Andrew Schocket, Graduate Coordinator 128 Williams Hall
Phone: 419-372-2030 Degrees Offered
Graduate Certificate in Public History; Master of Arts; Master of Arts in Teaching; Doctor of Philosophy
Graduate Faculty
Professors
Edmund Danziger, Ph.D.; Scott C. Martin, Ph.D.; Apollos Nwauwa, Ph.D.;
Associate Professors
Douglas Forsyth, Ph.D.; Walter Grunden, Ph.D.; Beth Griech- Polelle, Ph.D.; Ruth W. Herndon, Ph.D. Andrew Schocket, Ph.D.
Assistant Professors
Amilcar Challu, Ph.D.; Rebecca Mancuso, Ph.D.; Stephen Ortiz, Ph.D.; Tiffany Trimmer, Ph.D.
The Department of History offers programs leading to the degrees of Master of Arts, Master of Arts in Teaching, and Doctor of Philosophy. It is also possible to pursue a dual Master of Arts in History and German, History and Spanish, or History and French. In these programs, individual research and knowledge of research by others in the field are integral to students' education. The doctoral program focuses on policy history. Special attention is given to research techniques, historiography, and policy history; indeed, the Bowling Green policy history program is the most comprehensive in the nation, the only one that emphasizes study in non-American as well as American fields. Students examine the interrelationships among politics, institutions, and society, the ways in which policies have often been transformed when put in place, and the consequences of policy decisions. Students are encouraged to work comparatively, across national boundaries. The History Department has established eight potential major or minor fields: African history, Asian history, American history (U. S. and/or Canada), Latin American history, World history, Modern European history, Policy history, or Public history (minor field only). M.A. and M.A.T. students must select a primary and a secondary field from these eight areas; Ph.D. students may, with the permission of the Graduate Coordinator, select a specialized or self-designed minor field suited to the research or pedagogical needs of the student. M.A. or M.A.T. students may choose policy
history as a major or minor field, but all Ph.D. students must choose policy history as their major focus.
Prerequisites to Graduate Work
Graduate study in history requires a minimum of 24 hours of undergraduate work in history. A maximum of six hours in related areas may be accepted as part of the 24-hour requirement. Admission Procedure
Applicants seeking admission to the graduate program in history should follow the instructions outlined in the "Graduate Admission" section of this catalog. MAT candidates may submit PRAXIS II scores in the appropriate content area in lieu of GRE scores. In addition to the general Graduate College requirements, an applicant should submit to the Department of History the following items along with the online application for admission:
1. at least three letters of recommendation from professors of history or a related field and
2. evidence of ability to do research and writing, such as a copy of a seminar paper or thesis and
3. a statement of purpose describing your area of research interest, your motivations for coming to graduate school, and your aspirations following receipt of the graduate degree.
Admission to the Ph.D. program has been suspended through the 2012-13 academic year.
Degree Requirements
Master of Arts
Candidates may pursue the M.A. degree under one of two plans. Plan I: Thirty semester hours of graduate credit are required. Candidates must write a thesis and complete an oral examination on the thesis and the field of history in which it lies. This plan includes a language requirement which may be fulfilled either through a dictionary reading knowledge of an approved foreign language or the satisfactory completion of an approved course in quantitative methodology; such as History 6020, and another course, selected in consultation with the Graduate Coordinator, such as SOC 3690, Introductory Statistics or CS 5000, Computing for Graduate Students. Plan I is recommended for students who plan to pursue doctoral work in history.
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Candidates must complete a comprehensive oral examination in two fields of history. Preparation for the examination normally entails the reading of at least ten to twelve books in the major field and six to ten books in the minor filed, selected in consultation with two examiners.
Under both plans, a student's program must include a History seminar designated by the Graduate Coordinator as a methods course, one course in historiography, and two graduate History seminars.
Master of Arts in Teaching
M.A.T. students are required to take 36 semester hours of course work of which 21 to 27 must be in history and eight to 12 must be in education. There is a final written comprehensive examination in history.
Doctor of Philosophy
General Requirements: The doctoral program in history requires
the completion of 90 hours of approved graduate credit beyond the bachelor's degree, including a maximum of 30 hours of credit for research on the dissertation. All candidates for the Ph.D. degree must spend at least two consecutive semesters beyond the master's degree, or equivalent, in residence at the University, during which time a minimum of six hours of work must be completed satisfactorily each semester.
The Ph.D. foreign language requirement may be satisfied in one of the following ways:
1. passing a dictionary-assisted reading proficiency examination in two foreign languages;
2. passing a dictionary-assisted reading proficiency examination in one foreign language of an approved course or courses in quantitative methodology, to be chosen by the student in consultation with the graduate coordinator and/or the student’s major advisor; 3. demonstration of high proficiency in one foreign
language. In the case of students from countries where English is not the language of instruction, satisfaction of the University's English proficiency requirement satisfies the history foreign language requirement, except when research is to be conducted in a language other than English or the student's native tongue.
History Requirements: All candidates for the Ph.D. will be required
to complete HIST 6520 (Historiography) and a History seminar
designated by the Graduate Coordinator as a methods course, unless they have equivalent training in these areas. Students seeking exemption from HIST 6520 or the required methods course must submit proof to the graduate coordinator that the training they have acquired elsewhere is the equivalent of that provided by these courses. Students must prepare for
examinations in three fields, one of which will be policy history with a focus in a specialized area (e.g., American foreign policy, 20th Century U.S., 20th Century Europe, Modern East Asia.
Examinations: Admission to Ph.D. candidacy is granted following
the successful completion of preliminary examinations, which consist of written and oral exercises covering the student's three fields.
Dissertation: Dissertations may be written with any geographical
emphasis, but all dissertations must have a focus on private or public institutional decision-making processes.
Graduate Courses
Please access graduate courses online at
http://webapp.bgsu.edu/courses/indexps.php . Graduate courses offered by the Department of History use the prefix: HIST.
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HUMAN MOVEMENT, SPORT AND LEISURE STUDIES