There are two options for the M.A. in History. Most students pursue the non-thesis option, which requires the completion of twelve 3-hour courses for a total of thirty-six semester credit hours. One of these courses must be the research course HIS 694. Students who apply for and are accepted into the thesis option must complete eight 3-hour courses and write a master's thesis. All students pursuing either M.A. option must pass written and oral examinations. Thesis students must also pass an oral defense of their thesis. Students may take courses online, on-campus at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, or at The University Center in The Woodlands, Texas . The Thesis/Non-Thesis Option 1) Only five percent of our MA students write a thesis. 2) Writing a thesis is not required for getting into Ph.D. programs. The thesis can help a student later in writing a dissertation, but far more important is the applicant's GRE score and whether his or her letters of recommendation are written by historians with national reputations. Most of our MA students who have earned Ph.D.s or those currently in Ph.D. programs did not write a master's thesis. 3) Students should have a strong commitment to their topic. Randomly selecting a topic is never a good idea because writing a thesis demands a great deal of time and emotional and intellectual energy. Many students starting out to write a thesis eventually change to the non-thesis option. 4) The student must select a topic that a member of our faculty can direct. For example, a student might want to do a topic in Egyptology, but we have no members of the faculty with that expertise. 5) Faculty members can direct a thesis only for students they have had in a regular (not independent study) on-line or residential courses. Student should know that faculty members are not under any obligation to direct theses, and many regularly decline the opportunity. Students will also select two other faculty members to serve on the thesis committee. It is wise, though not required, that the student have had regular courses from those faculty members as well. 6) A student must first secure the approval of the online graduate faculty to pursue the thesis option, and then write a thesis proposal that must be approved by the chair of the History Department and the Dean of the college. Only students with consistently excellent writing will be approved for the thesis option. 7) The student must have access to primary sources. A thesis is neither a report nor a research paper. It is an original piece of research based on primary sources. For on-line students, this can pose a real problem since we require that the accuracy of all internet sources be certified before being footnoted. 8) Writing a thesis is a time-consuming process that involves much more effort than the non-thesis option. Theses usually range from 100 to 250 pages in length. Each chapter is read by a three-member thesis committee. They usually suggest significant changes. The student then rewrites. The committee then re-reads. The student then rewrites. All three committee members must give the thesis final approval. After approval, the thesis goes to the dean, who can also make suggestions. The student then undergoes a thesis defense at the hands of the committee members who read it. We do not mean to discourage students from writing theses, but they do need to understand the process before embarking. 9) After completing 24-hours of course work, thesis-writing students need to sign up for History 698 and 699. HIS698 is required only once, but students must be enrolled continuously in HIS699 until they have completed their defense. Click here to return to the SHSU Online Master of Arts in History home page
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