Department of History
Graduate Handbook
2008 - 2009
The
Table
of Contents
I. Introduction: The
II. The Master of Arts in History
..................................
.
4
III. Admission Requirements
...........................................
..
.. 4
A. Qualifications
............................................... 4
B. Documents to be submitted
. .................................... 5
C. Application Procedure
. ........................................ 5
IV. Program Description and Degree Requirements
...................... 6
A. Total Hours ...........................
..................... 6
B. Grades ................................
....................... 8
C. Transfer Credits .......................
..................... 9
D. Other Requirements .....................
.................... 9
1. Residence ........................
....................... 9
2. Foreign Language .................
...................... 9
3. Comprehensive Field Examination ..
....................... 10
4. Thesis/Internship .................
.................... 12
5. Degree Time Limits ................
.................... 12
6. Continuous Enrollment
...................................
.. 13
V. Graduate Courses ...............................................
14
VI. Academic Procedures ............................................
19
A. Graduate Advising ..........................................
.. 19
B. Thesis .....................................................
.. 19
C. Grievance Procedures .......................................
.... 19
D. Admission to candidacy and application for
graduation ......
. 20
E. Graduation .................................................
21
VII. Teaching Assistants ............................................
.
22
A. University appointment
procedures
.
.. 22
B. Departmental selection
procedures
.
22
C. Job
description
.
23
.
VIII. Graduate Faculty
.......................................
.. 24
I. INTRODUCTION: The
The
The city of
HISTORY
The
Graduate studies were authorized at
ACADEMIC
STANDING
The
II. THE MASTER OF ARTS IN HISTORY
The Department of History offers a program of study leading
to the Master of Arts degree in History.
The goals of the program are: (1) to provide guidance in research, using
historical documents and archives,
and (2) to
familiarize students with the methods, techniques, historical background, and
current research
and debates concerning the study of
history.
From these goals, the following objectives are derived:
(1) to develop research competence in
European, U. S.,
Global, and Public
history;
(2) to develop professional competence in
the application of
historical
skills in a non-academic setting;
(3) to develop a level of research
competence in history adequate
for
continuing toward the doctoral degree, and
(4) to add to the body of historical
scholarship with meaningful
scholarship
in European,
Public
history.
III. ADMISSION
REQUIREMENTS
A. Qualifications:
Students
seeking admission to the graduate program in history will normally be expected
to meet
the
following qualifications:
1. hold a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or
university or its equivalent from a foreign institution
based
on a four-year program;
2.
have a
strong overall academic record with a 3.0 grade point
average in the last 60 hours of undergraduate instruction;
3. earn a minimum
score of 950 on the combined verbal and quantitative
sections of the GRE, and a suitable
score on the essay.
Scores will be accepted from the five
years prior to application.
Students
will be accepted into the program who have majored in
history or other humanities, social sciences, and related
fields.
Admission
decisions will be based on careful examination of several
factors; where other indications of success warrant,
individuals
who fall below the specific criteria in one of the areas may
be
considered for admission.
Individuals may also be accepted with
certain deficiencies provided these are remedied. This may include
taking additional courses beyond the 30 hours normally
required for
the degree.
B. Documents to be submitted:
1. An application for graduate admission
2. Official transcript(s) of all previous
undergraduate and
graduate study
3. Official scores on the GRE (subject test
not required)
4. An appropriate writing sample, preferably
a college history
paper
5 Three letters of recommendation by
individuals in
professionally relevant fields. For recent graduates
(five years) holding a bachelor's degree, two of the
recommendations must come from members of the academic
community
6 A 250-word essay describing the reasons
for studying history at
UNC Wilmington and the specific area
within the main field of
history in which the applicant intends to concentrate. The
Graduate
Committee is charged with paying special attention to
an applicant's reason for wishing to pursue graduate study at
UNC
7
Deadline
for Fall admission is May 1 (March 1 for full consideration
for financial aid);
deadline for Spring admission is November l.
C. Application Procedure
All
requests for information and all completed applications should
be submitted to the office of the Dean of the
the
Committee
of the History Department will screen all applications
and recommend the appropriate action to the offices of the
Dean of
the
Notification
will be sent to candidates by the
IV. PROGRAM
DESCRIPTION AND DEGREE REQUIREMENTS:
A. Total hours
1. For
The
program will require a minimum total of 30
semester hours of graduate study, which will include the
following specified minimum course work:
3
hours in HST 500: Historiography and
Methodology Seminar.
This
required course, which is offered each Fall Semester,
must be completed by the end of the second semester of
graduate study.
