Master of Arts (M.A.) Major in History (Thesis Option)

HIST 5199B. Thesis.

This course represents a student’s continuing thesis enrollments. The student continues to enroll in this course until the thesis is submitted for binding.

HIST 5299B. Thesis.

This course represents a student’s continuing thesis enrollments. The student continues to enroll in this course until the thesis is submitted for binding.

HIST 5301. Instructional Methods Practicum for Graduate Assistants.

Required as a condition of employment for graduate teaching and instructional assistants. This course provides regular in-service and planned periodic evaluations of instructional responsibilities. This course does not earn graduate degree credit.

HIST 5307. Medieval European History: Contemporary Trends in Medieval Historiography.

This course introduces graduate students to the craft of the medieval historian, with emphasis on major contemporary shifts in American historiography of the European Middle Ages.

HIST 5309D. Early Modern Spain.

A seminar based on selected topics in political, social, intellectual, and economic history of Spain from 1450 to 1815. (MULT).

HIST 5310. Western European History Since 1815.

A seminar based on selected topics in the history of Western Europe from 1815 to the present. May be repeated with a different emphasis.

HIST 5313. Early American History.

A seminar based on selected topics in the Colonial Revolutionary and Early National periods of the United States history. May be repeated with different emphasis.

HIST 5314. Ethnohistory.

This seminar seeks to familiarize students with current questions, methods, theories, and debates in ethnohistory, a multidisciplinary approach to the history of indigenous peoples. Materials studied will include both classic and recent ethnohistorical works. (MULT).

HIST 5315A. American Sexualities.

This course addresses the history of sexualities in the United States from the colonial era to present to shed light on the ways that sexuality has shaped social life, establish conventions, and created spaces to defy norms. (MULT).

HIST 5315B. Queer History: GLBT Histories in the United States.

This course examines the histories of different sexual minorities from the colonial era to present, though the majority of the course focuses on the twentieth century, to explore the rise of the modern lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender identities, politics, and culture. (MULT).

HIST 5316A. Women's Rights in Comparative Perspective.

This course considers national, transnational, and global development of campaigns for women’s rights since the nineteenth century. The course examines how women agitated for their rights in different cultural and historical moments. Students will gain familiarity with comparative feminisms, the gendered nature of liberal movements, and women’s activism in national and international arenas. (MULT).

HIST 5316B. Women and Empire.

From 1492 until World War II the globe was dominated by imperialism. This course considers the ways that women, in the metropoles of Europe and throughout colonial settings, found their lives shaped by empire. (MULT).

HIST 5316C. Women and Gender in the Early Modern Atlantic World.

This course introduces students to the themes, topics, and issues that animate the histories of African, European, and indigenous women in the Atlantic World from 1500 to 1800. Emphasis will be placed on comparisons between empires and on the methodological challenges of researching early modern women.

HIST 5318A. Eighteenth Century England.

A seminar based on selected topics in political, social, intellectual, and economic history of England from 1688 to 1815. May be repeated with a different emphasis.

HIST 5318C. The Age of the Stuarts.

A study of selected topics in English history between 1603 and 1714.

HIST 5318D. European Imperialism.

Europe's penchant for building empires helped to greatly enhance their influence (economic, political, and cultural) from the fifteenth to the twentieth century. The course will review the major European empires and discuss the extent of their influence during this 500 year span.

HIST 5318E. European Sexualities.

This course examines the history of sexuality of Europe in the modern era. It considers how the history of sexuality intersects with and explicates many of the crucial events in modern European history including empire, total war, communism, fascism, decolonization, and immigration.

HIST 5318F. European Fascisms and Historical Memory.

This course compares historical and contemporary manifestations of fascism in Europe. It considers how the historical memory of fascism has impacted historical memory of the past, contemporary movements, legal structures, museums, and other historical monuments in Europe today.

HIST 5319. The Age of the Tudors.

This readings-based course emphasizes differing interpretations of selected topics in English history from circa 1485 to 1603. Constitutional, political, governmental, social, religious, and cultural aspects of the era are covered.

HIST 5323A. Society and Culture in Brazil.

