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[Course Descriptions]
Graduate study in History at Sam Houston
State University concentrates on the following objectives:
to prepare public school and junior college teachers; to train
individuals for the expanding requirements of state historical
societies, museums, and the civil service; to provide a background
for careers in law and journalism; to equip students for future
graduate study; and to prepare students for careers in the
various fields of public history. The graduate curriculum
focuses on Early and Later United States History, Modern European
History, and World History.
Admission Requirements
Students seeking admission to the graduate
program in History must, under normal circumstances, meet
the basic requirements of Graduate Studies specified in the
ADMISSION section of this catalogue. In addition the following
are required:
- At least two letters of recommendation
that discuss your suitability for graduate study
- A writing sample of scholarly work
Master of Arts, Plan I. This degree
plan is intended for graduate students who wish to write a
thesis as part of their degree program. This program calls
for a minimum of 30 semester hours in history, including 6
semester hours of credit for the thesis. Plan I students may
choose from one of the following curriculum patterns:
Pattern A: Primary Field in Early
or Later U.S. History.
18 semester hours, including the thesis,
in U.S. History.
12 semester hours, divided between two secondary fields.
Pattern B: Primary Field in Modern
European History or World History.
18 semester hours, including the thesis,
in European History.
12 semester hours, divided between two secondary fields.
Pattern C: Primary Field in Military
History
18 semester hours, including the thesis,
in Military History.
12 semester hours, divided between two secondary fields.
The student's understanding of the three
fields is tested by oral and written comprehensive examinations.
Master of Arts, Plan II. This degree
plan is intended for graduate students who prefer all of their
course work to be in History and who prefer not to write a
thesis. The degree calls for 36 semester hours in History.
Plan II students may choose from one of the following curriculum
patterns:
Pattern A: Primary Field in Early
or Later U.S. History.
21 semester hours in U.S. History.
15 semester hours divided between two secondary fields.
Pattern B: Primary Field in Modern
European History or World History.
21 semester hours in Modern European History
or World History.
15 semester hours divided between two secondary fields.
Pattern C: Primary Field in Military
History
18 semester hours in Military History.
18 semester hours divided between two secondary fields.
The student's understanding of the three
fields is tested by oral and written comprehensive examinations.
Master of Arts, Plan III. This degree
plan is intended for students seeking preparation in History
as the major field and in a logically-related minor field.
The degree calls for 24 semester hours in History and 12 semester
hours in the minor field. Of the 24 hours in History, 15 must
be in a primary history field and 9 in a secondary history
field (Early U.S. History, Later U.S. History, Modern European
History, and World History). The student's understanding of
the primary and secondary fields is tested by oral and written
comprehensive examinations, while understanding of the minor
field is determined by the particular department in which
the minor is taken.
Master of Education, Plan III. This
degree plan is intended for teachers of History at the secondary
level and is initiated in the College of Education and Applied
Science. Students enrolled under this plan may take from 12
to 24 hours of course work in History, 6 to 12 semester hours
in a secondary teaching field, and 12 to 18 semester hours
in Education, for a total of 36 semester hours. No thesis
is required under this plan. A student choosing to take 24
hours of History is expected to take comprehensive examinations
in 3 fields of History (Early U.S., Later U.S., Modern European,
and World History). A student electing to take from 12 to
18 semester hours of History is required to take comprehensive
examinations in 2 History fields. Students enrolled for the
Master of Education, Plan II, must also satisfy the requirements
for a second teaching field (or minor) as set forth by the
department in which the minor is taken.
History Curriculum. The History curriculum
consists of courses in various fields of American history,
European history, World history, and Latin American history.
For the most part, the courses offered are "studies"
courses intended to strengthen a student's mastery of factual
content and historical relationships through lectures, intensive
reading, class discussion, and reports on selected topics;
and are designed as well to provide instruction in bibliography,
the analysis of scholarly literature, and historiography.
There is a departmental "seminar" course, taught
at varying times by different instructors. This course is
expected to develop skills in locating, extracting, evaluating,
and synthesizing historical information in organized research
projects. This research emphasis may be supplemented by lectures
and readings in the particular field upon which the professor
wishes to focus. There is also a departmental course in historical
methodology and bibliography required on all degree plans.
Certain 400 level courses may be taken for graduate credit.
GRADUATE COURSES
HISTORY COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
HIS 561 AMERICAN
CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS HISTORY. A study of selected topics
in the cultural and religious history of the peoples of North
America; the course focuses on the patterns of beliefs and
values held by American men and women which have shaped each
major period from colonial times to the present. Credit 3.
*HIS 563 SEMINAR
IN MILITARY HISTORY. Selected topics in Military History.
Credit 3.
HIS 571 COLONIAL
AND REVOLUTIONARY AMERICA. This is essentially a readings-oriented
course. Broad themes from the colonial-revolutionary period
will be singled out. Readings will be assigned to familiarize
students with the general themes. More specific readings will
be assigned and individual reports will be discussed at length
in class. Credit 3.
