Last updated: July 19, 2010 @ 10:17AM
History
Master of Arts in History
Dean
Rosemary Drage Hale
Faculty of Humanities
Associate Dean
Jane Koustas
Faculty of Humanities
Core Faculty
Professors
Robert Dimand (Economics), Rosemary Hale (Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies), Jack N. Lightstone (History), John Sainsbury (History), Elizabeth Sauer (English), David Schimmelpenninck (History)
Associate Professors
Michael Driedger (History and Great Books/Liberal Studies), Kevin Kee (History). Maureen Lux (History) , R. Andrew McDonald (Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies), Jane McLeod (History), Elizabeth Neswald (History) Carmela Patrias (History), Daniel Samson (History), Barnett Singer (History), Mark Spencer (History), Murray Wickett (History)
Assistant Professors
John Bonnett (History), Tami Friedman (History), Renée Lafferty (History and Canadian Studies), Dan Malleck (Community Health Sciences), Behnaz Mirzai (History), Elantunji Ojo (History), Maria Del Carmen Suescun Pozas (History), Elizabeth Vlossak (History), Ning Wang (History)
Graduate Program Director
Daniel Samson
dsamson@brocku.ca
Administrative Assistant
Dinah Martin
e-mail: dmartin@brocku.ca
(905) 688-5550, ext. 4321
http://www.brocku.ca/history
Program Description
The Master of Arts in History provides students with training in the various fields of history through course work and research experience. Our program has no specified fields of concentration, but offers a high-quality, general Master's degree in History consistent with the excellence and dedication of the faculty who teach it. A distinctive feature of the program is an emphasis on theme, rather than on region or timeframe. Those themes are Imperialism, Gender History, Intellectual History, Revolutions, Labour Systems, Migration/Ethnicity/Identity, History of Science and Medicine, and History and Computing. A central focus is on developing students' critical analysis of both primary and secondary sources. Another goal is to give students the opportunity to explore historiography and methodology and encourage them to engage vibrant debates in their study of history.
Admission Requirements
Successful completion of an Honours Bachelor's degree, or equivalent, in History with an overall average of not less than 75%. Students with a co-major in History or a closely-related discipline will be considered, although such students may be required to take additional undergraduate courses.
The Graduate Admissions Committee will review all applications and recommend admission for a limited number of suitable candidates.
Part-time study is available.
Degree Requirements
While the program offers both a major research paper stream and a thesis stream, most students will be encouraged to pursue the major research paper stream, as the additional coursework required by this choice provides a broader foundation for future studies. The thesis stream is by invitation only, on the recommendation of the Graduate Committee.
All students in the major research paper stream will take Historiography and Historical Method (HIST 5F01), four half-course electives (HIST 5V00-HIST 5V79), and the major research paper (HIST 5F80). Students invited to the thesis stream will take Historiography and Historical Method (HIST 5F01), two half-course electives (HIST 5V00-HIST 5V89), and the thesis (HIST 5F90). Each student enrolled in HIST 5F90 must defend his/her thesis at a public oral examination. Under exceptional circumstances, students in either the major research paper stream or the thesis stream may be permitted to substitute a directed reading course (taken as HIST 5P80), or a course offered by another graduate program, in lieu of one of their elective courses.
The major research paper stream is designed to normally be completed in twelve months (three terms). The thesis stream is designed to normally be completed in twenty months (five terms). The completion time for part-time students will vary with the candidate's circumstances.
Course Descriptions
Students must check to ensure that prerequisites are met. Students may be deregistered, at the request of the instructor, from any course for which prerequisites and/or restrictions have not been met.
HIST 5F01
Historiography and Historical Method
Examines debates about the nature of history and provides an overview of contemporary historiographic controversies. A wide variety of methodologies and theoretical perspectives will be explored with an eye to assessing the practical applications of each for the study of history and for the students' own research projects.
HIST 5F80
Major Research Paper
A major research project (of approximately 35 pages), the topic of which shall be chosen by the student in consultation with the Supervisory Committee. The major research paper must demonstrate the student's ability to conduct original research with primary sources and a mastery of relevant historiography.
HIST 5F90
MA Thesis
An extended research project (of approximately 80-100 pages) which meets the conditions specified in the description for HIST 5F80 but involves a higher level of research and a fuller treatment of the selected subject. The thesis will be examined by an external reader and will have a public defense.
HIST 5P80
Directed Reading in History
Directed individual or group reading in a specified area of historical study.
Restriction: permission of the Graduate Program Director.
HIST 5V00-5V09
Imperialism
Themes in the history of imperialism.
HIST 5V10-5V19
Gender
Themes in the history of gender.
HIST 5V11
2010-11: Women and Gender in the Middle East
Major historical debates exploring how the forces of nationalism, modernization and revolutions have shaped the status of women and gender relations in the Middle East.
HIST 5V20
2010-11: American Enlightenment
Examines the 18th-century American Enlightenment in a transatlantic context. Topics include the life and writings of seminal thinkers such as Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, but also figures not so well known who contributed to the social history of ideas. Students will evaluate conflicting historical interpretations and develop their own understanding of historical events and trends.
HIST 5V20-5V29
Intellectual History
Themes in the history of ideas.
HIST 5V30-5V39
Revolutions
Themes in the history of revolutions.
HIST 5V32
2010-11: The French Revolution
Interpreting the Declaration of the Rights of Man in the context of late eighteenth-century attitudes to social hierarchy, gender, print culture and violence.
HIST 5V40-5V49
Labour Systems
Themes in the history of labour.
HIST 5V50-5V59
Migration/Ethnicity/Identity
Themes in the history of migration, ethnicity, and/or identity.
HIST 5V53
2010-11: First Nations and the Historians
Selected themes in North American Aboriginal history from contact to the modern era with an emphasis on the historiographical debates.
HIST 5V60-5V69
History of Science and/or Medicine
Themes in the history of science and/or medicine.
HIST 5V70
2010-11: Computing for History
Use of the computer by historians to support teaching and research, including topics such as text analysis, high performance computing, Geographic Information Systems, quantitative methods, photo-editing and animation, simulations and serious games.
HIST 5V70-5V79
History and Computing
Themes in history and computing.