MA in History (course-based)
There are two basic MA programs available in History, course-based and thesis-based, both of which may be subsequently used as a qualification to apply to the PhD program. Students must declare which program they intend to follow on their application for admission. Any student who later wishes to change his/her program must obtain the approval of the Graduate Committee. Such approval is not normally granted without compelling reason.
Students admitted to the MA in Ancient Societies and Cultures, Classical Archaeology or Classical Languages who later wish to modify their topic so that it falls under the rubric of History may do so only with the approval of the Graduate Committee.
Residency
The minimum residence requirement for a course-based MA is two four-month terms of full-time attendance at the University of Alberta. Time spent as a qualifying graduate student does not count towards the residence requirement.
Program Time Limits
University regulations set out the maximum period of time, calculated from the start of the first term in which the student registers, allowed for the completion of graduate degrees. A course-based MA degree must be completed within six years of the start of the student’s program. Time spent as a qualifying graduate student or, as of 2009-10, on an approved leave of absence is not counted in the time for completion.
The course-based MA in History is designed to be completed in two to three terms (at least three courses per term for full-time status, with the research project equivalent to two courses).
Supervision
From the time of entering the program, every candidate for the MA will have a supervisor. The student’s research project topic will be defined in consultation with the supervisor and the research paper will be written under the supervisor’s direction. Supervisors (and co-supervisors where applicable) must be approved by the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research. Any change of supervisor or fields must be approved by the Graduate Committee.
NOTE: Qualifying students will be under the supervision of the Associate Chair (Graduate Studies) until qualifications for entry are met.
Program Requirements
Students must:
- take and pass HIST 602 (*1), graded pass/fail.
- take and pass one (*3) methodological/theoretical/comparative course, either HIST 601, HIST 603, HIST 604, HIST 605, HIST 610, or SOC 519. Not all of these courses will necessarily be offered in a given year. NOTE: If the student already has credit in an equivalent course or courses acceptable to the Department, the Department may request the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research to allow the student credit for one *3 course.
- take and pass five (*15) additional 600-level HIST courses. By the written consent of the student’s supervisor and the Associate Chair (Graduate Studies), one of these courses may be taken outside the Department (excluding courses taken to achieve second-language proficiency).
- fulfill the Departmental second-language requirement.
- take and pass two consecutive registrations in HIST 900 (*3), a pass/fail course consisting of a research project conducted under an assigned supervisor for which the student writes a single paper that should normally be no more than 50 pages in length and make use of primary source material. The finished paper is submitted to and evaluated by the supervisor and a second reader (normally another member of the Department, and chosen by the supervisor in consultation with the student). Each reader provides the Associate Chair (Graduate Studies) with a short, normally half-page, assessment of the paper outlining its purpose, scope, and results, and indicating whether he/she passes it.
- fulfill the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research ethics training requirement. NOTE: This requirement applies to all University of Alberta graduate students who started their program on or after 1 September 2004; it does not apply to those who started their program prior to that date.
Submission of the Completed Project
In general, the completed research project should be formatted according to the instructions for theses (Preparing the Thesis) on the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research website. However, instead of the title and examining committee pages provided there, the Department has its own title/signature page form that students are to use.
Unlike theses, research projects produced as part of the requirements for a course-based MA are not submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research. Nonetheless, students must provide the Department of History and Classics with two bound hard copies of the project (three in the case of co-supervision). Submission binding instructions