Department of History

Return to: College of Liberal and Applied Arts

Troy Davis, chair
Dugas Liberal Arts North, Room 303
Phone: (936) 468-3802
Fax: (936) 468-2478
tdavis@sfasu.edu
sfasu.edu/history

Objectives of the Department

The program for a graduate degree in history is designed to train the candidate as a productive scholar and as an effective teacher. It seeks to familiarize the student with the critical methods in historical research and writing, to introduce the literature of the field, and to acquaint the student with varying interpretations of historical developments. Above all, it attempts to provide the student with the essential tools for a career in the history profession or in related fields.

Graduate Faculty

Professors

• Perky Beisel, DA, Middle Tennessee State University, Public History
• Court Carney, PhD, Louisiana State University, African American, Contemporary U.S.
• Philip Catton, PhD, Ohio University, Modern Asia, Vietnam War
• Dana Cooper, PhD, Texas Christian University, Women, Gender, Transatlantic, Diplomatic
• Troy D. Davis, PhD, Marquette University, Modern Ireland, Europe
• Scott Sosebee, PhD, Texas Tech University, Texas and Southern
• Stephen Taaffe, PhD, Ohio University, Military, Diplomatic, Progressive Era

Associate Professors

• Robert Allen, PhD, Columbia University, France
• Mark Barringer, PhD, Texas Christian University, Texas and U.S. West, Environmental
• Aryendra Chakravartty, PhD, Penn State University, South Asia, Imperialism and Colonialism, World History
• Randi Cox, PhD, Indiana University, Russia, Social and Cultural History
• Andrew Lannen, PhD, Louisiana State University, Colonial and Revolutionary America
• Brook Poston, PhD, Texas Christian University, Early U.S. Republic, Legal and Constitutional
• Paul Sandul, PhD, California State at Sacramento/UC - Santa Barbara, Public History, Urban History

Assistant Professors

• Hunter M. Hampton, PhD, University of Missouri, American Religious History
• Aaron Coy Moulton, PhD, University of Arkansas, Latin America
• Samuel Sutherland, PhD, Ohio State University, Middle Ages

Graduate Assistantships

A limited number of graduate assistantships are awarded each year in the department. For information and applications, contact Dr. Court Carney, history graduate program advisor, at historygrad@sfasu.edu.

Research, Publication and Professional Development

The Department of History offers outstanding opportunities for graduate education with training in areas of research, publication, professional presentations and technology. The department provides students with strong foundations in the discipline of history and ways to apply the discipline to numerous career opportunities.

The university library houses the East Texas Research Center, which includes numerous journals and diaries of regional and national interest, as well as being a major archive for the oil and lumber industries. The library also serves as a repository for county, state and federal government records. Graduate students may do research projects with the Center for East Texas Studies and the department’s outstanding East Texas Oral History Collection.

Opportunities to publish, learn applications of history to modern technology, and present original work at professional conferences are available to graduate students throughout their graduate training.

The department sponsors the East Texas Historical Association, which publishes the East Texas Historical Journal. The pages of the journal are open to any article of scholarly merit on the history of East Texas and the surrounding region.

The Center for East Texas Studies promotes the study of all aspects of East Texas heritage. The center provides services, programs and resources to scholars, public schools, organizations, businesses, government entities and others interested in the region. CETS seeks to become the focal point for innovative research, education and preservation of the heritage of the East Texas region. The center sponsors region-specific grants and contracts that propose to research, edit, collect, exhibit and distribute historical and cultural information on East Texas.

Admission Requirements

Students applying to the graduate program should meet general university admission requirements and have at least 18 hours of undergraduate credit in history or closely related courses. The department recommends a minimum 3.0 GPA in all undergraduate coursework in history. The department may permit “stem work” in basic courses to bring students up to departmental requirements. All applicants are required to submit a writing sample and two letters of recommendation to the graduate advisor.

Major Requirements

The department offers a 30-hour program with thesis and a 36-hour program without thesis. Graduate courses are divided into four broad fields: Europe and the World to 1815, Europe and the World since 1815, the United States to 1865, and the United States since 1865. These fields represent a foundation of knowledge that prepares the student for professional service and careers. All majors are required to take HIST 5330 . Thesis students must take HIST 5331 , three hours from each of the four broad fields, and six hours of elective history courses. Nonthesis students must take HIST 5380 , six hours from each of the four broad fields and six hours of elective history courses. No more than six hours of public history may be used to satisfy the requirements of the thesis or non-thesis track in history.

The thesis program includes six hours credit for thesis research and writing. The student must defend the completed thesis in an oral examination before graduate faculty. The student considering further graduate work in a doctoral program is encouraged to enter the thesis program. The non-thesis student will develop in-depth fields suitable for a teaching career. All non-thesis students are required to pass a comprehensive examination at the conclusion of their graduate work.

Thesis students may pursue an MA in history with an emphasis in public history. An emphasis in public history is designed for individuals who desire to work or are working in museums, archives, historical foundations, government and corporate historical offices, and other public history settings. A student with an emphasis in public history will have 18 hours of required courses, including HIST 5330 , HIST 5335  and 12 additional hours from public history courses. There remains six hours of U.S. history coursework and six hours of thesis coursework.

Programs

• History, MA

• History, Public History Emphasis, MA

• History, Minor

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