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History
Department of History,
College of Arts and Sciences
Liberal Arts Building (building 18), room 201
PO Box 6023, Flagstaff, AZ 86011-6023
520-523-4378
Graduate Coordinator--John Leung
520-523-6209
"Our M.A. and Ph.D. programs are small and stress a close professor-student relationship. While maintaining a strength in the American West, we have expanded our curriculum and faculty to include innovative comparative and global perspectives. We offer our students an intellectually challenging curriculum including a variety of geographic and thematic fields of history."
--George Lubick, Chair
Introduction
Graduate work in history can engage the imagination and stimulate the intellect like no other discipline can. Our faculty and curricular offerings provide breadth and depth for graduate studies in several fields, with the main goal of helping you develop a life-long commitment to the study of the past.
Each of our degree programs is flexible to enable you to pursue many career alternatives.
Admission Requirements
To apply for admission to graduate programs in history, you must submit an application and official transcripts to NAU's Graduate College.
In addition, you must meet specific History Department requirements, depending on which program you are applying for. Our application deadlines are March 1 for the fall semester and October 15 for spring.
Admission to M.A. Program
You must submit the following materials directly to the History Department:
A program committee may require additional undergraduate coursework to prepare you for anticipated fields of concentration.
Admission to Ph.D. Program
You should confer in person or by mail with our graduate coordinator before making formal application. In this way, you can determine whether the program meets your professional goals and whether your academic background and professional experience meet our criteria.
To apply for admission, submit the following materials to our graduate coordinator:
Financial Assistance
Our department is authorized to award graduate assistantships to qualified M.A. and Ph.D. students, and the nonresident fee is waived for graduate assistants. Write to the History Department for the appropriate forms, which must be returned to the department by March 1.
See the Financial Information chapter of this catalog for more information.
Placement Assistance
The history faculty, through our professional organizations and connections, help our graduate students search for placement opportunities in both academic and other settings.
Degrees Offered
We offer the following degrees, which we describe in the sections that follow:
M.A. in History
For this degree, you must complete at least 39 hours of graduate coursework approved by your program committee, including HIS 600 (Methods and Historiography) and either the research or extended coursework plan.
Research Plan
Under this plan, the required 39 credit hours include 9 hours for research, writing, and oral defense of an approved thesis. You must take 3 hours of a research seminar before beginning your thesis. You may take up to 9 hours of graduate work, with your committee's approval, in a cognate field. Depending on your research interest, your committee may require you to be competent in a foreign language before you register for thesis hours.
Please note that you can count only 9 hours of thesis credit toward your degree. However, master's students in history end up taking an average of 12 hours--because you must register for HIS 699 each semester while you are working on your thesis.
Extended Coursework Plan
Under this plan, the required 39 credit hours may include 6-12 hours in a cognate field. In consultation with your committee, you choose either to take a comprehensive final examination or to prepare a rigorous scholarly paper and defend it before the committee.
M.A. in History
with Teaching Emphasis
The admission requirements for this program are the same as for the M.A. degree. A program committee may require that you take additional undergraduate courses for admission to the program.
Please be aware that this program does not satisfy the requirements for certification as a secondary teacher in the state of Arizona. For information about certification, see the heading Teacher Certification Programs in the Education section earlier in this chapter.
For the M.A. in history with a teaching emphasis, you must complete 39 hours of coursework approved by your program committee in either the research or extended coursework plan, as we describe in the following paragraphs.
Research Plan
Your program must include:
Extended Coursework Plan
You must take:
Instead of writing a thesis, you must take additional hours of formal coursework to total at least 39 hours. In consultation with your committee, you may, as a final evaluation, develop an instructional unit and present it to your program committee, or you may either take a comprehensive final examination or prepare a rigorous scholarly paper and defend it before the committee.
Ph.D. in History
Our Ph.D. program is broadly conceived for students pursuing a variety of academic and career interests, including secondary education, college teaching, research, administration, and public service.
For this degree, you must complete coursework in geographic and thematic fields of history as well as in a research and methodology core. You may elect another disciplinary field. We require that you complete a dissertation.
You must take 36 credit hours beyond the master's degree, plus 15- 18 hours of dissertation credit. (Although you can only count 15-18 hours of dissertation credit toward your degree, doctoral students in history end up taking an average of 21-24 hours--because you must register for HIS 799 each semester while you are working on your dissertation.) Your program committee must approve your program of studies.
