History B.A. | M.A. | Programs

The 4+1 Accelerated Master’s in History provides an opportunity to earn a pathway to a master’s degree — with one year of additional study and 100% tuition scholarships for the fifth year. Position yourself for career advancement as you engage with graduate students and network with working professionals.

Accelerated Master’s

Students in a public history class conduct the type of research they would undertake at the graduate level

Why pursue the 4+1 Accelerated Master’s in History?

The Accelerated Master’s in History provides highly-motivated students with the opportunity to focus their studies on a topic related to their honors thesis. As master’s students, they work in graduate seminars and upper-level undergraduate courses, and participate in individually-designed tutorials under the direction of a faculty advisor.

Program of study

The Accelerated B.A. to M.S. requires requires eight graduate course units. A master’s thesis is the primary research requirement for the MA degree.

Senior year

Honors students enroll in upper level undergraduate courses that include graduate students. The honors program requires three independent study courses in the senior year, two of which are devoted to research and writing the honors thesis (HIST 297), while the third, a directed reading, provides necessary background (HIST 299). In addition, students participate in the History Department’s HIST 290 – Honors Forum .

In the second semester of their senior year, honors students are expected to identify and contact a master’s thesis advisor. They should develop a preliminary master’s topic by the end of their senior year.

Fifth year

All M.A. students will take four course units each semester. Usually these will include one graduate seminar or directed research course that will count for two course credits, one directed readings course, and one 200-level undergraduate course at the graduate level. A student may, with the approval of their advisor, take up to one graduate course per semester outside of history.

Graduate students are also expected to achieve a higher level of analytical sophistication than undergraduates. This difference in expectation is reflected in grading policy for graduate students. To receive graduate credit in any course, the student must receive a grade of B- or above.

Near the end of the spring semester of the fifth year, the student will have an oral exam with their graduate advisor and one other faculty member from the department. The exam will cover the student’s graduate-level course work and their master’s thesis. At this time, the student should have a substantive draft and examining professors will suggest appropriate revisions for the completion of the degree.

Careers

History majors and M.A. students at Clark develop and master critical skills — persuasive writing, interpreting data, and giving compelling presentations, among others — that ensure success in any field. Our graduates have worked in education, libraries, museums, business, medicine, law, social justice, and the military. Clark alumni work at the following institutions:

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
Old Sturbridge Village
U.S. Military Academy at West Point
Metropolitan Museum of Art
IOM – UN Migration
New England Historic Genealogical Society
Facing History and Ourselves
U.S. Army
Massachusetts Appeals Court

Eligibility

The Accelerated M.A. in History is open only to history undergraduate majors who successfully complete the honors program in history and meet all university and departmental 4+1 Accelerated Master’s requirements.

The student ideally should decide by the sophomore year to become a History major, and should take HIST 120 – Writing History in the second semester of the sophomore year. In the junior year, the student should take several 200-level history courses, and at least one seminar, in preparation for the Honors Program in History in the senior year. Students apply to the Honors program during the second semester of their Junior year.

Students are required to meet with the history accelerated degree advisor as a formal part of the admissions process. This meeting is intended to assist prospective students in assessing the appropriateness of the degree to their professional aspirations.

Explore the Accelerated Master’s in History

4+1 Accelerated Master’s

Department of History

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Program advisor

The designated program adviser is:
Professor Wim Klooster
History Department
wklooster@clarku.edu
508-793-7288

*Once you have started your fifth year, you may be assigned a different academic adviser.

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