Master of Arts in History for Educators
Program Highlights
The M.A. in History for Educators curriculum provides distinct opportunities to advance the careers of both practicing social studies teachers and aspiring graduate students in History. The appeal for all teachers with Pennsylvania teaching certificates is that this program will broaden and deepen their knowledge of History in order to:
- Maintain active certification status (in conformity with Act 48)
- Reach the “highly qualified teacher” category by mastery of content knowledge
Common Core
A common required core of seven courses:
- HIS 510: Historiography
- HIS 610: Readings in American History
- HIS 620: Readings in European History
- HIS 630: Readings in World History
- HIS 640: Visualizing History
- HIS 650: Oral History
- HIS 660: Handling History
The Curriculum
The M.A. in Public History requires the completion of the following courses for a total of 33 credits:
HIS 510: Historiography--Introduction to Research and Historiography
HIS 610: Readings in American History
This seminar, which covers central themes and developments from 1607 to the present, will focus on the growth of national identity, the founding and preservation of the American republic, the crucible of slavery and its aftermath, the rise of the United States as a military and industrial power, and the struggle to create an inclusive society.
HIS 620: Readings in European History
This seminar follows the contours of an advanced course in the development of Western Civilization. The seminar is divided into two segments: from antiquity to the Renaissance; and from the Renaissance to the modern era. Readings will focus on principal themes and developments in the following areas or disciplines: political and social; economic; religious; scientific; diplomatic and military; intellectual and cultural.
HIS 630: Readings in World History
While there will be appropriate selected readings taken from the classical civilizational cores of Egypt, Southwest Asia, India, China, and the Mediterranean, less studied areas (e.g., the Pre-Columbian Americas and Africa) will be examined as well. Much of the work will concentrate on the post-1500 world, generally—but by no means universally—agreed to be the true realm of global history. Political, social, economic, religious, and gender issues will be examined, with a particular emphasis on cross-cultural connections and patterns.
HIS 640: Visualizing History
Analysis of historical themes and topics (e.g., American immigration; 20th century American social and intellectual history; the Greco-Roman World; World Wars I and II) through readings, photography, painting, and film documentaries.
HIS 650: Oral History: Theory and Practice
Theme-based readings and practice in oral history (e.g., family history, labor and class history; gender history; African–American history;military history).
HIS 660: Handling History: Material Culture and Archival Analysis
Theme-based or chronologically-based readings complemented by analysis of material culture and archival research (e.g., studies of the history of printing, deconstruction of broadsides, visits to the University Archives, lecturers from the Philadelphia Museum of Art).
HIS 690 : Current Issues and Practices in Teaching History
Critical examination of various pedagogies used in the middle and secondary school classroom (from instructivism through constructivism); analysis of character education, gender education, and multicultural education; practice in applying these pedagogies and topics to a specific historical theme.
HIS 700: History Elective: Titles Vary
Samples include “George Orwell: The Man and HIS Times”; “The Ordeal of Total War: World War II”; “England in the Late Middle Ages”; “China and Japan”; “Re-Imagining Colonialism and Imperialism”; “The Post-Colonial Condition”; “American Intellectual History.”
HIS/EDC Elective: (open)
HIS 750: M.A. Project in Historical-Pedagogical Research
No Comprehensive Examination
|
