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 on page 22 of this Catalogue. In addition the following are required:

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 thirty semester hours in history, including six 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.

Pattern B: Primary Field in Modern European History or World History.

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 thirty-six 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.

Pattern B: Primary Field in Modern European History or World History.

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 twenty-four semester hours in History and twelve semester hours in the minor field. Of the twenty-four hours in History, fifteen must be in a primary history field and nine 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 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 U.S., Later U.S., 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

HIS 594  EARLY MODERN EUROPE. A study of selected topics in Early Modern Europe.

HIS 595  LATER MODERN EUROPE. A study of selected topics in Later Modern European History.

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.

HIS 694  SEMINAR IN HISTORY. Research seminar in selected topics.

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.

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.

HIS 699  THESIS.