Graduate Program
The M.A. in History
With more than thirty full-time faculty members with a wide range of professional interests, each student's program of thirty semester hours (including six hours for the thesis) is tailored to enhance his or her career objectives.
The History MA program serves three main constituencies: people who intend to go on to a PhD in history; people who intend to go into teaching (or who are already teachers) in high schools and community colleges; people, often mid-career professionals, who simply love history.
We welcome applicants of all ages and backgrounds. It is not essential to have majored in history as an undergraduate. Our students have included judges, lawyers, mechanics, union organizers, and retired state department employees, etc.
While most of our students complete their degree in two years, others work on their MA degree part-time, so they can continue their jobs while going to school, or combine family responsibilities with their own education, or simply explore the possibilities of graduate study at their own pace. All students must complete the program in six years.
Our graduates have gone on to excellent Ph.D. programs. Other graduates move on diverse jobs, many that are related to directly to history and some that are not, such as the law, banking, building, coaching, mothering, marketing, etc. You name it! A degree in history will teach you to read critically and to write well. These skills are useful in most jobs, and most employers know it.
The M.A. in Public History
As one of the premier programs in the nation, the Public History program prepares graduates to work in a variety of public and applied history settings.
Many of our students have already worked in the field and want to advance their credentials.
The program requires thirty-six hours of course work, one-half of the hours falling in historical studies, the rest in public history classes, including innovative courses in archival and special collections management, paper conservation, records management, documentary editing, museum studies, and historic preservation.
Students may select a practicum that places them under the direct supervision of the State Archivist of North Carolina. Students may select another practicum in their own special area of interest — including records management, the administration of historic sites, history museums, historic preservation, or historical publications.
As in the History MA program, most Public History students complete their degree in two years, while others work on it part-time, so they can continue their jobs while going to school, or combine family responsibilities with their own education, or simply explore the possibilities of graduate study at their own pace. All students must complete the program in six years.
For over a decade NC State has maintained one of the highest placement rates in the nation among public history programs. Our graduates are working in archives, museums, libraries and other public history facilities across the state, region, and nation.
In addition, the faculty participate in cooperative Ph.D. programs with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University.
