Graduate Program

  • Graduate Program
  • Calendar
  • Courses
  • Graduate Handbook
  • To Apply
The Department of History offers programs leading to the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees. Part-time M.A. and Ph.D. Studies are possible. The programs offered by the Department of History cover not only the standard geographic areas and chronological divisions of the western world, but also an increasing number of regions and themes outside this framework. The full range of approaches to history, from political and economic through social and intellectual, finds representation in the departmental faculty. The graduate program offers the Ph.D. degree in six fields: Gender, War and Society, Canada, Britain 1485-1832 or Britain 1688-2000, Twentieth-Century Europe and History of Health and Medicine. These are the department's particular areas of strength, but graduate courses at the M.A. and Ph.D. levels also include the ancient world, medieval Europe, modern China, and the U.S.A.

Acting Graduate Chair (Jan. 2012 - July 1, 2012): Dr. Martin Horn mhorn@mcmaster.ca

Graduate Secretary: Wendy Benedetti histdept@mcmaster.ca


Graduate Information Package request form.





Graduate Calendar

Courses
Graduate Handbook

To Apply

Acting Graduate Chair (Jan. 2012 - July 1, 2012): Dr. Martin Horn mhorn@mcmaster.ca

Graduate Secretary: Wendy Benedetti (histdept@mcmaster.ca)

Completed applications consisting of the following:

  • On-Line Application
  • Application Fee (part of the online application process)
  • Departmental Application Form
    Once you've filled out your Departmental Applicaton Form, please print it and send it via mail or
    fax (905-777-0158). You can also send it as an attachment via email to: histdept@mcmaster.ca
  • 2 (two) Confidential Reports from referees most familiar with your academic studies
    (These can be found on McMaster University Graduate Studies Online Application - the online application process.)
  • Transcripts from all post-secondary academic institutions attended (When applying online your transcripts are listed under "Academic History Checklist".)
  • Writing Sample (for Ph.D. Applications only)

    The above should be submitted by 1 February for consideration by our graduate studies committee for admission and funding (September admission only). All applications to the graduate program in History should be sent to the mailing address below. Transcripts and confidential report forms should be sent directly to the Department under separate cover.

Department of History, Graduate Admissions
Chester New Hall, Room 619
McMaster University
1280 Main St. W.
Hamilton, ON L8S 4L9
CANADA

The MA program is a 12 month program which may be pursued either by courses and project or by courses and thesis. Candidates electing to follow the first route will complete 6 half courses of reading and research seminars, one of which is Historiography, plus the MA project course, History 797*, a major research paper based on one of the seminars taken earlier in the year. Candidates choosing the MA by thesis route will complete 4 half courses of reading and research seminars, one of which is Historiography, and a thesis.

The PhD program involves the completion of 2 minor fields by course work and one major field by September 15th of the second year of doctoral study. Thereafter candidates will devote their full time to research and writing their doctoral thesis. The Department offers doctoral supervision in 6 major fields of study: British History, Canadian History, Twentieth-Century European History, Gender History, War & Society, and History of Health and Medicine (pending approval from the Ontario Council on Graduate Studies). Minor fields represent the full range of the Department's interests. Applicants to the PhD program should include a sample of their written work with their application.

 

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