Department
of History
113 Garinger Building
704-687-4633
http://www.uncc.edu/colleges/arts_and_sciences/history/
Degree
M.A., Ph.D. (joint degree with the
Coordinator
Dr. Cynthia Kierner
Graduate
Faculty (UNC Charlotte)
Cemil Aydin, Assistant Professor
Mario Azevedo, Professor
Jurgen Buchenau, Associate Professor
Karen Cox, Assistant Professor
Jerry Dávila, Associate Professor
Daniel Dupre, Associate Professor
Melissa Feinberg, Assistant Professor
Karen Flint, Assistant Professor
John Flower, Associate Professor
David Goldfield, Professor
Christine Haynes, Assistant Professor
James Hogue, Associate Professor
Lyman Johnson, Professor
Cynthia Kierner, Professor
Gregory Mixon, Associate Professor
Daniel Morrill, Professor
Steven Sabol, Associate Professor
John Smail, Professor
John David Smith, Professor
Robert Smith, Assistant Professor
Heather Thompson, Associate Professor
Peter Thorsheim, Assistant Professor
Mark Wilson, Assistant Professor
The Master of Arts Program in History at UNC Charlotte is designed to give motivated students an opportunity to pursue advanced studies in close collaboration with accomplished scholars. The program emphasizes the development of methodological, literary, and conceptual skills that graduates can employ as students in a doctoral program, as professionally oriented history teachers in secondary schools, as staff at museums or historic sites, or as citizens more acutely aware of the historical evolution of their society. Offering both day and evening courses, the Department of History attracts a diverse group of traditional and non-traditional students. Candidates may pursue the M.A. degree on either a full-time or part-time basis.
The Department offers courses in African, Asian, European,
Latin American, and
American South, Old and New
Modern
Gender, Race, and Slavery in Comparative Perspective
The Department also offers a concentration in the field of Public History under the directorship of Dr. Karen Cox. The program emphasizes museum studies, historic preservation, and the creation of new media such as websites, CD-Roms, and digital images and document collections.
Admission
Requirements
In addition to the general requirements for admission to the
1) A minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.0 in History or a related discipline.
2) Acceptable performance on the verbal and math portions of the GRE.
Degree
Requirements
The Master of Arts degree in History requires completion, with a GPA of 3.0 or better, of at least 30 hours in approved graduate courses. These courses must include at least 24 credit hours in History, of which at least 15 hours are in seminars or colloquia open only to graduate students, and no more than 6 hours in individually designed readings or research courses. Students taking the comprehensive examination may take 3 hours of exam preparation and students completing a thesis may take 6 hours of thesis preparation toward their 30 hours.
Students who pursue the concentration in Public History must complete 30 hours of required and elective coursework, 3 hours for an internship in some area of Public History, and 3 hours of thesis work for a total of 36 hours.
Students must complete all degree requirements, including the comprehensive examination or thesis defense, within six calendar years of first enrollment in the program.
All students in the program are expected to maintain an overall B (3.0) average. Students who do not meet this expectation will be subject to suspension on recommendation of the Graduate Committee of the Department of History.
Admission
to Candidacy Requirements
An Admission to Candidacy form must be submitted during the semester preceding the one in which the student plans to complete the degree requirements, either by defending a thesis or taking a comprehensive examination.
Assistantships
The Department of History supports eight students with teaching assistantships, two students with editorial assistantships, and another with an administrative assistantship for the History Freshman Learning Community. Assistantships are funded at $9,000 per academic year. From time to time, the Department also provides students with other assistantship opportunities.
See the sections on Tuition Waivers and Financial Assistance, below, for additional information on resources available to graduate students in the Department of History.
Internships
Internships are available to all students and required for
those in the Public History program. Graduate students have done internships
with the Mecklenburg County Historical Commission and the Journal of Urban
History, both of which are headed by members of the Department, and with a
variety of local historical museums and sites. The
Core
Courses
All candidates for the degree must complete HIST 6693
(Historiography and Methodology) with a grade of B (3.0) or better. In
addition, at least 6 hours of a student's History courses are expected to
pertain to fields other than
In addition to those requirements, candidates pursuing the concentration in Public History must complete HIST 6310 (History Museums), HIST 6320 (Historic Preservation) and HIST 6330 (History in the Digital Age).
Electives
Students may elect to take up to 6 hours of graduate-level
course work in disciplines other than History. Candidates seeking
graduate-level teacher certification may use the elective option to take
courses in professional education selected in consultation with the
Advising
Students may not register for graduate-level courses without the permission of the Department of History. Consequently, students must be advised by the Graduate Coordinator, either in person or by phone or email, prior to registering for courses each semester, as well as prior to filing their admission to candidacy form and application for degree.
Transfer
Credit
No more than 6 transferred hours may be approved for application to the requirements for the degree.
Language
Requirement
Although students are not required to demonstrate proficiency in a foreign language, they are expected to be able to use whatever languages they need to pursue their research interests.
