Online Master's Degree MA in History

The modern nation of the United States of America was born out of European colonization. The themes that arise from these early encounters between colonists from different European countries, Native Americans, and displaced Africans as they created the "New World" continue to shape America's social, political, economic, and cultural landscape to this day. In this course, students investigate how historian understand the different facets of the creation of this New World, including armed conflict, cultural cooperation, gender roles, environmental issues, and the role of religion in conquest.

America has held many titles as a result of its political inception, including "the birthplace of democracy" and "the first nation based on an idea." Does the historical evidence substantiate those claims? Was the American Revolution truly "revolutionary"? In this course, the separation of the American colonies from England and the political, cultural, social, and economic realities that resulted are critically examined. Students will challenge and refine previously held or popular notions of the period encompassing Revolutionary-era America through the early nineteenth century.

The era of the American Civil War is one of the most studied periods in American history. Despite the robust and well-established scholarship on the topic, vibrant debates and competing schools of thought still exist. In this course, students will add to this rich tradition with their own interpretations of the social, economic, cultural, and political roots of the conflict and its relevant impacts on the American narrative. Emphasis is placed on applying different methodologies and lenses to the vast historical body of knowledge surrounding the antebellum period through the Reconstruction era. Students evaluate the implications of methodology and lens on interpretations of the Civil War.

This course examines the period between Reconstruction and the first World War, paying particular attention to the emergence of industrial capitalism, the rise of the modern American city, the shifting nature of rural life in America and the rise of Populism, immigration, racial tensions, Progressivism, the conquest of the West, and the rise of the United States as a global power militarily, economically, and politically.

As America emerged on the stage as a world power, it is not surprising that increased involvement in international affairs followed. America's participation in the world wars of the twentieth century brought about profound changes related to international diplomatic relations, the expanding role of the state in economic and military policy, cultural and ideological shifts domestically and globally, and technological innovations in weaponry, transportation, and manufacturing. While the consequences of warfare on the greater world stage are central to this course, students also will examine the myriad ways in which social, political, and cultural life transformed in the United States during this era. Students contend with how historians have, both implicitly and explicitly, inserted value judgments into their interpretations of the methods of war, political regimes, human rights issues, and geopolitical reorganizations of the era.

The Cold War period has been defined by America's ideological conflict and proxy warfare with the Soviet Union. The tremendous cultural, social, economic, and political turmoil that resulted from this era, including such events as the Vietnam War and the civil rights movement, can still be felt throughout the globe today. In this course, students draw connections among contemporary issues and their foundations in the period between the end of World War II and the fall of the Soviet Union. Students explore how the essential nature of this conflict compares and contrasts to traditional conceptions of "war," examine to what extent the Cold War was representative of a paradigm shift in terms of foreign policy and military engagements, and investigate the general relationship between war and society in this period.

This course examines the development of military theory and practice throughout history, exploring prominent military figures and major campaigns. This subject matter is global in scope, including topics from both the Eastern and Western worlds. Students will investigate how different societies influence and are influenced by military affairs, including war and social changes, diplomatic efforts, and cultural differences in military theory.

The Russian revolutions of 1917 rank among the most monumental events of the modern era. The collapse of the tsarist regime and the triumph of communism placed Russia on a tumultuous and often painful path toward modernization and forever changed the course of world history. Beginning with the 1890s and continuing until the early 1920s, this course will analyze the background, the unfolding, and the aftermath of the twin upheavals of 1917: the February Revolution that destroyed the Russian monarchy and the October Revolution that brought the Soviet government to power. Students will investigate the political, socio-economic, cultural, and ideological factors that shaped this transformation, and will also explore the interactions among revolutionary processes and military events such as World War I and the Russian Civil War. They will utilize recent scholarship on these topics to develop their own understanding of the historiography of the subject.

This course provides an overview of major military campaigns, strategies, and tactics in Chinese history. Students will explore the cultural aspects of military campaigns and warfare in China and be introduced to the latest scholarship on the topics explored. Students will also engage with the historiography of a topic of interest and define their own interpretations based on scholarly research.

Unlike many other areas of history, public history distinguishes itself in its application focus and community orientation. Public historians are charged with protecting our historically significant artifacts, cataloging our historical wisdom, and communicating our cultural narratives. In this course, the foundational principles and mission of public history are investigated and evaluated. Students assess the landscape of public history, including the major thinkers, controversies, emerging trends, and ethical demands. Finally, students must articulate a distinct identity for public history and situate themselves within that context.

A public historian can expect to be responsible for a myriad of projects and tasks that require a marriage of historical knowledge and business acumen. In this course, students will augment their existing framework to include the skill sets of project management, budgeting and finance, legal competencies, and other pragmatic considerations that are essential for the public historian. Attention will be given to issues of intellectual property, fundraising and donations, interpersonal skills and people management, artifact care, and motivating volunteer organizations.

The potential and possibilities for preserving historical artifacts have been fundamentally transformed by digitization. The ability to design, plan, execute, and maintain digitization projects and repositories has become essential for public historians. In this course, students apply information system theories and utilize relevant technologies and tools to engage in the digitization process. An emphasis is placed on the need for public historians to take an adaptive and open-minded approach to technology, due to its capabilities for furthering the missions of public history.

This course is one of three specialized offerings in public history collections management. The focus of this course is documentary editing, or the assembling of comprehensive document collections. Documentary editors must scrutinize, verify, and organize the resources upon which historical scholarship rests. This includes making the difficult, and potentially controversial, decisions about what is included and what is not. In this course, students engage in research, evaluation, transcription, annotation, and compilation of historical artifacts. The implications of documentary editorial decisions on future understandings of the past are assessed.

This course is one of three specialized offerings in public history collections management. The focus of this course is archives, or the accumulation of historical records that have been set aside for future reference. Archivists must store, catalog, preserve, and retrieve archival materials that are considered to be of significance to a group. In this course, students apply the major theories of archival science to determine the authenticity, reliability, integrity, and usability of various records. Best practices for developing and maintaining archives are investigated. Additionally, the ethical considerations surrounding the care of records of social value are evaluated.

This course is one of three specialized offerings in public history collections management; the focus is museum curation. Today's museums are being challenged to alter their approach and redefine the museum experience to meet the intellectual curiosity of 21st-century patrons who crave contribution and participation over passive observation. In this course, students will evaluate the impact of these social dynamics on the field of museum science. Additionally, students will propose creative solutions to address new expectations without sacrificing the enduring principles at the core of a museum's mission.