Master's Program Guidelines

These requirements apply for all MA students. 

Students need 30 credits (10 courses) to graduate. Full-time students generally take three seminars (500- or 600- level courses) per semester, for a total of 9 credits. In order to reach the SUNY requirement of 12 credits for full-time status, students may add HIS 599 (see below). In lieu of HIS 599, you might take a language course, for example, but be aware that the Department of History considers 3 graduate seminars to be a full load.

• HIS 500: Doing History. Students considering doctoral work in the future may instead enroll in HIS 501 (Historical Inquiry), the introductory course for doctoral students.
• Core seminars during your first year corresponding to your area of specialty. For specialists of U.S., Latin American, and European history, the core is a two semester sequence. The Asian and Atlantic World cores are usually single semester courses, so students in those specialties must select an additional semester of a core seminar in another field. 
• One research (600- level) seminar
• Four additional 500- level seminars of your choosing

• HIS 502-503: American Core: I and II
• HIS 504-505: European Core: Early Modern and Modern
• HIS 506: North and South Atlantic Core
• HIS 507: Asian Core
• HIS 559-560: Latin America and the Caribbean (not offered every year)

HIS 599 is not required, and it does not count toward your degree. You can enroll in HIS 599 for 3 credits, enabling you to reach full-time (12-credit) status with the normal load of three 3-credit seminars. To receive credit, students must attend four events related to the intellectual life of the university or, in certain cases, of the community. These are generally scholarly lectures or conferences. You can find out about such events on the Department of History, Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy, and UB Humanities Institute websites’ calendars of events: 

Or you might identify an event on your own. If unsure whether a certain event will be acceptable, ask the coordinator of 599, which in 2024-25 will be the Department Chair, Kristin Stapleton. Email her a brief description of the event and your thoughts on it within a week of the event. 

Alternately, enrolling in or attending all six meetings of HIS 701 (Pro-seminar on Teaching) also fulfills the requirements for HIS 599. Again, email your thoughts on the 701 sessions to Dr. Stapleton. 

All MA students must fulfill a distribution requirement by taking at least one course in each of three major areas: U.S. and Canada; Europe; Asia, Africa, and Latin America. In the case of transnational, thematic, or world history courses, students should consult with the DGS about whether it can fulfill the requirement for a particular area, and if so, ask to have a statement to that effect put in their file.

In addition to seminar coursework, students must also complete a Master’s Project. The project is an article-length paper of roughly 30-60 pages, based on primary research, placed within a historiographical framework, and executed under the guidance of a faculty member. If based on a previous seminar paper, it must be significantly reworked and/or expanded. 

To complete the Master's Project, you will need an adviser who will guide, evaluate, and ultimately grade your work.  You should approach a faculty member about advising your project as soon as you have an idea of your research topic; at the latest, you should choose an advisor who agrees to work with you no later than the end of your second semester.  Typically, you will choose a faculty member who specializes in a relevant field (geography, time, approach, etc.) and with whom you have established some kind of connection (e.g., you have taken a class from them and/or visited their office hours, etc.).  In some cases, the best faculty member for your project may not have offered a course at the right time for you; you should take the initiative to visit their office hours and find out whether they would be a suitable adviser for your project. If you are having trouble finding an advisor or are concerned about any aspect of the process, contact the DGS, and he or she will be able to help.

The following is a typical course of study (N.B.:  if you begin in the Spring rather than the Fall there will be some alterations to this sequence; please contact the DGS briefly as you enroll each semester to make sure all requirements are met):

• HIS 500 or 501
• Core seminar
• Elective seminar (500- level)
• HIS 599 or some other class, if you need to be enrolled fulltime

• Core seminar
• Elective seminar (500- level)
• Research Seminar (600- level)
• HIS 599 or some other class

If you have followed the above template for Semesters I and II, you will now need to take:

• 2 more 500-level seminars
• 6 credits of HIS 598 to cover the research and writing of your MA project.  

If you intend for this to be your final semester, you should enroll in 2 seminars plus 6 credits of HIS 598. If you do not intend to complete your MA project this semester, you can enroll in 3 seminars plus 3 credits of HIS 598 on a continuing pass/fail basis. 

If you have not yet completed your MA project:

• 3 credits of HIS 598

Although you will only be registered for 3 credits, the Graduate School will consider you to be a full-time student because you will have already fulfilled all other requirements for the degree.