April 1 (Spring graduation), June 1 (summer graduation) and November 1 (Fall graduation). Remember, this is a submission of an approved copy. You should plan on submitting your first draft to the appropriate faculty member at least four weeks prior to that deadline to allow time for revisions.

3. Comprehensive Examinations.

Students will be expected to pass two comprehensive examinations. These will be given in the following fields: American History to 1877; 2) American History since 1877; 3) African-American History; 4) European History; 5) World History; or 6) a special field having the approval of at least two full-time faculty members. Plan to take no more than one per semester and both of them at least one semester before the semester you plan to graduate. Exams will be given at the following times: fall semester—last week of October; spring semester—week after spring break; summer—week starting on or just after August 15. Students who do not pass an exam will have one opportunity to retake it. Two failures will result in dismissal from the program. Notify the Graduate Adviser early in the semester that you wish to take a comprehensive examination to arrange an exam date.

4. Language Requirement.

The History M.A. has no language requirement, but students who wish to do a thesis in European history should be aware that competence in a foreign language might be necessary. Furthermore, most doctoral programs require competence in one or two foreign languages.

5. Financial Aid.

Financial aid for course work comes as 1) tuition scholarships for a single course, for a semester (9 s.h.), or an academic year (18 s.h.) and 2) graduate assistantships (annual tuition and a living allowance). Awards are determined by merit; limited funds make them highly competitive. You may obtain scholarship application forms from the Graduate Admissions Office on either campus. The Department of History, Art History, and Philosophy (of which History is a member discipline) awards one graduate assistantship each year.

6. Advising.

It is your responsibility to keep informed about program regulations, various deadlines, and other matters related to the program, and to obtain formal course schedule advising in order to insure that requirements are met. In the first semester or two, you should map out a program of potential course work with your advisor and mid-way through your coursework, and again near the end of it, you should review that program with your advisor. It is to your advantage to consult your advisor regularly.

7. Application for Graduation.

Students wishing to graduate in a given term must announce their intention to do so by filing an “application to graduate” before the deadline in the Graduate Catalog. The form may be obtained from the Graduate Admissions Office on each campus.

History | Handouts