This seminar explores the social and cultural history of Brazil through its various ages, the “Age of Sugar”, the “Age of Coffee”, the “Age of Pedro II”, the “Belle Epoque”, and the worlds of the sugar and coffee barons. It explores the character of these ages marked by the grand plantation houses, devotion to European models, and the conflict with a slave society, covering the years from the colonial period to the turn of the twentieth century. (MULT).

HIST 5323B. History of Race and Slavery in Brazil.

This course assesses the literature on race relations and slavery in Brazil. It situates the topic within a comparative, Atlantic framework and provides a critical understanding of the chief issues and debates in the field. (MULT).

HIST 5324B. Race, Class, and Nation in Modern Latin America.

A seminar that examines the relationship between race, class, and nation building in Latin America, beginning with independence in the nineteenth century and continuing to contemporary times. (MULT).

HIST 5324C. Slavery and Emancipation in the Americas.

This course examines slavery in the Americas in its full social, political, and economic context. Students will enlarge their understanding of slavery by using an international, transatlantic framework for comparison. The course strengthens analytical skills through extensive discussion as well as significant writing and research. (MULT).

HIST 5324D. Writing the History of Latin America: The Colonial Era.

This readings seminar provides a critical assessment of the main themes and debates of colonial Latin American historiography. The course discusses the different paradigms under which historians have approached the cultures and societies of the region under Spanish and Portuguese rule, emphasizing on the latest trends and developments. (MULT).

HIST 5324E. Modern Latin American Revolutions.

The course is a seminar that examines and compares the causes, consequences and results of Latin America's twentieth century revolutions. (MULT).

HIST 5325A. History of Mexico to 1848.

A topic course studying the history of Mexico from pre-historic times to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The course encompasses the development of Indian societies from the Yucatan to the American Southwest preceding the Spanish conquest, the social, economic, and political development of Spanish colonial Mexico, the War in Independence, and the formation of the new nation through the war with the United States. (MULT).

HIST 5325C. Revolutionary Mexico.

A graduate seminar that explores the interrelated economic, social, political, and cultural conditions and forces that shaped revolutionary Mexico. Ideological currents that impacted the period will be examined. (MULT).

HIST 5325D. Mexico Since the Revolution.

This class is a Graduate Seminar covering the History of Post-Revolutionary Mexico. This course will explore the history of Mexico since the Revolution, including the social, cultural, and economic legacies of the Revolution, as well as the process of State building, one party rule, globalization, and the transition to democracy. (MULT).

HIST 5335. Twentieth-Century Russia.

A seminar based on selected topics in recent Russian history. (MULT).

HIST 5336. East European History.

A seminar based on selected topics in recent East European history. (MULT).

HIST 5341B. Caribbean Transnationalism and Diplomacy.

This seminar focuses on the international relations of the twentieth-century Caribbean, with emphasis on interactions between Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, the United States, and Venezuela. Students will analyze the ways that international action and response in these countries have affected policy, government, and international social movements. (MULT).

HIST 5343. The Progressive Era.

This course is a seminar on the rise of industrial capitalism and corporate power and the public response to the related restructuring of the social and economic order between 1890 and 1920, with particular emphasis on the strengths and weaknesses of progressivism as a democratic movement for reform. (MULT).

HIST 5344. History and Memory.

This course examines the way that groups shape the the collective memory of past events, how memory shifts over time, and the way it can be influenced by present influences.

HIST 5345D. Oral History: Theory & Practice.

A seminar based upon developing a theoretical and practical understanding of the techniques of oral historical research and document preservation and presentation.

HIST 5345M. History of Utopian Communities.

This seminar examines utopian experiments in American History. Starting with John Winthrop’s 1630 “City upon a Hill,” the course explores both religious and secular communal ventures through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The course concludes with an examination of counter-cultural, twentieth-century communes, intentional communities, and cultic separatists.

HIST 5345N. Transformation of the South.

This course is a readings research seminar on African-American culture and life in the twentieth century South from 1890-1971. The course provides the students with a thorough historical examination through biographies and community studies of specific issues and events that ended legal segregation in the South. (MULT).

HIST 5345O. Immigration and US History.

This course focuses on North American immigration history from colonial times to the present and looks at how both immigrants and native-born Americans struggled to reconcile conflicting notions of identity and national loyalty. (MULT).

