Department of History

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The following explanation of policies and procedures supplements the information about the M. A. program in history, which appears in the current edition of the SIUC Graduate Catalog.  For basic information concerning admissions, graduation requirements, and financial assistance, please refer to that catalog.

 

  Advisement and Program of Study

1. Masters' candidates should consult with their advisor and the Director of Graduate Studies for assistance in planning their total program.  To begin this process, incoming students complete the department's Graduate Student Status Questionnaire.  The Director of Graduate Studies also signs the "Registration Form" (see Appendix) for graduate students each semester, and monitors their general progress.

2.The Director of Graduate Studies will assist students in selecting a committee to supervise and advise them in their individual plans of study, and to administer graduate field and thesis examinations. The Director of Graduate Studies will assign all new students to a temporary advisor to begin this process.  A student who has not chosen a permanent committee chair by the end of the first semester of residency will be assigned one by the Director of Graduate Studies. 3. By the end of the first semester, students will have, in consultation with their advisory committees, decided on a program of studies which will include the decision to pursue the thesis option or the two- seminar paper option, the selection of two fields for comprehensive examination, and the designation of a research tool. 4. For satisfactory completion of the M.A. program, students will take 30 hours of graduate level courses.  Twenty of those hours must be at the 500 level.  Students are required to take at least one, and preferably two, colloquium-seminar sequence(s).

5. In preparing the master's thesis or the research papers for the two-seminar paper option, students must comply with the university's rules on research concerning human subjects and the stylistic guidelines of the Graduate School.

6. Satisfactory progress toward the M.A. degree is measured by:

Timely completion of the research tool requirement.  If the student does not present evidence of competence in one research tool upon admission, then work must be undertaken in the first semester to establish such competence.  The student will normally be expected to have demonstrated competence in the research tool by the end of the first year of study. Satisfactory academic performance is measured by grade point average and regular completion of course work.  Students must maintain a grade point of at least 3.00.  If, in any semester, a student's cumulative GPA falls below that standard the Graduate Studies Committee will consider the student's dismissal from the program.  The Graduate Studies Committee may recommend a period of academic probation of up to two semesters.  If the GPA is not brought up to 3.00 by the end of the second semester after it falls below that mark, the student may be dropped from the program.  Students with more than seven (7) hours of incomplete work (INC grades) on their record may be dropped from the program, regardless of their cumulative GPA.  Except in extraordinary circumstances, INC grades must be completed by the end of the subsequent semester. For the sake of advisement, the student's advisory committee may decide to administer a diagnostic examination.

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The Thesis Option

1.  M.A. students should declare for the thesis option by the end of their first semester in the program.  At that time the student should select a faculty member to serve as thesis advisor and have this choice approved by the Director of Graduate Studies. By the end of the second semester, the student must assemble the full thesis advisory committee of three faculty members which will be approved by the Director of Graduate Studies.

This committee must approve a prospectus for the thesis presented by the candidate.  The thesis title must be registered with the graduate secretary and Director of Gradute Studies.  Registration forms are available from the graduate secretary.

 

2.  The thesis advisor, in consultation with the candidate and the Director of Graduate Studies, will nominate the members of the advisory committee.  The thesis advisor serves as chair of the advisory committee.  At least one of the two additional members must be history faculty.

 

3.  A completed draft of the thesis must be given to all members of the thesis committee at least two weeks before the oral examination.  A report of the oral examination, the required thesis approval forms, and two copies (including the original) of the approved and corrected thesis must be submitted to the Graduate School at least five weeks before graduation.  In addition, one final copy of the thesis should be provided to the chair of the advisory committee and one copy must be presented to the department.

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The Two-Seminar Paper Option

1.  With the approval of the Director of Graduate Studies, M. A. students should declare for the two-paper option by the end of their first semester. The student's faculty advisor will advise the student on his/her individual program and chair the examination committee.

 

2.  Candidates must submit two substantial research papers prepared in conjunction with two separate history seminars for which they received a grade of A or B.  The two papers should be submitted to the candidate's examining committee at least one week prior to the comprehensive examination, and be filed with the Department of History upon completion of the examination.  Approval forms signed by the professors who directed the seminar research must accompany the papers.  A copy of one paper must be submitted to the Graduate School.

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Comprehensive Examinations

1. At the end of their program all students will take comprehensive examinations in two fields from the following list:

2. All students, thesis and nonthesis, are required to take examinations at the end of the course of studies.  These examinations include two three-hour field examinations followed by a one-hour oral examination. The examination committee will include three history faculty members, with at least one representing each of the two chosen fields. The members will be selected by the student in consultation with his/her advisor and the Director of Graduate Studies.  The committee should be set up at least by the end of the student's second semester of study. Students are expected to demonstrate broad knowledge of each field, based primarily on the reading list prepared with the supervising professor.  Students must also show an ability to analyze historical cause and effect, trace trends over time, and place historical interpretations in a historiographical context.

 

3. The examination should be taken during the student's last semester in the program, after the fulfillment of the research tool requirement, and after the completion of the two qualifying research papers.

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Research Tool

All students in the M.A. program are required by the Graduate School to meet one research tool requirement. Information about research tool options can be found here.

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 Eligibility for Financial Aid

To be eligible for consideration for financial aid a student must be making satisfactory progress toward the degree.  Satisfactory progress is determined by timely completion of the research tool requirement and maintenance of an acceptable grade point average without excessive INC grades.  The Graduate Studies Committee will review each student's progress toward the degree each semester.

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