You may obtain further information about this degree by contacting our graduate coordinator.
History Courses
Some courses may not be offered every semester. Check with the department for current information about when specific courses are offered.
HIS 560 Topics in World History (3). Specific topics in world history: general developments, colonialism, environmental, economic, social, political, and military issues. May be repeated for credit.
HIS 580 Inter-American Diplomacy (3). Development of the regional system of American republics, collective security arrangements, and developments during the "good neighbor" era to the present, with emphasis on the Organization of American States.
HIS 597 Reading for Comprehensive Examination (1-9). Course graded on a pass/fail basis only.
HIS 599 Contemporary Developments (1-3).
HIS 600 Methods and Historiography (3). Methods and evaluations in history and the social sciences; basic research techniques and philosophies of history.
HIS 604 Readings in American Indian History: Contact to 1850 (3). An intensive study of historical works on North American Indians from contact to 1850, focusing on reference works, specific tribes, Indian-white relations, and authors' interpretations. Prerequisites: HIS 291, 293, and 413 or instructor's permission.
HIS 605 Readings in American Indian History Since 1850 (3). An intensive study of historical works on North American Indians since 1850, focusing on geographical regions, tribal groups, and Indian-white relations. Prerequisites: HIS 292, 293, and 414 or instructor's permission.
HIS 608 Fieldwork Experience (1-12). Fee required.
HIS 610 Topics in the History of Science (3). Examination of specific topics in the history of science by means of independent investigations and class lectures: scientific revolutions, history of science as a discipline, science and society, in secondary teaching, specific scientific disciplines. May be repeated for credit.
HIS 620 Studies in Asian History (3). Investigation of various topics and basic readings with class commentary: modern China 1840 to present, modern Japan 1850 to present. May be repeated for credit.
HIS 621 Problems in Asian History (3). Current problems and research in Asian history: modern India 1840 to present, modern Southeast Asia 1900 to present. May be repeated for credit.
HIS 635 European Institutions (3). Specific institutions covered by period or by theme: military, political, diplomatic, economic, church, kingship. May be repeated for credit.
HIS 639 Periods in European History (3). Specific periods as follows: ancient, medieval, Renaissance and Reformation, early modern, French Revolution and Napoleon, nineteenth century, twentieth century. May be repeated for credit.
HIS 645 Topics in the History of France (3). Significant social, cultural, political, and economic issues in the history of France: to 1600, Bourbon Period, revolutions, modern. May be repeated for credit.
HIS 648 Topics in the History of Germany (3). The chief social, cultural, political, and military factors in the growth of modern Germany: Holy Roman Empire, struggle for German unification (1806-1870), Second Reich (1870-1918), Adolf Hitler and the national Socialist era (1918-1945), recent Germany (since 1945). May be repeated for credit.
HIS 649 Problems in European History (3). Examines specific subjects in European history such as Marxism, fascism, Russian revolution, and the Common Market. Each student is assigned an individual investigation of the assigned topics. May be repeated for credit.
HIS 671 History of American Education (3). The development and history of education in America.
HIS 678 Topics in the History of Britain (3). Significant social, cultural, political, and economic issues: Tudor-Stuart, Hanoverian-Victorian, twentieth century. May be repeated for credit.
HIS 680 Topics in Latin American History (3). Specific subjects in Latin American history: Mexico (historical problems), Mexico and the Caribbean (contemporary developments), South American nations (historical problems), South American nations (contemporary developments). Each student is assigned an individual investigation of the assigned topics. May be repeated for credit.
HIS 685 Graduate Research (1-6).
HIS 691 Leaders and Leadership in the United States (3). The qualities of American leaders, their motives, methods, and objectives, and their successes and failures in changing the American environment.
HIS 692 American West (3). Specific topics in the American frontier: commercial, military, political, cultural, Arizona, and Southwest. May be repeated for credit.
HIS 693 Comparative Studies in American History (3). Interaction with U.S. history of movements, institutions, themes; comparison of one period with another; comparison of American themes with other national-cultural groups.
HIS 694 Topics in American History (3). Investigation of specific topics involving the reading of interpretive works; the historiographical approach: historical archaeology, military history, minority problems, historical editing and writing, special topics. May be repeated for credit.