12
hours of course work in the student's area of concentration
(U. S., European, Global, or Public).
9
hours of electives, which includes the option of taking two
graduate level courses (or 6 credit hours) outside the
Department
of History in consultation with the Graduate
Director and Thesis advisor.
6
hours of thesis.
Stipulations:
At
least 2 courses must be graduate-only seminars, and 1 of
these 2 must be in the student's area of concentration.
Of
the 24 hours of course work (excluding thesis credit), 18
hours must be taken in courses open only to graduate
students.
Graduate
courses that are cross-listed with the undergraduate
courses will have additional requirements and different
standards for graduate students.
Students
may take up to 6 hours of Directed Independent Study
(HST 591). No more
than 3 hours may be undertaken with one
instructor.
Students
are expected to complete the foreign language translation
examination. It is
strongly recommended that students take the
language exam within the first 2 semesters.
Comprehensive
written exam must be taken during the last
Semester of course or the semester immediately following.
Courses
whose topic transcends our four tracks, either
topically or geographically, will carry credits appropriate
to
field of expertise of the course instructor.
2. For
Public History concentration.
3
hours in HST 500: as in A.1 above.
3
hours in HST 570.
12
hours in Public History. (including 570,
573)
9
hours of electives, which includes the option of taking two
graduate level courses (or 6 credit hours) outside the
Department
of History in consultation with the Director
of Public History and Graduate Director.
3
hours of Internship in Public History (HST 598) and 3 hours
of Thesis (HST 599).
Students may begin their internship
only after completing all other coursework. Internships
must be arranged in consultation with the student's
adviser.
Stipulations:
At
least 2 courses must be graduate-only seminars, one of which
must be in Public History.
Of
the 24 hours of course work (excluding Internship) 15 must
be in courses open only to graduate students. Graduate
courses that are cross-listed with undergraduate courses
will have additional requirements and standards for
graduate students.
Students
may take up to 6 hours of Directed Independent Study
(HST 591). No more
than 3 hours may be taken with one
instructor.
Courses
whose topic transcends our four tracks will carry
credits appropriate to the field of expertise of the
course instructor.
Students
are expected to complete the foreign language translation
examination. It is
strongly recommended that students take the
language exam within the first 2 semesters.
Graduate
Program in History
Sample
Four-Semester Schedule
Semester 1
HST 500
colloquium
cross-listed
** take language exam
Semester 2
Seminar
6 additional hours
Semester 3
Seminar
3 additional hours
prepare for comps
**take comps
Semester 4
6 hours of thesis or internship
**defend thesis/present internship.
B. Grades
Course
performance evaluations are reported by means of
the following grade system:
A
(4 gp) - excellent
B
(3 gp) - completely satisfactory
C
(2 gp) - minimally acceptable
F
(0 gp) - failure
I - incomplete
S - satisfactory progress on thesis
WP
- withdraw passing
Instructors
may opt to employ a -/+ grading system.
They will
will inform students of their intention at the beginning of
term.
Three
grades of C or one grade of F results in dismissal from
the graduate program.
Further, if a student falls below a
3.0
gpa at any time, he or she goes on academic probation
and has
three subsequent courses to bring the gpa up to at least
3.0.
In addition, a student must have at
least 3.0 gpa in order to begin
any program-specific comprehensive examination or thesis
work.
Students
who have been dismissed from the graduate program and
readmitted by special action of the graduate dean shall have
their
subsequent retention policy determined individually by the
Dean.
An
incomplete grade may be given if the course instructor
determines that exceptional circumstances warrant extending
the
time for the student to complete the course work. The instructor
may set the maximum allowable period for completion of the
course
work, but in no case will the extension exceed one
year. If the
time allowed is to be less than one year, this information
should
be transmitted in writing to the student, with a copy to the
dean
of the
has not been submitted by the instructor, the incomplete
automatically becomes a F.
A graduate
student who is required to take undergraduate courses,
whether to make up a deficiency or as part of his or her
graduate
program, must make grades of at least a "B+." Those voluntarily
electing to register for undergraduate courses may make any
grade
above "F" without jeopardizing his/her graduate
standing.
C. Transfer credits
Graduate
courses taken at this institution before formal admission
to graduate studies will meet course requirements for a
graduate
degree only if offered and approved as transfer credit by
the
History Graduate Committee.
(No more than six credit hours of such
courses are eligible for transfer.) A maximum of six semester
hours of credit may be transferred from another accredited
institution.
Correspondence courses will not be accepted for
transfer credit. Each
request must be accompanied by an official