MA in History (thesis-based)
There are two basic MA programs available in History, thesis-based and course-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
Program Time Limits
Supervision
Program Requirements
Preparing for the Oral Defense of the Thesis
Final Oral Examination (Defense of the Thesis)
Submission of the Completed Thesis
The minimum residence requirement for a thesis-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.
NOTE: Beginning September 2003, students who are admitted to a thesis-based program and who initially register as full-time students in that program must continue to register full-time until the completion of their degree.
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 thesis-based MA degree must be completed within four 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 thesis-based MA in History is designed to be completed in two to four terms.
From the time of entering the program, every candidate for the MA will have a supervisor. The student’s thesis topic will be defined in consultation with the supervisor and the thesis 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.
Students must:
- take and pass *24 at the graduate level, which must include:
- HIST 602 (*1), graded pass/fail.
- 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.
- HIST 609 (*3), a course designed to prepare students for their MA thesis, graded pass/fail.
- three (*9) additional 600-level courses, no more than two of which are to be in the area of concentration most relevant to the student’s field. By the written consent of the student’s supervisor and the Associate Chair (Graduate Studies), two of these courses may be taken outside the Department (excluding courses taken to achieve second-language proficiency).
- fulfill the Departmental language requirement.
- write a thesis, the text of which should normally be no more than 100 pages in length. This thesis must be original and consist of substantially new research. NOTE: Students who have finished the course requirements for their program without satisfying the overall requirement of *24 course weight normally take the balance in the form of THES 90X, a pass/fail course for students working on their thesis.
- 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.
Preparing for the Oral Defense of the Thesis
The completed thesis must be defended in an oral examination conducted by a committee consisting of the supervisor and two other members of the faculty, one of whom (known as the “internal/external”) must be from a Department other than History and Classics. The examination is chaired by the Associate Chair (Graduate Studies) or his/her delegate appointed from within the Department.
Before the date for the defense can be set, the supervisor must assure the Associate Chair (Graduate Studies) in writing that he/she has seen and approved the full final draft of the thesis. At least three weeks before the date of the oral examination, the Department just notify FGSR in writing of the composition of the committee, and all members of the committee (including the chair) are to receive paper copies of the thesis. Accordingly, students have to ensure that the supervisor has the finished thesis well in advance of this three-week period.
The Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research instructions for formatting the thesis are available online at “Preparing the Thesis”. This site also contains the “Thesis Approval/Program Completion” form; students are to bring a printed copy of this form, with Part I completed, to the oral thesis defense in case of acceptance of the thesis.
Final Oral Examination (Defense of the Thesis)
The purpose of the oral examination is to test the candidate’s knowledge of the thesis subject and of related fields. It normally lasts ninety minutes to two hours and may not exceed three hours. There are two rounds of questioning, in each of which the two examiners from within the Department are allotted fifteen minutes and the “internal/external” twenty. The chair may participate in questioning but does not vote.
The decision of the examining committee will be based both on the content of the thesis and on the candidate’s ability to defend it. Normally, if all but one member of the committee agree on a decision, the decision shall be that of the majority. The dissenting committee member does not have to sign. If two or more dissenting votes are recorded, the Department will refer the matter to the Associate Dean, FGSR, who will determine an appropriate course of action. One of the following outcomes of the final oral examination is appropriate:
- Pass
- Pass subject to revisions. NOTE: There is no provision for a final oral examination to be “passed subject to major revisions.”
- Adjourned
- Fail
Pass: If the student passes the examination, the Department shall complete the Thesis Approval/Program Completion form and submit it to the FGSR.
Pass subject to revisions: The student has satisfactorily defended the thesis but the revisions to the thesis are sufficiently minor that it will not require a reconvening of the examining committee. “Minor revisions” are taken to be those that do not substantially change the argument of the thesis (for example, the addition of a few paragraphs of “sign posting” or some details of limited significance). The Department shall complete the Thesis Approval/Program Completion form and submit it to the FGSR indicating “pass subject to revisions.” It is expected that the student will make the changes in time to submit the thesis to the FGSR on or before the deadline for the next convocation. These changes should be checked and approved by the committee chair or supervisor, who does not sign until the required changes are satisfactorily completed. Other committee members may also wish to withhold their signature until they can verify that their required revisions have been made to their satisfaction.
Adjourned: The final oral examination should be adjourned in the following situations:
- The revisions to the thesis are sufficiently substantial (if further research or experimentation or major reworking of sections is required, or if the committee is not satisfied with the general presentation of the thesis) that it will require a reconvening of the examining committee. The committee should not propose that the candidate has passed, rather the committee shall adjourn the examination.
- The committee is dissatisfied with the candidate’s oral presentation and defense of the thesis, even if the thesis itself is acceptable with or without minor revisions.
- Compelling, extraordinary circumstances such as a sudden medical emergency during the examination.
If the examination is adjourned (other than for compelling, extraordinary circumstances such as a sudden medical emergency during the examination) the committee should:
- Specify in writing to the student, with as much precision as possible, the nature of the deficiencies and, in the case of revisions to the thesis, the extent of the revisions required. Where the oral defense is unsatisfactory, it may be necessary to arrange some discussion periods with the candidate prior to reconvening the examination.
- Decide upon a date to reconvene. If the date of the reconvened oral examination depends upon the completion of a research task or a series of discussions, it should be made clear which committee members will decide on the appropriate date to reconvene. The final date set for reconvening shall be no later than six months from the date of the examination. A final decision of the examining committee must be made within six months of the initial examination. (FGSR Council, 1988/04/15)
- Make it clear to the student what will be required by way of approval before the examination is reconvened (eg, approval of the committee chair or supervisor, approval of the entire committee, or of select members of the committee).
- Specify the supervision and assistance the student may expect from the committee members in meeting the necessary revisions.
- Advise the FGSR in writing of the adjournment and the conditions.
- When the date is set for the adjourned final oral examination, the Department will notify the FGSR. Normally the Dean, Associate Dean or Pro Dean attends the examination.
Fail: If the final examination committee agrees that the student has failed, the committee chair shall provide the reasons for this recommendation and the Department’s recommendation for the student’s program in writing to the Associate Dean, FGSR, and to the student. The Associate Dean, FGSR, will arrange to meet with the candidate and with Department representatives before acting upon any Department recommendation. A decision of the FGSR which affects a student’s academic standing (ie, he/she is required to withdraw) is appealable.
Submission of the Completed Thesis
Following completion of the final oral examination at which the thesis is passed or passed subject to revisions, the candidate shall make the appropriate revisions where necessary and submit the approved thesis to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research within six months of the date of the final oral examination. If the final oral examination is adjourned, the six-month time limit will take effect from the date of completion of the examination where the thesis was passed with or without revisions. There are also submission deadlines for each convocation period and registration requirements when submitting the thesis.
Graduate students may submit their thesis to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in one of two ways:
- Electronically – involves converting the thesis to a single PDF file and submitting it to FGSR
- Paper (hard copy) – involves submitting two hard copies of the thesis (one to be bound for U of A Libraries)
The complete Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research instructions for submitting the thesis are available online at "Preparing the Thesis”. NOTE: Regardless of the method of submission to the FGSR that is chosen, students must provide the Department of History and Classics with two bound hard copies of the thesis (three in the case of co-supervision).
Submission and binding instructions