Thesis/Comprehensive
Examination
After completing the required courses, students must either prepare a Master's thesis based on original primary research or take three comprehensive written examinations based on reading lists compiled in consultation with faculty members. In both cases, the candidate must then pass an oral examination based on their thesis or written examination.
An Examining Committee, consisting of two graduate faculty members from the Department of History and a third member selected from History or another department, oversees the student's thesis work or conducts the comprehensive written and oral examinations.
Tuition
Waivers
The Department has two tuition waivers that enable out-of-state students to pay tuition at the in-state rate. There is also a modest pool of scholarship money for in-state students. The Department awards all waivers and scholarship money on a strictly competitive basis.
Financial
Aid/Financial Assistance
Students may obtain limited financial support from paid
internships, summer teaching in the Department, archival work in the library's
Special Collections, and teaching opportunities at local community colleges.
Students doing thesis research or presenting papers at professional
Information on non-departmental forms of financial assistance is available from the UNC Charlotte Office of Financial Aid.
Courses In History
HIST 5000. Problems in American History. (3) Prerequisite: HIST 2100 or permission of the department. A colloquium designed around a problem in American history, requiring reading, discussion, reports and a major paper. May be repeated for credit as topics vary. (Fall, Spring) (Evenings)
HIST 5001. Problems in European History. (3) Prerequisites: HIST 2100 or permission of the department. A colloquium designed around a problem in European history, requiring reading, discussion, reports and a major paper. May be repeated for credit as topics vary. (Yearly, Summer) (Evenings)
HIST 5002. Problems in Non-Western History. (3) Prerequisite: HIST 2100 or permission of the department. A colloquium designed around a problem in non-Western history, requiring reading, discussion, reports and a major paper. May be repeated for credit as topics vary. (Yearly)
HIST 5300. Introduction to Public History. (3) Prerequisite: permission of the department. This course will provide an overview of the main subfields in the field of Public History. Students will learn the fundamentals of Museum Studies, Historic Preservation, and other fields at the discretion of the instructor. This course is the first in a sequence of required courses for graduate students doing the Public History concentration; it is also open to advanced undergraduates with the consent of the department. (Yearly)
HIST 6000. Topics in History. (3) Prerequisite: permission of the department. Intensive treatment of a period or broader survey of a topic, depending on student needs and staff resources. May be repeated for credit as topics vary. (Fall, Spring) (Evenings)
HIST 6151. Seminar on Colonial Latin American History (3) Prerequisite: permission of the department. A topical seminar devoted to selected themes in colonial Latin American history. This course provides an introduction to research methods, documentary sources, and the critical analysis of historical literature. Topics will change. Course may be repeated for credit. (Alternate years)
HIST 6152. Seminar in Modern Latin American History (3) Prerequisite: permission of the department. A topical seminar devoted to selected themes in modern Latin American history. This course provides an introduction to research methods, documentary sources, and the critical analysis of historical literature. Topics will change. Course may be repeated for credit. (Alternate years)
HIST 6196. Urban
Systems for School Administrators. (3) Corequisite:
POLS 6196. An interdepartmental, team-taught course which
consists of a survey of the causes and consequences of urbanization in the
HIST 6200. History Teaching Alliance Institute. (3) Open under special arrangement. Pass/No Credit grading only. (On demand)
HIST 6210. Early
HIST 6215. Jacksonian
HIST 6220. The Old South. (3) Prerequisite: permission of the department. Evolution of the Old South from the 17th century to its collapse in the Civil War and Reconstruction, focusing on southern distinctiveness and the tension between democracy and slavery. (Alternate years)
HIST 6225. The New South. (3) Prerequisite: permission of the department. Continuity and change in the South from the late-19th century, including industrialization, politics, class and race relations, and religion. (Alternate years)
HIST 6230. European Social History. (3) Prerequisite: permission of the department. Examination of the views of different writers on class formation, the rise of modern institutions, gender relations and social protest including why certain schools of thought such as modernization or Marxism become popular at particular historical moments. (Alternate years)
HIST 6240.
HIST 6250. Comparative
Slavery and Race Relations. (3) Prerequisite: permission of the
department. Slavery in the New World through its abolition
including Indian and African slaves, the slave trade, the economics of slavery,
and the impact of slavery on modern race relations in the
HIST 6265. Cold
War
HIST 6310. History Museums. (3) Prerequisite: permission of the department. This course introduces students to the management, curatorial, public relations, and fundraising aspects of historical museums and related historical sites. These skills will be acquired through readings, term projects, and a “hands-on” experience at local museums and historical sites. (Yearly)
HIST 6320. Historic
Preservation. (3) Prerequisite: permission of the department.
