College of Arts and Sciences
Departments
History, Philosophy, Political Science, and Religious Studies
History
M.A. in History (ONLINE)
By studying the past, we are better able to understand and communicate the importance of issues in our contemporary world. The IU Online Master of Arts in History explores geographic regions of the world in both modern and pre-modern time periods to identify historical actors, events of significance, and social movements.
Gain graduate-level historical knowledge, critical thinking skills, and techniques for clear and persuasive writing. Learn to recognize historiographic trends and their meanings, perform research, and construct original historical arguments. Your studies will culminate in at least one semester-long research project of original scholarship.
Specific areas of focus include:
- Early America (1400–1800)
- The long 19th century in the US (1800–1917)
- Modern United States (1917–present)
- The US and the world
- European history
- Latin American history
- Asian history
- African history
Program Learning Outcomes
1. Effective oral and written historical communication skills• Apply historical methods
• Identify and describe broader historical context beyond one geographical region
• Explain historiographic trends
• Connect historical events/issues to contemporary situations
2. Ability to perform research
• Locate and identify primary source material (written, visual, material culture,
artistic, oral, photographic, video, digital)
• Locate and identify secondary source material
• Employ appropriate academic style and citations
3. Ability to construct original historical arguments
• Assess validity of historical sources
• Analyze historical sources to develop and support an argument
• Produce article-length original research papers and projects
4. Develop competencies in digital and public history
• Evaluate, develop, and use digital tools for historical research and presentation
• Employ the methods and theories of digital and public history
Degree Requirements
To earn the IU collaborative MA in History, students must complete 10 graduate History courses for a total of 30 credits and satisfy the following core and distribution requirements:
1. Historical Methodology (3 Cr)
Complete: HIST-T 510 Historical Methodology
2. Digital and Public History (3 Cr)
Complete: HIST-T 570 Digital and Public History
3. One four-course major field (12 Cr)
The collaborative MA in History offers two major options—U.S. History or World History
Option one: U.S. History (complete 4 of 5)
HIST-T 520 Teaching College History
HIST-T 530 Early America, 1400-1800
HIST-T 540 The Long 19thCentury, 1800-1917
HIST-T 550 Modern United States, 1917-Present
HIST-T 560 US and the World –Comparative History
Option Two: World History (complete 4 of 5)
HIST-T531 European History
HIST-T541 Latin American History
HIST-T551 Asian History
HIST-T 561 African History (in development)
HIST-T571 World History
Students in the World History major may repeat any one of the major courses once for credit provided the repeated course has a different topic. Students cannot count a third enrolment in a particular course in the MA History (even if all three versions have different topics). This ensures that students cover at least two regions when completing the World History major.
4. Minor Field (6 cr)
Two courses chosen from the list of courses listed for the other major.
5. Historical Research (3 Cr)
Complete: HIST-T 590 Research Seminar in History
6. MA History Capstone (3 Cr)
Students complete one of the following three options:
- HIST-T 590 Research Seminar in History—Students produce an additional semester long project research on a topic of the student’s own choosing in consultation with the instructor of record that will culminate in an article-length work (8,000 to 10,000 words excluding notes and bibliography) of original scholarship based on primary and secondary sources.
- HIST-T 591 Research Seminar in Digital and Public History P: T570 Digital and Public History. Students produce a digital or public history project based in original scholarship.
- HIST-T 592 Thesis Students produce a thesis length research project that builds on a previous paper and is based on original scholarship. The outcome will be at least 40 pages in length.