HIST 5345P. History of Mexican American Music in the Southwest.

This class will introduce students to the musical history of Islamic Spain, Spanish Colonial Mexico, and Mexico and investigate the influences of these traditions on the development of Mexican-American music in the American Southwest. (MULT).

HIST 5345Q. Gender and Citizenship.

This course is designed to introduce students to the literature in United States history that addresses issues of gender and how they relate to US citizenship from the colonial period to the present. (MULT).

HIST 5345R. History of Country Music.

This seminar traces the various ethnic, social, cultural, political, economic, and demographic forces in American society that have helped shape country music. Students will also explore how this uniquely American cultural idiom mirrors the historical evolution of the United States.

HIST 5345S. Theories and Methods in Popular Music History/Culture Studies.

This is a course in the theories and methods of cultural studies and popular music history for graduate students. It is intended to review the history of debates and methodologies in the field to prepare students to do original work that fits into the larger conversations in popular music studies.

HIST 5345T. Biography and American History.

In this class students will delve into the practice of biography and the ways in which biographers convey American history and culture through a life story.

HIST 5345U. Dark Tourism: Interpreting Historic Sites of Oppression, Death, and Disaster.

This course examines issues and effective methods of interpreting historic sites open to visitors associated with tragic historical events and practices, such as battlefields, concentration camps, massacre sites, and plantation houses, that are to the public. Dark tourism sites in the United States and around the world will be examined.

HIST 5346. African American History.

This course is an intensive readings and research seminar in African American History. Through the uses of lectures, biographies, institutional histories and community studies, students will be introduced to the different interpretive themes and methodologies that have created the myriad of historical interpretations and reinterpretations of African American History. (MULT).

HIST 5347. Texas History.

A seminar based on selected topics in the history of Texas. (MULT).

HIST 5348. History of Texas Music.

This course examines the evolution of music in Texas and the American Southwest from pre-Colombian times to the present, with an emphasis on how music reflects the ethnically diverse history and culture of the region. (MULT).

HIST 5350. The Frontier in American History.

A seminar based on selected topics in the history of the frontier in American development. (MULT).

HIST 5351B. Cold War America.

This course examines the Cold War years 1945 to 1960, concentrating on the domestic scene. The class will discuss the major issues of domestic politics, society, and culture, through the use of both primary and secondary sources. They will also examine the historiography of the period. (MULT).

HIST 5351C. Race, Gender, and Ethnicity in American Labor History.

This graduate seminar explores the impact of race, gender, and ethnicity upon American Labor History. Readings integrate race, gender, and ethnicity as categories of analysis into the study of class formation, experiences, and consciousness within the American labor force. The focus will be on unorganized as well as organized workers in the context of their social, cultural, political, and workplace environments. (MULT).

HIST 5351D. Politics & Society of Postwar America, 1945-Present.

This course will explore the interaction of political, economic, and social forces in the years following the Second World War. Emphasis will be placed on analyzing the interdependent relationship between political structures, social movements, and economic circumstances. (MULT).

HIST 5351E. Foundations of the U.S. Conservation Movement.

The course will provide an overview of the conservation movement from the writings of Henry David Thoreau to publication of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring. Emphasis will be on social and cultural influences, with particular attention to government programs, naturalist literature, activism, movement leaders, and landmarks of environmental debate.

HIST 5351F. US Women's History.

This course offers graduate students an introduction in the topics, themes, and issues that animate the history of women in the US. (MULT).

HIST 5351H. US Latino/a History.

This course explores the histories, cultures, and politics that shape Latino/a experiences in the United States and examines the way Latino communities helped shape the making of the nation.

HIST 5353. Greater Southwestern History.

A seminar based on selected topics in the history of the Greater American Southwest. (MULT).

HIST 5358. Sectionalism & Slavery in the United States.

This course assesses the literature on the causes and consequences of the sectional conflict between the American North and the South before the Civil War, with particular focus on works examining the slavery issue and the way it exacerbated American sectionalism, leading to the fracturing of the American nation. (MULT).

HIST 5361. Historiography and Methods.

A general introduction to key concepts, approaches, and challenges involved in reading, researching, and writing history at the professional level.