HIS 572 EARLY NATIONAL
AMERICA. Studies tracing the development of the United
States from 1783 to 1840; the failure of the Confederation;
organization of government under the Constitution; the Federalist
Period; Jeffersonian democracy; the War of 1812; national
growth in the post-war period; political and economic change;
the party structure; the rise of Jackson; and social reform.
Credit 3.
HIS 573 HISTORY
OF THE ANTEBELLUM SOUTH, THE CIVIL WAR, AND RECONSTRUCTION.
Studies intended to cover selected topics in the political,
economic, business, and social institutions of the Southern
states from the Colonial Period through the Reconstruction
Era. Credit 3.
HIS 575 RECENT AMERICA,
1876-1933. Studies designed to cover social, economic,
cultural, and political developments, including the rise of
big business, the swell of agrarian protest, United States
emergence as a world power, the Progressive movement, Wilson's
New Freedom, World War I, and the 1920s. Credit 3.
HIS 576 CONTEMPORARY
AMERICA, 1933-PRESENT. This course will offer a careful
survey of United States history since 1933, including such
topics as the Great Depression, the New Deal, World War II,
the Cold War, the Vietnam War, the civil rights movement,
and America in the 1970s and 1980s. Credit 3.
HIS 577 THE AMERICAN
WEST. A course to provide investigation of the exploration
and settlement of the West, a critical study of the Turner
Thesis on the significance of the frontier in American History,
the creation of territories and admission of new states, the
war with Mexico, the mining frontier, the cattle frontier,
and the opening of the Great Plains to agricultural development.
Credit 3.
HIS 579 AMERICAN
SOCIAL AND INTELLECTUAL HISTORY. Studies covering the
major literature on the development of American political,
social, economic, and religious thought from the Colonial
Period to the present and the relationship of the history
of ideas to the development of American political and social
institutions. Credit 3.
HIS 582 TOPICS IN
THE HISTORY OF WOMEN. A study of selected topics in the
history of women; the course focuses on the experiences of
women of diverse cultural, racial, and ethnic backgrounds.
The course examines women's responses to social forces during
critical periods in their history. Credit 3.
HIS 583 UNITED STATES
DIPLOMATIC HISTORY. Studies tracing the development of
United States foreign policy from 1775 to the present; diplomacy
of the Revolutionary Era; the Early Republic; Manifest Destiny;
the Civil War Era; Imperialism and Expansion; the Great Crusade
and after; World War II; and the Cold War. The emphasis is
on the forces which have influenced diplomacy and on the changing
interpretations of United States foreign policy. Credit 3.
HIS 584 TEXAS HISTORY.
An in-depth examination of Texas history, including study
of indigenous peoples, Spanish colonization, the Mexican era,
Anglo- and African-American settlement, the Revolution and
Republic period, statehood, Civil War and Reconstruction,
the cattle kingdom, the oil industry, and political and economic
modernization. The course may be conducted as either a research
or reading seminar. Credit 3.
HIS 585 LATIN AMERICAN
HISTORY. The topics for this course will vary from semester
to semester among such subjects as the diplomatic, political,
social, and intellectual history of specific geographical
areas in Latin America; i.e., Mexico, the Caribbean, the Anglo-Spanish
border lands, or South America. Credit 3.
HIS 589 GREAT BRITAIN
AND THE BRITISH EMPIRE. The topics for this course will
vary from semester to semester among various chronological
periods and will deal specifically with British religious,
political, social, cultural, economic and imperial history.
Credit 3.
HIS 591 ASIAN HISTORY.
The topics for this course will vary from semester to semester
among such subjects as the diplomatic, political, social,
economic and intellectual history of specific geographical
areas in Asia, i.e. East Asia, the Subcontinent, and South
East Asia. Credit 3.
HIS 593 EUROPEAN
DIPLOMATIC HISTORY. Studies covering selected topics in
the history of European international politics from the 18th
through the 20th century. Alternate emphasis will be placed
on Eastern and Western Europe as well as on different eras
of diplomacy, at the discretion of the instructor. Credit
3.
HIS 594 EARLY MODERN
EUROPE. A study of selected topics in Early Modern Europe.
Credit 3.
HIS 595 LATER MODERN
EUROPE. A study of selected topics in Later Modern European
History. Credit 3.
HIS 597 INDEPENDENT
STUDY. This is a course designed for studies of individually
selected topics not specifically provided in any of the formal
courses. Prerequisite: Consent of History Department Chair.
Credit 3.
HIS 694 SEMINAR
IN HISTORY. Research seminar in selected topics. Credit
3.
HIS 695 WORKSHOP:
TEACHING HISTORY. An opportunity to learn of new historical
interpretations in particular fields, new teaching strategies,
and new developments in the general discipline of history.
Credit 3.
HIS 698 HISTORICAL
METHODOLOGY AND BIBLIOGRAPHY. A concentrated approach
to historical research emphasizing bibliographic techniques,
critical evaluation of historical documents, historiographical
interpretations, narrative analyses and organization, and
writing skills. Required on all degree plans. Credit 3.
HIS 699 THESIS.
Credit 3.
* Subject to action by the Board
of Regents, The Texas State University System, and the Texas
Higher Education Coordinating Board.
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