History

Opportunities for graduate studies

The graduate programs in the Department of History prepare you for a career in higher education, museum and archives management, public service and research. Thirty faculty members work closely with about 150 graduate students in the master of arts, master of science and doctor of philosophy degree programs. Graduate classes normally include six to 12 students, allowing you to receive personal attention from the instructor.

Most classes are categorized as studies courses and seminars. Studies courses generally include extensive reading assignments on the course topic and substantial writing assignments. Seminars are designed to teach how to conduct research in original sources (e.g., letters, diaries, newspapers, census records) and how to organize and present the results of research to a wider audience.

In addition to formal classes, other learning opportunities are available. Several speakers of national and international stature address faculty and students on different topics each year. An active organization of department graduate students provides useful information as you move through the various stages of degree work. Notices of deadlines, job openings, scholarship opportunities and other general information about graduate work in history are organized by graduate students and passed on via an Internet mailing list.

A chapter of Phi Alpha Theta, the national honors program for history students, organizes scholarly and social events and sponsors a banquet and prominent speaker each spring semester. Faculty members have regular office hours and are available for consultation. Many graduate students participate in regional and national historical conferences by presenting the results of their research to audiences of fellow professionals. The department offers travel grants to students on a competitive basis.

Admission requirements

You must meet the admission requirements of the Toulouse School of Graduate Studies, in addition to the following program requirements. The department uses a holistic review process and no one deficiency eliminates you from consideration.

Master's programs

• a score in at least the 50th percentile on the verbal portion of the GRE and either a score in at least the 40th percentile on the quantitative portion or a 4 or higher on the analytical/writing portion
• at least 24 hours of undergraduate history
• at least a 3.0 overall undergraduate GPA

Ph.D. program

• M.A. or M.S. degree
• a master's thesis
• a score in at least the 70th percentile on the verbal portion of the GRE and either a score in at least the 40th percentile on the quantitative portion or a score of at least a 4 on the analytical/writing portion
• a overall GPA of at least 3.4 on all master's-level work
• a statement of purpose
• a formal paper completed as part of master's-level work (other than the thesis)
• two letters of recommendation from faculty members familiar with your previous graduate work

Degree requirements

M.A. and M.S. degrees

You may pursue a master of arts degree (which requires reading knowledge of one foreign language) or a master of science degree with a major in history. You can pursue a master's degree with or without a thesis (both 31 hours). The Department of History also cooperates with the College of Information to offer a joint master's degree in history and library science (60 hours).

Ph.D. degree

You may pursue a Ph.D. degree with a major in history and a concentration in U.S. history or modern European history (1400 to present). You must complete a minimum of 36 classroom hours of graduate courses in history or related areas (not including language or leveling courses) in addition to research and dissertation hours. A minimum of four seminar courses in history and 3 hours of historiography are required as part of the 36 hours in the classroom. A reading knowledge of one foreign language is also required. Your advisory committee will approve the particular language.

You are required to submit a dissertation that is a significant contribution to the study of history. Completion of the dissertation requires original and independent research in the major field of specialization. The final oral examination is primarily a defense of the completed dissertation. Existing university regulations concerning completion of the doctoral dissertation also apply.

Financial assistance

UNT provides several methods to help you pay for your education. All programs, requirements and qualifications are available in the financial aid office. For application deadlines or more information, contact Student Financial Aid and Scholarships at 940-565-2302 or (877) 881-1014, or access www.unt.edu/finaid.

The Department of History provides several scholarships and numerous teaching assistantships, teaching fellowships, research assistantships and other types of financial aid for graduate students. Applications for financial aid administered by the Department of History should be made by March 1 for the following academic year. For more information, contact the department.

Facilities

The Department of History is in Wooten Hall on the southeastern part of the campus. Also in Wooten Hall are the History Help Center and a computer lab. The help center is staffed by paid graduate students who provide advice and tutoring for undergraduates enrolled in history courses. The computer lab is equipped with the latest in hardware and software, including standard word processing, spreadsheet database and statistical programs. An extensive department library includes thousands of books, tapes and CD-ROMs and is often used for special classes and addresses by visiting speakers.

Library system

The university libraries include Willis Library, the Science and Technology Library, the Media Library and the Music Library. These facilities contain about 6 million printed books, periodicals, maps, documents, microforms, audiovisual materials, music scores and electronic media. Willis Library houses the general collection and other special collections, such as the Oral History Collection, the University Archives, the Rare Book and Texana collections, and government documents.

Research holdings relevant to graduate study in history include the Oral History Collection, federal and state documents, microfilmed papers of U.S. presidents and other important figures, Texas newspapers, U.S. Census records, service records of soldiers in the Civil War, a large collection of U.S. State Department papers, parliamentary records of the larger European nations, captured German documents (1867-1945), British cabinet records (1868-1945), major European newspapers, documents on the Nuremburg trials of the 1940s, the Béxar Archives collection on microfilm, 67 volumes of unedited documents relating to the Spanish Empire in the Western Hemisphere, and other collections.

The Oral History Collection, among the oldest and largest in the nation, contains more than 1,800 bound volumes. Taped and transcribed interviews focus on the political, cultural and business history of Texas, the Pacific theater of World War II, local African American history and various other local and regional topics. Numerous books and articles are based on materials in the Oral History Collection, especially works on World War II and 20th-century U.S. politics. Graduate students who take courses in applied history have the opportunity to add to this nationally recognized collection.

Graduate students also have access to several other major libraries and institutions in the Dallas-Fort Worth region, including Fort Worth's Amon Carter Museum, the Southwest Branch of the National Archives, the Dallas Public Library, the Dallas Historical Society and the libraries of numerous area colleges and universities.