HIST 5362. Military History.

This seminar is based on selected topics in military history. May be repeated with different emphases up to nine hours.

HIST 5363. Antebellum American Society & Culture.

This seminar explores the cultural dynamics, social relations, and political and economic structures that shaped the lives of ordinary Americans in the three decades before the Civil War. (MULT).

HIST 5367. US Era of Civil War and Reconstruction.

A seminar that examines the history of the causes, course, and consequences of the American Civil War and the efforts to reconstruct the American Nation in its aftermath. (MULT).

HIST 5369. Music and Social Movements.

This course examines the historical role music has played in a variety of social movements related to race, gender, ethnicity, religion, politics, economics, education, labor, civil rights, and other issues in U.S. history. (MULT).

HIST 5371. The Practice of Public History.

A seminar addressing the definition, evolution, and philosophy of public history.

HIST 5372. The Practice of Museum Studies and Material Culture.

A seminar addressing the history, organization, and functions of history museums.

HIST 5373. The Practice of Historic Preservation.

A seminar addressing architectural history and preservation theory and practice.

HIST 5374. Public History Internship.

Application of skills in public history in an on-the job setting. Internships will be selected by the student and instructor, and will be supervised by the instructor. May be repeated once for additional credit.

HIST 5375A. Documentary Film.

The use of film & video in public programming; research & produce documents.

HIST 5375B. Archival Management.

A seminar based on the history, theory, and practice or archival management.

HIST 5375C. Cultural Resource Management.

This seminar addresses the management of cultural resources such as historic buildings, historic sites, and other tangible remains of our heritage. It explores how cultural resources are preserved and managed under federal and state law, and the nature of the regulatory practice.

HIST 5375D. Material Culture in America.

This course examines the interactions between people and things in American society. The ways in which Americans have created, used, altered, and thought about material objects help us to understand history. Readings and research will focus on the values and attitudes embodied in the production, use, and preservation of objects.

HIST 5375E. Management & Administration in Historical Organizations.

This course provides an introduction to the non-profit based management, leadership, and administration issues and practices for historical organizations.

HIST 5375F. Education Programs in Historical/Cultural Institutions.

This course will study the role of education programs as primary to the missions of historical and cultural institutions and will explore how institutions create and evaluate formal and informal education programs and materials for a variety of audiences.

HIST 5375I. Heritage in a Global Context.

Heritage management is the interdisciplinary approach to the preservation, protection, and public use of the historical record. This course examines definitions and approaches within a global context. Theory and practice will be analyzed through case studies and real world examples. Current issues, sustainability and maritime issues/practices will be included. (MULT).

HIST 5375J. American Architectural History.

This course will analyze the historical development of American architecture, and examine architecture as evidence of America's cultural, social, economic, and technological evolution from 1607 to the present. Focus will be placed on the role of historic American architecture in the practice of public history.

HIST 5375K. Evaluating HIstoric Sites.

Every year millions of tourists flock to historic sites desiring to commune with "real" history, to "feel" the past. This course will introduce students to methods that scholars use to examine critically the interpretation of history at these sites without discounting the emotional connection to place that many visitors experience.

HIST 5375L. Controversy and History.

This seminar explores how controversy, power relations, and politics are embedded in the practice of public history. It is designed to help the future practitioner navigate the complex political landscape of public history. This course is informed by the professor's experience as a consultant and federal historian. (MULT).

HIST 5375M. Writing for Public History.

This will be a course intensively focused on research and writing specifically for public history audiences through a variety of venues: journal articles, magazine/newspaper articles, brochures, promotional literature, personal essays, historical markers, reviews, websites, cultural resource management "gray literature," and professional papers.

HIST 5375N. Digital History.

Students will study the history of print and digital media to better understand the practice of digital history. They will be introduced to a variety of digital approaches to the study of history, and they will produce and contribute to a variety of digital projects.

HIST 5375O. Records Management & Institutional Archives.

This course will introduce students to the principles and theories in records management and institutional archives. It will provide practical experience creating a records retentions schedule, researching retention requirements and best practices, appraising records with enduring value, and establishing archival series to accommodate ongoing acquisition of institutional records.

HIST 5375P. The Family and Child in History and Heritage.