This course is an introduction to the theory and practice of identifying,
preserving and restoring buildings, sites, structures and objects in the
historic built environment of the
HIST 6330. History in the Digital Age. (3) Prerequisite: permission of the department. This course analyzes the impact of new media technology on the discipline of history as well as well as the ways in which new media enhances the discipline by making history accessible to a much broader audience. This course will involve an individually-based new media project that will require students to learn to work as a team, important to their preparation for careers in public history settings. Coursework includes common readings of texts and encounters with on-line studies, with emphasis on students’ individual media projects. (Yearly)
HIST 6601. Graduate Colloquium. (3) Prerequisite: permission of the department. A colloquium focused on a theme or period. Assigned readings, short papers and reports directed toward developing research and writing skills. May be repeated for credit. (Fall, Spring) (Evenings)
HIST 6693. Historiography and Methodology. (3) Prerequisite: permission of the department. A study of historians and their philosophical and methodological approaches. Required of all M.A. candidates. (Yearly) (Evenings)
HIST 6698. Introduction to Historical Writing. (3) Prerequisite: permission of the department. Seminar on the process of thesis writing including thesis proposals, primary source materials, rules of evidence, structure of an argument, and organization of the thesis and its chapters. May be repeated for credit. (On demand)
HIST 6894.
HIST 6901. Directed Readings/Research. (3) Prerequisite: prior written consent of instructor and graduate coordinator. Graduate students will meet individually or in small groups with the instructor and will be assigned readings and/or research on a theme that relates to the lectures of an undergraduate class. Attendance at the lectures is a course requirement. May be repeated for credit. (Fall, Spring, Summer)
HIST 6997. Directed Research. (3) Prerequisite: prior written consent of instructor. Investigation of a historical problem culminating in a research paper. May be repeated for credit. (On demand)
HIST 6999. Thesis. (3 or 6) May be repeated by permission, if taken for three hours credit. Six hours of Thesis may be taken during a single semester. Appropriate research and written exposition of that research is required. (On demand)
HIST 7999. Master’s
Degree Residence. (1)
Graduate
Faculty (at
Nathan Abrams, Lecturer
Cathryn Brennan, Teaching Fellow
Terry Brotherstone, Senior Lecturer
Edward Burton, Lecturer
Christoph Dartmann, Lecturer
Enda Delaney, Lecturer
David Ditchburn, Senior Lecturer
David Dumville, Professor
Marjory Harper, Reader
Howard Hotson, Professor
Rene Leboutte, Professor
Alastair Macdonald, Lecturer
Allan Macinnes, Professor
Andrew Mackillop, Lecturer
Ben Marsden, Lecturer
William Naphy, Senior Lecturer
Micheal OSiochru, Lecturer
Frederik Pedersen, Lecturer
Richard Perren, Reader
Edward Ranson, Lecturer
David Smith, Lecturer
Jane Stevenson, Reader
Joyce Walker, Teaching Fellow
Oonagh Walsh, Senior Lecturer
Philip Withington, Lecturer
Program
of Study
This program combines the M.A. earned at UNC Charlotte, or
an accepted institution, with a Ph.D. conferred by the
Both universities offer a wide range of courses and fields
of specialization. As indicated above, the Department of History at UNC
Charlotte possesses particular expertise in
Additional
Requirements for Admission
In addition to the general requirements for admission to the
1) A GPA of 3.5 or better in all Master's level courses.
1) Above average performance on the math and verbal portions of the G.R.E.
2) Submission of the applicant's M.A. thesis or a substantial research paper.
Degree
Requirements
The joint Ph.D. in History requires successful completion of a dissertation proposal, a qualifying examination, and a doctoral dissertation. Coursework for the joint Ph.D. will consist primarily of directed reading and research in preparation for writing the dissertation.
All degree requirements, including the dissertation defense, should be completed in 3-4 years. All requirements must be completed within six years of enrolling in the program.
Assistantships
Teaching and research assistantships are available at both universities on a competitive basis. Applications for assistantships at UNC Charlotte should be submitted simultaneously with those for admission to the joint Ph.D. program.
Advising
Students may not register for graduate-level courses without
the permission of the Department of History, which means that the Graduate
Coordinator must register them for courses each semester. Regular advising by
the graduate coordinator is especially essential to arrange continuous funding
for doctoral students in
Qualifying
Examination
Students are required to complete both written and oral qualifying examinations during their second semester at UNC Charlotte. The written examination will consist of a dissertation proposal; the oral examination will cover both the student's general field of specialization and the proposed dissertation topic.
Language
Requirement
Although students are not required to demonstrate proficiency in a foreign language, they must possess the foreign language skills necessary to do primary research in their intended field of specialization.
Dissertation
Defense
Doctoral dissertations are not to exceed 100,000 words in
length. The dissertation defense is a final oral examination at which a student
presents and defends his/her research before a committee of
Courses In History
(Doctoral students
only)
HIST 8894.
HIST 8999. Dissertation. (3 or 6) Prerequisite: approval of dissertation topic by the student’s advisory committee. Individual research that culminates in the preparation and presentation of a doctoral dissertation. May be repeated by permission up to 12 hours. Six hours of Dissertation may be taken during a single semester. Maximum of 12 hours allowed under this course designation. (On demand)
HIST 9999. Doctoral Degree Graduate Residence. (1) Maintains continuous enrollment as required by University policy. (On demand)