/College of Arts & Sciences
Department of History

Empowering Students to Study the Past and Shape the Future

Master's Program

The Master's Program in History

The History Department offers a master's program that qualifies students for employment in a number of fields, including teaching, government, and museum work. In past years a substantial number of people admitted to our program have ultimately gone on to pursue the PhD.

Prospective students should be aware that the department does not fund master's students. Graduate School regulations stipulate that master's students in departments that offer doctorates cannot be awarded teaching assistantships or similar forms of funding.

There are various opportunities for History master's students to receive certification in a related area of specialization:

  • Africana Studies
  • Creative Writing & Literature 
  • Globalization Studies & International Relations
  • Women's, Gender & Sexuality Studies
  • Writing & Rhetoric

Students gain personal enrichment when studying History

Our Master's programs are open to individuals seeking personal enrichment, whether or not history is directly related to their occupation. Students may enroll on either a full- or part-time basis.

Professional Track

The professional track is designed for both social studies teachers who need a master's degree for professional certification and those seeking advanced preparation for in careers government service, journalism, and other fields that demand a combination of research, writing skills, and knowledge of the past. This program provides a stronger grounding in history than do master's programs in liberal studies and teaching. Students benefit from exposure to doctoral students, but are are not required to take courses designed for PhD candidates.

Professional Track Requirements

Students must begin the program in Fall semester.

  • Three field seminars (9 credits)
  • Two theme seminars (6 credits)
  • One directed reading (3 credits)
  • Elective courses (12 credits): These can be selected from Field Seminars, Theme Seminars, directed studies and graduate courses offered in conjunction with other departments (e.g., Sociology, Africana Studies, and Cultural Analysis and Theory); there is also an option for a Master's thesis of 6 credits.

Total credits: 30

By the time the student has completed 24 credits (e.g. fall semester of his/her second year for a full-time student):

  • Secure the agreement of two faculty members (one of whom must be the student's Advisor) to serve on the orals examination committee.
  • The Advisor will examine the student in his or her major field of geographical focus
  • The second faculty member will examine the student in a complementary field (typically based on a theme seminar).

Oral Exams are intended to evaluate students' knowledge of their fields, emphasizing readings done as part of their course work and/or in their intended fields of academic and/or professional expertise. To prepare for Orals, students shall, in consultation with each of their committee members:

  • Compile a reading list for both of their fields.
  • Each of the two exam lists should include 15-20 books or equivalent in articles (3 articles=1 book), for a grand total of 30-40 books. 
  • The exam will be taken at the end of the student's course of study.
  • At least two months before the student's desired date for the Oral Exam, the student will present the members of his or her orals committee with a final list of books and topics to be examined.
  • Students may enroll in a Directed Readings course (sometimes termed an Orals workshop) to prepare for the examination.
  • Students are responsible for arranging a mutually acceptable date and time for the exam (and for notifying the Graduate Program Coordinator well in advance so that the necessary paperwork can be processed).
  • The exam will last approximately one hour, and it will be graded as "pass with distinction," "pass," or "fail." In the event of failure, the student may petition to take the exam a second time at a later date.

Students in this track can earn their degree either through coursework alone or by choosing to write a 6-credit master's thesis. The thesis will give students the opportunity to conduct independent research on a topic of interest using primary sources.

Students can also take up to 6 credits of content-based pedagogy courses, and we hope to be able to offer such courses as Teaching American History through Popular Culture, Introduction to Economics Education, and Teaching Geography.

Academic Track

The academic track is designed for individuals who aspire to a career in teaching or writing history at the college level, but who are not yet ready to enter a PhD program. Students in the academic track are required to enroll in the two-semester Core Seminar in historical theory and research during their second (or final) year in the program (or earlier with the approval of the Graduate Program Director and the student's Primary Advisor), and otherwise to generally follow the course of study of incoming doctoral (PhD) students. Students are only admitted to this track for studies beginning in the fall.

Academic Track Requirements

Students must begin the program in Fall semester.

Students in this track are expected to develop a concentration in a region or period, or in an interdisciplinary field, and to conduct research in this area of concentration in the Core Seminar.

As with the professional track, students in the academic track can earn their degree either through coursework alone or by choosing to write a 6-credit master's thesis. The thesis will give students the opportunity to conduct independent research on a topic of interest using primary sources.

  • Two field seminars (6 credits)
  • Two theme seminars (6 credits)
  • Core seminar (6 credits)
  • One directed reading (3 credits)
  • Elective courses (9 credits): These can be selected from Field Seminars, Theme Seminars, directed studies and graduate courses offered in conjunction with other departments (e.g., Sociology, Africana Studies, and Cultural Analysis and Theory); there is also an option for a Master's thesis (6 credits)

    Total credits: 30

By the time the student has completed 24 credits (e.g. fall semester of his/her second year for a full-time student):

  • Secure the agreement of two faculty members (one of whom must be the student's Advisor) to serve on the orals examination committee.
  • The Advisor will examine the student in his or her major field of geographical focus
  • The second faculty member will examine the student in a complementary field (typically based on a theme seminar).

Oral exams are intended to evaluate students' knowledge of their fields, emphasizing readings done as part of their course work and/or in their intended fields of academic and/or professional expertise. To prepare for Orals, students shall, in consultation with each of their committee members:

  • Compile a reading list for both of their fields.
  • Each of the two exam lists should include 15-20 books or equivalent in articles (3 articles=1 book), for a grand total of 30-40 books. 
  • The exam will be taken at the end of the student's course of study.
  • At least two months before the student's desired date for the Oral Exam, the student will present the members of his or her orals committee with a final list of books and topics to be examined.
  • Students may enroll in a Directed Readings course (sometimes termed an Orals workshop) to prepare for the examination.
  • Students are responsible for arranging a mutually acceptable date and time for the exam (and for notifying the Graduate Program Coordinator well in advance so that the necessary paperwork can be processed).
  • The exam will last approximately one hour, and it will be graded as "pass with distinction," "pass," or "fail." In the event of failure, the student may petition to take the exam a second time at a later date.

Master's students with a concentration in European history must pass a written exam in an appropriate foreign language. Students in Latin American history must pass a written exam in Spanish or Portuguese. The other areas of concentration currently do not require a foreign language for the master's degree.

Master's to PhD

For students seeking to enter SBU PhD Program

  • Master's students seeking to enter the PhD Program must submit a formal application to the Graduate School. Admission into the PhD program is not guaranteed. Meanwhile, master's students are welcome and indeed encouraged to participate in all departmental activities.

Advising and Evaluation

  • When students are accepted into the master's program, they are assigned a first-year Advisor based on the areas of interest indicated by the student in his or her application. Students may change Advisors with the permission of the Graduate Director (of course, the permission of the faculty member who is to be the new Advisor is also required, as is the permission of the original Advisor).
  • Advisors will meet with new students to discuss program requirements and the student's individual course of study, and they will meet with their advisees on a regular basis as they progress through the program. Ideally, students should consult with their Advisors about their course of study (including general course selection, language requirements, and enrollment in courses outside the department) at the beginning of each semester.