The University of Cincinnati has an excellent mid-sized Department of History and a lively intellectual community. Our graduate program prepares our MA students for a successful career in and outside academia, e.g., secondary teaching, academic positions, public history, and positions in the areas of law and business.

Students enjoy the benefits of a varied curriculum combined with personal attention from faculty. The Master’s program is designed to give students a strong grounding in a particular major field – United States, Europe, World, or Public History – while providing professional training in both teaching and researching history. Students select a concentration in United States, European, World, or Public History, but everyone receives broad training, taking courses in minor fields, languages, or in other graduate programs.

A special feature of our program is its Public History track, which trains students for professions in institutions such as museums, archives, libraries, as well as environmental and governmental facilities like the park service.

Curriculum
History Master's Curriculum Guide

Core Requirements (16 credits)
All students are required to take these core courses regardless of track.
Methods Courses
The department’s methods courses (HIST 7060) provide thorough introductions to a variety of methodological approaches employed by historians in researching and writing. The methods seminar covers practical issues related to research and documentation, the development and uses of theory in historical argumentation, and history writing in a global context.
Course    Title/Desc    Credit
HIST7060    Historical Methodology Seminar (B- min)    4
Comparative Seminars
Comparative Seminars (History 7070) consider analytical approaches across different geographical regions to lay bare new ways of considering a topic, era, or space. Topics for these courses vary from year to year, depending on the faculty selected to teach the course.
Course    Title/Desc    Credit
HIST7070    Comparative History Seminar (B- min)    4
Research Seminars
The major emphasis in the year-long research seminar (HIST 9040 and 9041) is the writing of a journal-length article using primary research materials and scholarly documentation. The length of the paper ranges from 25 to 40 pages. The goal is an article that is publishable in a refereed journal.
Course    Title/Desc    Credit
HIST9040    Graduate Research Seminar I (B- min)    4
HIST9041    Graduate Research Seminar II (B- min)    4

Major Concentration and Beyond (12 credits)
Students concentrating in United States or European History must complete two graduate historiography seminars in their field. For U.S. History students, HIST 7021 and HIST 7022 (8 credit hours), and for European History students, HIST 7031 and HIST 7032 (8 credit hours). Students concentrating in World History must complete at least two seminars selected in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies and their History Advisor. Students concentrating in Public History must complete two Historiography seminars in a region of their choice. In addition, they must complete HIST 7064 Introduction to Public History. All students must complete one history seminar outside the chosen concentration (4 credit hours; world history concentrators are exempted from taking a course outside their concentration but must fulfill these 4 seminar credit hours nonetheless). Public History students must complete one relevant course outside the department (e.g., in Historic Preservation, Museum Studies, or Digital Humanities).
Historiography Seminars
The historiography seminars acquaint students with major historiographical issues and trends over broad chronological eras. They assist students in moving from the narrower perspective of specialized lecture courses to the wider view of history as a discipline. Thus the emphasis of these seminars is on extensive reading of key works of interpretation and synthesis.
Course    Title/Desc    Credit
HIST7021    United States History Seminar I (B- min)    4
HIST7022    United States History Seminar II (B- min)    4
HIST7031    European History Seminar I (B- min)    4
HIST7032    European History Seminar II (B- min)    4
HIST7064    Introduction to Public History (B- min)    4
6XXX+    Course outside of concentration
(B- min)    0 - 4
HIST8XXX+
Directed Readings
(B- min)    0 - 4

Professionalization (4 credits)
These courses are intended to teach the practices of teaching, writing, and preparing for the job market.

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Admission Requirements

Each of the following play an important role in the Admission Committee’s decisions:
• 3 Letters of recommendation
• Personal statement
• Writing sample
• Transcripts

International students may also need to submit TOEFL scores or English Proficiency documentation as described here: https://grad.uc.edu/admissions/criteria/international-students.html. 

Tuition fee-2 years$60,000

Total fee-2 years$92,000