Graduate School

Masters of History graduates will, via a variety of career paths, help address society’s “big problems,” including racial and social injustice, violence and war, and informed analysis of technological and scientific developments, with a historical and humanities-based perspective. History is the study of the human past as it is constructed and interpreted with human artifacts, written evidence, and oral traditions. It requires empathy for historical actors, respect for interpretive debate, and the skillful use of an evolving set of practices and tools. As an inquiry into human experience, history demands that we consider the diversity of human experience across time and place. As a public pursuit, history requires effective communication to make the past accessible; it informs and preserves collective memory; it is essential to active citizenship. As a discipline, history requires a deliberative stance towards the past; the sophisticated use of information, evidence, and argumentation; and the ability to identify and explain continuity and change over time. Its professional ethics and standards demand peer review, citation, and acceptance of the provisional nature of knowledge.

Students can directly apply the knowledge learned in their history M.A. or M.S. in teaching, museum work, historic preservation, archives, or libraries. A wider conception of career preparation focuses on the underlying sets of analytical and verbal skills that one acquires in the process of studying history. Critical reading and reflection, synthesizing and organizing large amounts of information, writing and revising research papers and essays, sharpening one's ideas in class discussion with professors and fellow students all help deal with employers and the job market. In a professional environment characterized by rapidly evolving challenges and demands, employers value well-rounded individuals who can think for themselves, adapt to new demands, recognize new opportunities, and chart their own paths into unfamiliar territory.