Entrance Requirements
Students seeking admission to the graduate program in History must, under normal circumstances, meet the basic requirements of Graduate Studies specified on page 22 of this Catalogue. In addition the following are required:
1. A combined (V + Q) GRE score of 1,000,
2. At least two letters of recommendation that discuss your suitability for graduate study,
3. A writing sample of scholarly work.
Master of Arts, Plan I. This degree plan is intended for teachers seeking preparation in History as the major field and in a logically related minor field. The degree calls for eighteen semester hours in History and twelve semester hours in the minor field. Of the eighteen hours in History, twelve must be equally divided between a primary and secondary history field (Early United States History, Later United States History, Modern European History, and World History). The remaining six semester hours of History are devoted to the preparation of a thesis. (A 36-hour nonthesis program is available.) The student's understanding of the major fields is tested by an oral comprehensive examination, while understanding of the minor field is determined by the particular department in which the minor is taken.
Master of Arts, Plan II. This degree plan was established for the benefit of prospective junior and senior college teachers as well as for students who intend to pursue doctoral studies after leaving Sam Houston State University. This program calls for a minimum of thirty semester hours in History, including six semester hours of credit for a thesis. (A 36-hour nonthesis program is available.) Plan II students may choose from one of the following curriculum patterns:
Pattern A: Primary Field in Early or Later American History.
18 semester hours, including the thesis in United States 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.
The oral and written comprehensive examination will cover the three fields.
Master of Education, Plan II. 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 twelve to twenty-four hours of course work in History, six to twelve semester hours in a secondary teaching field, and twelve to eighteen semester hours in Education, for a total of thirty-six semester hours. No thesis is required under this plan.
A student choosing to take twenty-four hours of History is expected to take comprehensive examinations in three fields of History (Early and Later United States History, Modern European, and World History). A student electing to take from twelve to eighteen semester hours of History is required to take comprehensive examinations in two 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, English and British Imperial 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.