Historical Studies (HIST)

Program Admission Requirements
Facilities and Special Resources
Financial Assistance
Programs and Courses

KARS, MARJOLEINE, Chair
SCOTT, MICHELLE R. Graduate Program Director,
MERINGOLO, DENISE, Public History Track Director

Degree Offered

In addition to a wide range of subject/area specialties, the M.A. includes the option of a track in public history. The Public Policy Ph.D. program offers a concentration in policy history; for further information, contact the history department or the School of Public Policy. The history department is also affiliated with the Language, Literacy, and Culture Doctoral Program. Please see the LLC Program for further information.

Faculty

Professors

BOEHLING, REBECCA L., Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison; German and modern European history, European women’s history, history of the holocaust
BROWN, KATHRYN, Ph.D., University of Washington; Russia and Eastern Europe, ethnicity and nationalism
CASPER, SCOTT E., Ph.D. Yale University, Dean of the College of Humanities, Arts and Sciences; 19th Century America, Cultural
GRUBB, JAMES S., Ph.D., University of Chicago; Renaissance and Reformation
VAPORIS, CONSTANTINE N., Ph.D., Princeton University; Japan, East Asia, women and gender in East Asia

Associate Professors

BOUTON, TERRY, Ph.D., Duke University; United States early republic, American Revolution
FROIDE, AMY, Ph.D., Duke University; Early modern Britain, early modern Europe, European women’s history
KARS, MARJOLEINE, Ph.D., Duke University; Early America, U.S. women’s history, gender, religion
MCDONOUGH, SUSAN A., Ph.D., Yale University; Medieval social history; medieval Jewish-Christian relations, gender and sexuality
MERINGOLO, DENISE D, Ph.D., George Washington University; Public history and material culture, 20th-century women’s political history and feminist theory, critical race theory, U.S. social and cultural history, 1860 to the present
MUSGROVE, GEORGE DEREK , Ph.D., NYU; U. S. history, post-1945 U. S. politics, black power, black electoral politics
RITSCHEL, DANIEL, D.Phil., Oxford University; Great Britain, economic and social policy, historiography
RUBIN, ANNE SARAH, Ph.D., University of Virginia; Civil War, the U.S. South, 19th-century America
SCOTT, MICHELLE R., Ph.D., Cornell University; 20th century America, African American history, civil rights, gender and women’s history, music culture
TATAREWICZ, JOSEPH N., Ph.D., Indiana University; Public history, history and philosophy of science/technology

Assistant Professors

CHAPIN, CHRISTY FORD, Ph.D., University of Virginia; U.S. political, economic, and business history
OYEN, MEREDITH, Ph.D., Georgetown University; U.S. history and U.S. diplomatic history, history of East Asian-American relations, transnational migration

Shady Grove Faculty

NOLAN, ANDREW, Ph.D. University of Illinois; US 20th century, cultural and intellectual history; Constitutional
BLAIR, MELISSA, Ph. D. University of Delaware; Public History, Architectural History, Maryland

Program Description

The M.A. in Historical Studies is designed to accommodate a variety of interests or career paths including students who are considering a formal academic career in history; those engaged in teaching at the K-12 level, individuals who desire to deepen their knowledge of history, or those seeking credentials in public history for work in museums, archives, libraries, public history sites, government agencies, or historical research in institutions outside academia. The M.A. in Historical Studies is characterized by a core emphasis on academic training in historiography and current conceptual tools and techniques for collecting, organizing, and interpreting historical evidence. The scheduling of courses in the program is arranged to meet the needs of full-time students as well as part-time evening students.

Qualified undergraduate students may apply for the Accelerated B.A./M.A. program that permits advanced undergraduate students to take courses at the graduate level while earning the B.A. After earning the B.A. degree, graduates may apply to the M.A. program and if accepted, apply the credits earned in the Accelerated program toward the masters. For further information, contact the Department of History.

Program Admission Requirements

The admission requirements and procedures correspond to the requirements set forth by UMBC. All original application documents must be sent directly to the Graduate School, not to the graduate program. Applications must include three letters of recommendation that provide information about your potential as a scholar and the ability to engage in the academic work of history at the graduate level. Candidates with questions or concerns regarding such letters are invited to consult with the Graduate Program Director, well before the application deadline.

The admissions deadline is February 15, for admission the following fall

Facilities and Special Resources

The Albin O. Kuhn Library & Gallery contains a collection of about 500,000 volumes. The history collection is particularly strong in U.S. history (including state and local history), British history and modern European history. A reference and bibliographical collection of about 25,000 volumes, together with a wealth of online bibliographical and data services, provides comprehensive aid for historical research. Graduate students also have access to a rapid delivery system of materials from the massive collective resources of all the libraries in the University System of Maryland. The library and archival resources of the Baltimore-Washington area, which include the Library of Congress and the National Archives at College Park, are the largest in the world.

Financial Assistance

A limited number of graduate assistantships are available in the Department of History. Information about other financial assistance is available from the Office of Financial Aid. Be sure to check online for application deadlines and instructions.

*Please Note: All applicants wishing to be considered for departmental funding (includes teaching assistants, research assistants, and any departmental funding not issued directly by the federal government) for the upcoming academic year must submit a letter, separate from the graduate school application materials, indicating interest and qualifications to the Graduate Program Director by the same deadline of February 15.

Programs

Historical Studies, M.A.

Courses

History