Q: How long does the program take?

A: About two years if you attend full time–some students take longer if they are working many hours.

Q: How many units is the program?

A: Thirty units (ten courses) including a six-unit thesis component.

Q: What are the requirements for admission?

A: The process of admission is a two-step process.  Students must first apply directly to the University Graduate Admissions Office.  Once accepted by Graduate Admissions, the student’s application is forwarded to the history department.
 
The student should first obtain an application from the University Graduate Admissions Office and supply transcripts as requested.  Students’ GRE scores will also be received by the University Graduate Admission Office.  Once the student is admitted to the university as a post-baccalaureate student, the student’s file will be forwarded to the history department. 
 
Students should send an application essay of two to three typed pages outlining their preparation for graduate studies in history and their reasons for pursuing a graduate degree in history, directly to the graduate coordinator in the history department.  Students should also have three letters of recommendation sent directly to the graduate coordinator in the history department.

Q: What's this about a foreign language requirement?

A: It's not required to be admitted into the program. But before being advanced to Master's Candidacy (usually at the end of your first year) you must show READING proficiency in a foreign language. The tests are usually three hours long and a dictionary is permitted.

Q: And there's also a writing skills requiremen

A. Yes, there is a writing requirement. Here are the specifics:

Goals:  In order to command scholarly and professional credibility, graduate students should:
            a.  Develop writing skills commensurate with society’s expectations of persons who hold advanced degrees.
            b.  Develop the ability to write in formats and styles appropriate to their disciplines.
 
Policy:  In accordance with requirements of the State of California, students must demonstrate competence in written English before they apply for advancement to candidacy.  For pedagogical reasons, they should demonstrate such competence as early in their programs as possible.
 
Implementation:
Graduate students in the Department of History fulfill the Graduate Writing Requirement by submitting a well-written 15-20 page research paper formatted according to standard disciplinary style.  In most cases, this will be Turabian.  However, students are responsible for checking with a faculty member in their discipline before turning in the paper to the committee.  The paper to be submitted may be a paper produced in any course, graduate or undergraduate, which fulfills the above requirements.
 
A committee of three faculty members from the Graduate committee will judge the submissions based on the following criteria, as laid out by the Academic Senate in 1991:
 
a) comprehensibility
b) clear organization and presentation of ideas;
c) an ability to arrange ideas logically so as to establish a sound scholarly argument;
d) thoroughness and competence in documentation;
e) an ability to express in writing a critical analysis of existing scholarly/professional literature in the student’s area of interest; and
f) an ability to model the discipline’s overall style as reflected in representative journals.
 
Papers must be acceptable in EACH of areas a-f.  Should a paper fail in one or more of the areas, students will be advised to take a writing course, hire a tutor, or the like and to resubmit a revised paper at a later date.  Students will NOT be able to resubmit a paper more than once, unless unusual and compelling medical or legal circumstances arise.  Should a student fail more than once, they will not advance to candidacy and they will be dropped from the program.
 
Please note that the Graduate Writing Requirement must be fulfilled before the student is advanced to candidacy.  The graduate writing committee will meet twice a year, November 15 and March 15 to assess student writing.

Q: I am ONLY interested in Medieval French History. Is this a good program for me?

A: Since the program is designed to give you an excellent overall competency in History, you will be taking courses in all different areas of History, including American, European, Asian, Latin American, or African. Of course, the thesis component gives you an opportunity to do in-depth research on one particular period of history, but if you would like to "master EVERY millennium," this is a great program for you!

Q: What can I do with a History M.A.?

A: Many of our graduates go on to teach at the high school or community college level, but quite a few pursue advanced degrees. Recent CSU-Fresno History Master's recipients have been accepted into doctoral programs at such schools as the University of Cincinnati, Wheaton, Bryn Mawr College, the UC system, and Princeton.

Q: Why is knowledge of history so important, anyway?

A: Perhaps the best reason comes from the philosopher George Santayana: "Those who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it."