School of Liberal Arts

Departmental E-mail: history [at] iupui [dot] edu

Departmental URL: www.iupui.edu/~history

Curriculum

Curriculum
Courses
Faculty

Degrees Offered

Master of Arts, dual Master of Arts and Master of Library Science, dual Master of Arts in History and Philanthropic Studies.

The M.A. program in History on the Indianapolis campus offers three areas of concentration: United States history, European history, and public history. United States and European history are traditional areas of concentration and will serve the needs of persons intending to pursue a doctoral program, those seeking a collateral degree to complement such other fields as education or library science, and individuals seeking personal fulfillment. Public history is designed to prepare persons inter­ested in pursuing careers as historians in such settings as histor­ical societies, museums, historic preservation organizations and historic parks, governmental agencies, and business corpora­tions. With its proximity to a large number of such institutions, the Indianapolis campus is an ideal location at which to pursue a degree in public history.

Special Departmental Requirements

(See also general University Graduate School requirements.)

Master of Arts Degree

Admission Requirements

1. Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university, with an overall undergraduate grade point average of at least 3.0 (B) and a minimum grade point average of 3.0 (B) in the student’s undergraduate major (an undergraduate major in history is not required, but applicants without such a background may be required to take additional course work in history at the undergraduate level as a condition for acceptance into the program);
2. Appropriate level of achievement on the Graduate Record Examination General Test (applicants with a post-graduate degree are not required to submit GRE scores); and
3. Three letters of recommendation.

Foreign Language

There is no foreign language requirement for the degree per se. However, those students who will incorporate foreign language documents in their graduate work (especially those concentrat­ing on European history) will be expected to translate non-English sources. They must thus demonstrate an appropriate level of competence in the relevant language before they begin work on their thesis. The Director of Graduate Studies and the student’s advisor may require the student to take additional coursework.

All students concentrating in European history should expect to demonstrate competence in a foreign language, ideally upon application to the program. (Competence is defined as two years of undergraduate coursework with a grade of B or better in the final semester, or demonstration of an equivalent read­ing proficiency in an approved foreign language exam.).  Stu­dents considering the possibility of going on for a Ph.D. should recognize that competence in at least one and sometimes two foreign languages is often a requirement in history doctoral programs.

Grades

No grade below B– (2.7) in history courses will be counted toward this degree.

Course Requirements

Students pursuing any one of the three concentration areas must take H500 or H501. Those electing United States history must take at least one graduate colloquium and one graduate seminar in United States history and at least one course in non-United States history. Students electing European history must take a graduate colloquium and seminar in that area and at least one course outside their concentration. With the consent of their faculty advisor, students may take as many as 6 credits outside the Department of History. Six (6) credits will be grant­ed upon successful completion of the required master’s thesis. A total of 30 credit hours is required for students concentrating in United States and in European history.

Students choosing public history as their area of concentration must take (1) H500 or H501, (2) H542, and (3) a colloquium and seminar in United States history, and (4) do an internship. Four (4) hours of credit will be granted upon satisfactory completion of the internship project. Public history students must also take at least one course outside United States history. With the con­sent of their faculty advisor, they may take as many as 6 credits outside the Department of History. Two (2) credits will be granted upon successful completion of the required master’s thesis. A minimum of 36 credit hours is required for students concentrating in public history.  Students admitted to the program after completing courses “graduate non-degree” will be allowed, at the department’s discretion, to transfer up to nine (9) credit hours toward their degree requirements. 

Dual Degree: Master of Library Science and Master of Arts in History

Study for these two degrees can be combined for a total of 53 credit hours rather than the 66 credit hours required for the two degrees if taken separately. Students take 23 credit hours in history, which must include History H547 (Archives), one graduate seminar and one graduate colloquium. No thesis is required for students earning an M.A. degree in history who are also earning a Master of Library Science (M.L.S.) under this dual degree program. No area of concentration is required, but students wishing to focus on public history for the M.A. in history must also include History H542 among the required 23 credits of history course work. Such students may, if they wish, do a public history internship and count a maximum of 2 credit hours of History H543 toward the degree. (Students may enroll in H543 only after having taken or while taking H542.)

The remaining 30 credit hours are taken in the School of Library and Information Science (SLIS). These include 15 credit hours of M.L.S. Foundation courses, 9 credit hours of other required courses, and 6 credits of SLIS electives. See the SLIS Bulletin for details.

Dual Degree: Master of Arts in History and Master of Arts in Philanthropic Studies

The dual M.A. in History and M.A. in Philanthropic Studies creates a unique opportunity to pursue critical inquiry into the historical, cultural, philosophical, and economic implications of voluntary action for the public good. Historians routinely study the role of nonprofit organizations, self-help groups, and philanthropic institutions. This dual degree program offers an interdisciplinary focus on the past, present, and future. This de­gree will be attractive to students wishing to pursue (1) careers that demand the skills and talents developed by cross-training in history and philanthropy; or (2) doctoral programs that en­courage new and creative approaches to the historical study of philanthropy, broadly defined.

Admission requirements for the dual degree program are identical to those for each program separately. A separate ap­plication must be made to each of the programs. Prospective students are expected to take responsibility for learning about and meeting the different admission requirements and dead­lines of each department. Students must make plans early with advisors in both programs to identify (1) common courses and (2) a thesis topic.

Study for these two degrees can be combined for a total of 51 credit hours (U.S. or European history concentrations) or 54 credit hours (public history) rather than the 66 or 72 credit hours that would be required if the two degrees were taken separately. For all concentrations, the required 700-level seminar for the M.A. in history may be selected as an elective to meet the philanthropic studies requirement for one of two theoretical electives. The required history courses with philan­thropic studies topics HIST H509 (Topic: History of Philanthropy in the West) or HIST H511 (Topic: History of American Philan­thropy) may be taken to meet the history requirement for a his­tory elective. Required courses PHIL P542 Ethics and Values of Philanthropy, or PHST P512 Human and Financial Resources for Philanthropy, may be taken to meet 3 credits of the 6 credits of outside electives that may be taken in the history program. For public history students, HIST H543 Practicum meets the requirement for PHST P590 Internship for the Philanthropic Studies program. A common thesis meets the requirements of both departments.

Ph.D. Minor in History

Students in other departments may minor in history by com­pleting, with a grade point average no lower than B (3.0), at least 12 credit hours of course work in history. A minimum of 6 credit hours must be taken on the Indianapolis campus. This course work shall include:

• HIST H501 Historical Methodology (4 cr.)
• Either a 600-level colloquium (e.g., HIST H620, H650) (4 cr.) or a 700-level seminar (e.g., HIST H730, H750) (4 cr.)
• At least 4 additional credit hours (which may include a maximum of 3 credits of HIST H575 Graduate Readings in History)

Certificate in Professional Editing

See the section titled “Professional Editing” for more information.

Certificate in Museum Studies

See the section titled “Museum Studies” for more information.