Master’s Degree

The department offers a small and intensive one-year terminal M.A. program. Students will take two semesters of coursework, including an introduction to historiography and historical method, research seminars, and thematic as well as regionally-based reading seminars. Students will also prepare a research portfolio consisting of two major research papers. Candidates must pass a language exam that tests reading knowledge of a language other than English.

Applicants to the M.A. program may apply for apprenticeships in archives and manuscript collections, editing scholarly books and William and Mary Quarterly articles, and humanities computing. Students chosen to serve as apprentices receive a small stipend.

About half the graduates of the MA program in History at William & Mary have gone on to doctoral programs. The others include secondary school teachers, editors, archaeologists, and museum professionals. For more information on the placement of graduates, see the Placement Directory.

If you have any questions, email the [[history, Graduate Program]].

Part-time students are not eligible for financial support.

See the Arts & Sciences Graduate Catalog and the History Department’s Graduate Regulations.