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History Graduate Programs

Explore flexible options with professional or research-focused tracks to achieve your goals. 

Our MA in History program is designed both for individuals wishing to enhance their knowledge of and skills at the study of the past and for those intending to pursue a doctorate in a related field. Students have two options, a “research” or a “professional” option. Students with plans for doctoral study should choose the research option.

Students in the research option must complete 36 semester credit hours of coursework, demonstrate reading proficiency in an approved foreign language, and successfully complete a master’s thesis.

Master of Arts in History

Students seeking the MA in History can choose the professional option or a research option, which requires a thesis. Learn more about the thesis requirement.

Program TypeMaster’s
FormatOn campus, full- and part-time options are available
Estimated Time to Complete2-3 years
Semester Credit Hours36
Coursework

Each student plans an individual program of studies in consultation with an assigned advisor. All students are required to take HIST 6301: Historiography within their first year of enrollment.

Additionally, students take 24 SCH in history electives, 3 SCH in any organized course outside of History (HIST), but normally within the School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology, and 6 SCH of Thesis. Normally no more than 6 SCH of independent study are applicable to the degree plan.

To be a full-time student, 9 hours of course work per semester is required; a minimum of 3 hours of course work in one semester is required to remain enrolled in the program.

To have courses taken outside the Bass School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology applied to one of its degrees, students must seek prior approval from the associate dean for graduate studies. They also may petition to have appropriate transfer courses (courses taken at other institutions) applied to their degree plan.

Professional Option

Students in the professional option must complete 36 semester credit hours of coursework, including HIST 6301 and normally all in organized coursework. They are not required to complete a thesis or meet the foreign language requirement.

Research Option

Students in the research option must complete 36 semester credit hours of coursework, fulfill a foreign language requirement, and complete a thesis.

Thesis: Learn more about the thesis requirements.

Program Highlights

Research Opportunities

Since our school combines the arts humanities and technology, many faculty members are engaged in the creation and performance of artistic works in creative writing and the visual and performing arts.

Our graduate students conduct and present research national and internationally.

See our graduate student accomplishments.

Faculty Mentors

Our faculty members will help you gain the knowledge, skills and support you need for a rewarding career. Meet our faculty.

Dr. Whitney Stewart, in front of a former slave home at Dallas Heritage Village, said such quarters reflect the racialized nature of “home” in the 19th-century South.

Dr. Whitney Stewart

Assistant professor of history

“I want my students to understand the complexity and contingency of history, while also recognizing the connections of the past with the present. I push my students to never respond with a ‘yes or no, to never assume there is just one simple answer to a question.”

Contact Information

Eric Schlereth
Associate Professor and Program Head
Phone: 972-883-2168
Email: exs082000@utdallas.edu
Office: JO 5.522

Pia K. Jakobsson
Graduate Academic Advisor
Phone: 972-883-4706
Email: pia.jakobsson@utdallas.edu
Office: JO 4.128

Graduate Advising
Bass School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology
The University of Texas at Dallas, JO31
800 W. Campbell Road
Richardson, TX 75080-3021
Phone: 972-883-4706
Email: ahtgradvising@utdallas.edu

Office of Admission and Enrollment
800 W. Campbell Road
Richardson, TX 75080-3021
972-883-2270 or 1-800-889-2443
admission@utdallas.edu
utdallas.edu/enroll

Next Steps

Explore

Reach out to us to get more information about your program of interest.

Apply

Review the Bass School’s graduate application process and requirements.