MASTER OF ARTS IN HISTORY

John D. Fair, Coordinator
E-mail: john.fair@gcsu.edu

MISSION

History has been an integral part of the liberal arts curriculum at GCSU since its founding in 1889. The Master of Arts degree in History, instituted in 1971, is the oldest graduate program in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Firmly dedicated to preparing students for professional careers in historical research, teaching, and public service, this professional degree program is designed, by enrichment and extension, to enhance the liberal arts mission of the university.

The Master of Arts in History includes three options, each of which consist of thirty-six hours. The predoctoral program requires a thesis. The public history program, leading to careers outside the traditional classroom environment such as museums and archives, contains a thesis as well as a non-thesis option. The advanced studies program, which prepares students for careers in secondary education, junior college teaching and other fields, does not require a thesis.

REGULAR ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS

Applicants for admission to the program leading to the Master of Arts degree in History in either the predoctoral or public history history concentration must comply with the general requirements of the University System and of Georgia College & State University as described earlier in this catalog. The applicant must:

1. Hold a bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited institution with a major in history. A prospective student with a major in another field but with substantial work in history may be admitted.
2. Have an undergraduate cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.
3. Score a minimum of 500 on the verbal, 460 on the quantitative, and 4 on the analytical writing portions of the Graduate Record Examination.
4. Submit at least two letters of recommendation from undergraduate professors or other references able to comment on the applicant's writing ability and potential for successful graduate study.
5. Give reasonable assurance of ability to satisfy the foreign language requirement (see "Language Requirement," below).

Applicants for admission to the program leading to the Master of Arts degree in History in the advanced studies curriculum must comply with the general requirements of the University System and of Georgia College & State University as described earlier in this catalog. The applicant must:

1. Hold a bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited institution with a major in history, a related liberal arts major, or an advanced degree in an unrelated field.
2. Have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 for the last 60 hours of undergraduate study.
3. Score a minimum combined verbal/quantitative GRE score of 900, a minimum 500 verbal score, and an analytical writing score of 4.0.
4. Submit at least two letters of recommendation from undergraduate professors or other references able to comment on the applicant's potential for successful graduate study.

The complete application, including all supporting papers, should be filed with the Office of Enrollment Services not later than three weeks prior to the beginning of the semester in which the applicant proposes to begin graduate study. Applicants will be given a prompt decision upon receipt of necessary materials. Regular admission, which includes Admission to Candidacy, is granted upon recommendation of the Graduate Coordinator of the Department of History, Geography and Philosophy. Prospective applicants should consult, in person or by mail, with the Graduate Coordinator of the Department of History, Geography and Philosophy prior to filing an application. A student may enter the program any semester.

PROVISIONAL ADMISSION

Applicants who fail to meet one of the requirements for regular admission may be granted provisional status. Provisional students who take 12 semester hours of graduate history (HIST) courses with no grade less than a B will be granted regular status. The B grades must be earned in courses approved by the Graduate Coordinator for the degree program in which the student is seeking admission.

CONDITIONAL ADMISSION

Applicants who apply too late for full consideration for admission and/or have not submitted all required documents for evaluation may be assigned conditional admission status. While in this status a student may register for one semester only by completing a GCSU Conditional Registration Agreement for Graduate Students; this form requires the signatures of both the student and the Graduate Coordinator. Any student who registers under this agreement must be admitted to either regular or provisional status by the end of the first semester of enrollment to continue taking courses in the degree program.

Students may take no more than 12 semester hours of course work in conditional and provisional status combined.

CAREER INFORMATION

The Master of Arts degree in History prepares students for further study elsewhere toward the Ph.D. degree and for teaching on the community college level. More generally it develops research and writing skills that would be applicable to work in historical societies, archives, museums, libraries, national and state historical sites, journalism, law, the ministry, fiction and non-fiction writing, and government service. The M.A. in History in Public History provides a solid basis in historical scholarship and trains students specifically for careers in museums, archives, and other positions for interpreting history outside the classroom. It includes a six-hour practicum where students can utilize the rich resources of the Milledgeville locality or other historical sites throughout the state to gain hands-on experience. The Advanced Studies in History M.A. may be utilized for teaching at two-year colleges and high schools and for a variety of administrative positions where historical expertise is required.

PROGRAM OF STUDY

In predoctoral and public history concentrations students must satisfy a language requirement and pass a thesis defense or comprehensive examination. Prior to taking any thesis research course, students must write and defend a thesis prospectus. Each student is advised regularly by the history graduate coordinator and eventually by a thesis adviser. One three-hour graduate-level Political Science (POLS) or Geography (GEOG) course may be substituted for one optional history course in the United States and Europe concentrations.