MA in History
Graduating MA students John Herrington (left) and Justin Martin (right) with their advisor, Dr. Catherine Jacquet (center) at LSU graduation, May 2024.
The LSU Department of History offers four MA options:
- MA with thesis
- Non-thesis MA
- Content Knowledge Concentration MA
- Dual degree in History and LIS
MA with thesis (traditional or portfolio)
The MA program requires a minimum of 30 semester hours of credit with a thesis—24 hours of coursework and at least 6 hours of thesis research. Students frequently take more than 30 hours.
Students will choose an area of concentration—US, Europe, or Britain—and they will select a major professor with whom they will complete substantial study, including the thesis work, in their chosen field.
All MA students in every area concentration will take a research seminar sequence, reading seminars, and special topics courses.
Reading proficiency in a foreign language is not a general MA requirement, but may be required by a major professor for students working under their direction, particularly students in the European concentration.
Each area of concentration has specific degree requirements.
- Degree requirements and pathway to degree for the concentration in US History.
- Degree requirements and pathway to degree for the concentration in European or British History.
In consultation with their advisors, MA students may elect to complete either a) a traditional thesis or b) a portfolio thesis. Both thesis options are roughly the same total length and require a comparable level of primary and secondary source research and analysis. The difference between them lies in the final product. A traditional thesis normally ranges from 70-100 pages. It is based on original, primary source research, grounded in historiography relevant to the student's topic, and advances innovative arguments about a historical subject. A portfolio thesis consists of two pieces of academic writing: 1. A capstone research paper (7,500 - 10,000 words). This paper should be modeled on a research article that would be published in a top-ranked academic history journal in the student’s subdiscipline. 2. A historiographical essay (5,000 - 6,000 words). This essay should be modeled on a professional historiographical essay, published in such forums as Reviews in American History, The Blackwell Companions to History series, the Cambridge Histories series, or a comparable venue in the student’s subfield.
For both the traditional and portfolio thesis tracks, a thesis committee is chosen when the student nears the end of their program. The thesis committee includes the major professor and two other faculty members (one of whom must be History faculty) whose specialties coincide with the student’s research interests. Upon completion of the traditional or portfolio thesis, the student will give an oral defense of their work before the committee.
Non-thesis MA
Students who do not wish to write a thesis have the option to earn an MA based in coursework only. The non-thesis MA requires 36 hours of coursework. Students will choose an area of concentration—US, Europe, or Britain—and they will select a major professor with whom they will complete substantial study. Students who select the non-thesis MA option are not eligible to continue into the LSU History PhD program. LSU MA students who wish to apply to the PhD program must complete the MA with thesis track.
Non-thesis MA students will follow the same pathway to degree for all concentrations (linked above), but in place of thesis hours, they will take 12 additional hours of coursework.
All MA students in every area concentration will take a research seminar sequence, reading seminars, and special topics courses.
Reading proficiency in a foreign language is not a general MA requirement, but may be required by a major professor for students working under their direction, particularly students in the European concentration.
An examination committee is chosen when the student nears the end of their program. The examination committee includes the major professor and two other History faculty members with whom the student has taken coursework. For the non-thesis MA examination, the student will assemble a dossier composed of three major writing assignments – one from each class that the student took with each committee member. These writing samples should be representative of the skills and knowledge that the student has gained over the course of their studies. The complete dossier is distributed to committee members two weeks in advance of the examination date. At the exam, the student will give an oral defense of their work before the committee.
Content Knowledge MA
The Content Knowledge Concentration MA was designed primarily for Louisiana social studies teachers who are seeking to earn the degree part-time, enhance their historical knowledge, and apply that knowledge to their classrooms.
The Content Knowledge Concentration requires the same number of hours as a non-thesis MA (36 hrs of coursework), but no specific courses are required as the student accumulates those hours. Nor do students need to choose an area of concentration. Students in our Content Knowledge Concentration can take any combination of area-focused seminars whether they be in British, European, or US, as well as courses in World, Latin American, African, Asian, and other area history courses.
Students complete an exit exam in the same way as non-thesis MA students in the area concentrations do (see above). Although many students in the Content Knowledge Concentration will attend part time, students will still be required to meet the Graduate School’s five-year time clock for completion of the MA. The Department of History intends to provide two courses for graduate credit each summer, making it possible for a student taking one class each regular semester and two classes each summer to complete the MA in three years.
Dual Degree in History and Library and Information Science
The basic requirements for the dual degree program are the same for the regular thesis or non-thesis MA programs in the Department of History, and the MLIS program in the School of Information Studies (SIS). The dual degree program, however, has been designed to allow the student to complete the 36 credit hours for the History MA and the 36 credit hours of the MLIS by completing a total of 60 hours.
Students interested in this track first apply to the History MA program. Once students have been accepted to the History program, they then apply for the dual degree with the School of Information Science. A Request for Dual Degree form must be submitted to the Graduate School in order to be admitted to this program.
Students typically complete their History MA coursework and thesis (when applicable). Once students have completed their exam/defense with the History Department, they continue to their SIS coursework. The History degree requirements for dual degree students are the same as those for the MA with thesis or non-thesis MA (see above).
Elective courses in the School of Information Studies eligible for credit for the History MA degree:
- LIS 7200, 7201, 7202, 7203, 7408, 7504, 7505, 7509, 7604, 7611, 7700, 7701, 7702, 7703, 7010 on a case-by-case basis, and 7913.
Elective courses in the Department of History eligible for credit for the MLIS degree:
- Any two three-hour graduate courses at the 7000-level in the Department of History.