Degree Requirements for the MA in History
To summarize, the MA.degree requirements for the history track are as follows:
- History 600: Research and Methods, 3 credits
- History 605: Colloquium, 3 credits
- 5 Electives 15 credits
- History 698: Thesis Preparation, 3 credits
- History 699: MA Thesis, 6 credits
- History Foreign Language Examination
Total 30 credits
Candidates must complete 30 hours of courses, comprised of three required courses, five electives chosen from current offerings in the department (two of which may be upper level undergraduate courses), and the MA thesis. Graduate students must do extra work in the undergraduate courses as described below. In addition, students must pass the History foreign language requirement and an oral defense of the thesis.
The required courses are the following:
The MA Thesis
All thesis proposals in History and History & Historical Archaeology must be signed by the thesis supervisor and approved by the Graduate Committee before the project can be pursued.
MA candidates in History are required to register for History 698: Thesis Preparation. Students in History & Historical Archaeology are not required to take History 698 but should consult with the Director of History & Historical Archaeology track to adapt their thesis proposals to the specifications outlined below.
MA candidates in History should begin formulating a thesis topic by the time they have completed half of their coursework. With a topic in mind, the student should go to the member of the department who would be best suited to supervise the thesis and begin to work out the project in greater detail. This must be done before registering for History 698.
In History 698, the student will develop a detailed thesis proposal and bibliography for approval by the supervisor of the thesis and for submission to the History Graduate Committee.
The thesis proposal developed in History 698 must be signed by the supervisor. The student must make five copies of the signed proposal and submit them to the graduate program director for distribution to the Graduate Committee. The copies must be delivered to the graduate program director at least one week before the scheduled Graduate Committee meeting at which the proposal is to be considered.
The proposal should be approximately five to seven typed pages in length (1250-1750 words) and should:
- State the purpose of the thesis, that is, clearly specify the historical question or issue it is to investigate;
- Indicate how an examination of this specific question or issue may help to illuminate broader historical questions;
- Outline the methods or approach to be used in dealing with the topic of the thesis;
- Indicate the nature and availability of the sources to be used;
- Include a bibliography.
After successfully completing History 698, the student registers for History 699: MA Thesis. History & Historical Archaeology students register for Anthropology 599: Thesis Projects in Historical Archaeology. If the thesis is not completed in that semester, the student receives an Incomplete, which appears as a “Y” on the transcript until the thesis is completed and defended and the supervisor submits a letter grade.
The style and scholarly apparatus of the thesis must conform to the accepted standards and practices of professional publications. For students in History, these are specified in Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. Footnotes may be placed at the end of the thesis rather than at the bottom of the page. The thesis must also conform to the specifications regarding format, paper, etc., of the Guidelines for the Preparation of Theses & Dissertations at the University of Massachusetts Boston, obtainable from the Office of Graduate Studies. A length of 60-80 pages (15,000 to 20,000 words), exclusive of notes and bibliography, is recommended although individual theses will vary in length.
The completed thesis will be defended before a committee of three, consisting of the supervisor and two other readers chosen in consultation among the supervisor, the student, and the Graduate Program Director. For theses in History, at least two of the three readers must be members of the History department; for theses in History & Historical Archaeology, at least one reader must be a member of the Anthropology Department and one a member of the History Department. It is the responsibility of the student to provide the three readers with copies of the thesis several weeks before the scheduled date of the defense. The readers’ committee will examine the student orally for approximately one hour, both on the thesis itself and on the general field into which the thesis falls. To pass the defense, the student must receive at least two affirmative votes. The thesis supervisor informs the Graduate Program Director of the result of the defense.
When the thesis has been successfully defended, and any corrections or revisions required by the readers’ committee have been made, the signatory page of the original typescript is signed by the three readers and the Graduate Program Director. The student must submit the original typescript and the two copies with the binding fee to the Office of Graduate Studies for professional binding by the University of Massachusetts Boston Library. Two copies will be deposited in the Healey Library. A third bound copy must also be submitted to the History Department for its files. Additional bound copies of the thesis that have been ordered by the student are sent by the Office of Graduate Studies to the History Department. The department will notify the student, who can make arrangements to get them.
Upon successful completion of the thesis defense, the thesis supervisor determines a letter grade for History 699 or Anthropology 599 and submits it to the Office of Graduate Studies. When the successfully defended thesis is ready for binding, the student fills out the front page of the Degree Application Form and submits it to the Graduate Program Director to be completed.
There is a commencement fee required for graduation. This fee must be paid by the time a student files for graduation.
Foreign Language Examination
The History Department requires that students in the MA History track demonstrate by written examination a reading knowledge of one foreign language. The language requirement reflects the department’s belief that the recipient of an advanced degree in history should be able to pursue research in at least one language besides English. Such an ability is of value not only to those whose field is the history of a foreign area but to all historians, both as a useful skill and as an insight into the mentality of a foreign culture.
The examination, administered by the department and lasting one and a half hours, requires the translation into correct English of a text taken from a foreign-language history journal or monograph. The use of a dictionary is permitted. Evaluation of the translation takes into account both the quality and the quantity of the material translated. Foreign language exams are generally administered in November (fall term) and in April (spring term) and are graded Pass/Fail.
Students may take the language examination in any semester of their graduate studies. A refresher course, either at the University of Massachusetts Boston or elsewhere may be advisable. A student who does not pass the exam may take it two more times. Any student may take the examination in French, German, or Spanish. Exams in those languages are given each semester. With the approval of the Graduate Program Director, a student may take the examination in another foreign language, but only if it is directly relevant to the student’s research. Students for whom English is not their native language are exempted from the foreign language examination.