This course examines the historical development of the family and childhood using academic family history methods and public approaches to family heritage. It examines differing experiences of ancestors and concepts of family and childhood over time by race, class, and gender, reflecting shifts in culture, economy, and power relations. (MULT).

HIST 5376. Local and Community History.

A seminar applying historical methods to the study of U.S. communities.

HIST 5377. Public History Project.

A team project focusing on one or more aspects of public history-museum exhibit, historic site interpretation, historic resources survey, etc. Repeatable with a different emphasis.

HIST 5379A. Public History Final Master’s Project.

This course will be the initial development of an individualized, advanced student project in cooperation with a client or host institution, focused on any one or a combination of the public history areas of historic preservation, archives, oral history, museums, local and community history or cultural resource management.

HIST 5379B. Public History Final Master’s Project.

This course, to be taken during the last year of the Public History program, is the continuation of an individualized, advanced student project focused on any one or a combination of the public history areas of historic preservation, archives, oral history, museums, local and community history or cultural resource management.

HIST 5381. Chinese Communism.

The Chinese Communist movement from 1919 to the present. Will focus on (1) urban and rural aspects of Chinese Communism; (2) the rise to power of the Chinese Communist Party on mainland China in 1949; and (3) the construction of the Party-State and Socialism in the People’s Republic of China. (MULT).

HIST 5382. China and the Modern World.

This course examines Chinese relations with the modern world from 1800 to the present, focusing on the external aggression and internal transformation between 1839 and 1945; the split into two Chinas in 1949; the mainland China/Taiwan developments, interactions between the two Chinese governments and among the world community since then. (MULT).

HIST 5385. Topics in the History of the Modern Middle East.

A seminar based on selected topics from current histories of the Middle East during the 19th and 20th centuries.

HIST 5388. Comprehensive Examinations.

This course is designed for non-thesis master’s degree students who need to prepare for their comprehensive exams (written and oral).

HIST 5390. Problems in Historical Research.

This course is open to graduate students on an individual basis by arrangement with the department. May be repeated with the approval of the department chair.

HIST 5395D. Interpretations of World History.

A survey of world history that focuses on Western civilization as the catalyst of change in world history since the tenth century.

HIST 5395E. Mahatma Gandhi in World History.

In this course students explore how writers have narrated Gandhi’s life and interpreted his historical role. Students will research aspects of Gandhi’s life using primary sources. The focus of the course will be the study of material left out of histories on Gandhi and reasons for omitted material. (MULT).

HIST 5395H. European Colonialism.

This seminar examines the variety of European imperial and colonial experiences around the world from ancient to modern times through selected primary sources and historical literature. (MULT).

HIST 5395I. Global Cold War.

This seminar will survey literature characteristic of the "new" Cold War historiography, and introduce students to primary sources available at Alkek required to write valuable original work. (MULT).

HIST 5395J. Foreigners in Japan, 1850-2000.

This course investigates a central question that arises in discussions of Japan: What have been the effects of foreign influences on Japanese society? Materials for study focus on memoirs written by foreigners – from Europe, the Americas, and East Asia – as they describe their lives in the country through various eras since 1850.

HIST 5398. General Research Seminar.

A seminar designed to enhance research and writing skills in history. May be repeated for credit as topic varies.

HIST 5399A. Thesis.

This course represents a student’s initial thesis enrollment. No thesis credit is awarded until student has completed the thesis in History 5399B.

HIST 5399B. Thesis.

This course represents a student’s continuing thesis enrollments. The student continues to enroll in this course until the thesis is submitted for binding.

HIST 5588. Comprehensive Examinations.

This course is designed for non-thesis master’s degree students who need to prepare for their comprehensive exams (written and oral) and retain half-time status.

HIST 5599B. Thesis.

This course represents a student’s continuing thesis enrollments. The student continues to enroll in this course until the thesis is submitted for binding.

HIST 5988. Comprehensive Examinations.

This course is designed for non-thesis master’s degree students who, having completed all other coursework, need to prepare for their comprehensive exams (written and oral) and retain full-time status.

HIST 5999B. Thesis.

This course represents a student’s continuing thesis enrollments. The student continues to enroll in this course until the thesis is submitted for binding.