HIS 695 Problems in American History (3). Specific subjects in American history involving independent investigation of assigned topics: economic, recent America, diplomatic, cultural, colonial, special problems. May be repeated for credit.
HIS 696 Studies in American History (3). Current research and methodology in U.S. history. May be repeated for credit.
HIS 697 Independent Study (1-3).
HIS 698 Graduate Seminar (1-3).
HIS 699 Thesis (1-9).
HIS 702 Social Science Teaching Methodologies (3). Individualized examination of the professional literature, methodologies, and support materials used in the teaching of history and related social studies.
HIS 703 Research Seminar in Social Science (3). Development on a tutorial basis of individualized research topics related to the teaching of history and related social studies.
HIS 740 Seminar in European History (3). Research and investigation in assigned topics. May be repeated for credit.
HIS 790 Seminar in American History (3). Research and investigation in assigned topics. May be repeated for credit.
HIS 796 Internship (3-6). Individualized teaching, service, archival, or research internships in the areas of history and related social studies disciplines.
HIS 799 Dissertation (1-9).
Faculty
Valeen T. Avery, Ph.D., Associate Professor
Colorado Plateau, Mormon history, women's history (Northern Arizona University 1984)
William R. Baron, Ph.D., Associate Professor of History and Quaternary Studies
Colonial Americas, world environmental studies, historical climatology (University of Maine 1980)
Harvey W. Becher, Ph.D., Professor
History of science, modern Europe (University of Missouri 1970)
Charles W. Connell, Ph.D., Professor and Provost
Medieval history (Rutgers University 1969)
Susan M. Deeds, Ph.D., Associate Professor
Latin America, Mexico, borderlands (University of Arizona 1981)
Victoria L. Enders, Ph.D., Associate Professor
European intellectual history, Spain, women (University of California-San Diego 1985)
Curtis M. Hinsley Jr., Ph.D., Professor
U.S. intellectual and cultural history, history of anthropology (University of Wisconsin 1976)
David H. Kitterman, Ph.D., Associate Professor
Germany, Russia, modern Europe (University of Washington 1972)
Cynthia K. Kosso, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
Ancient world, archaeology (University of Illinois-Chicago 1993)
John K. Leung, Ph.D., Associate Professor
Chinese intellectual and social history, modern China, modern Japan (Brown University 1982)
Clara M. Lovett, Ph.D., Professor and NAU President
Nineteenth-century Europe (politics and social structures), Italy, France; history of education (University of Texas 1970)
George W. Lubick, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Department Chair
Environmental history, American West (University of Toledo 1974)
Larry A. McFarlane, Ph.D., Professor
American economic, business, and agricultural history (University of Missouri 1963)
Devon A. Mihesuah, Ph.D., Associate Professor
American Indians, Spanish borderlands, colonial Latin America (Texas Christian University 1989)
Margaret R. Morley, Ph.D., Associate Professor
American diplomatic, women's history, early nineteenth century American history (University of Wisconsin 1972)
F. Jeffrey Platt, Ph.D., Associate Professor
Tudor and Stuart, Renaissance and Reformation, Nazi holocaust (Michigan State University 1972)
Karen M. Powers, Ph.D., Associate Professor
Comparative colonization, Latin America (New York University 1990)
Philip R. Rulon, Ed.D., Professor
Education, American presidency (Oklahoma State University 1968)
David K. Strate, Ed.D., Professor
Education, American West, oral history (Oklahoma State University 1969)
Andrew Wallace, Ph.D., Professor
Arizona and the Southwest, military, Civil War (University of Arizona 1968)
Delno C. West, Ph.D., Professor
Medieval, historiography, apocalyptic movements, age of discovery (University of California-Los Angeles 1970)
Lindsay Wilson, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
European cultural and social history, France, women, medicine (Stanford University 1982)
Adjunct Faculty
James E. Babbitt, M.L.S.
Local history, business history, museum management (University of California 1976)
Platt Cline, D. Litt.
Local history, family history (Northern Arizona University 1967)
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Please note that this electronic version of the 1996-1998 Graduate Catalog is a reproduction of the official printed catalog and is not updated more frequently than the printed catalog. If you have questions or comments about these pages, please e-mail Graduate Admissions and Academic Services.