Overview | Summary of Courses

Offered By:	ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences
Academic Contact:	historypgcoursework@anu.edu.au
Areas of Interest:	History

The Master of Arts specialising in History allows students with an appropriate background to deepen their understanding of the discipline of history. It also provides one means of satisfying the requirements for entry into the PhD degree. The coursework (Part A) includes two compulsory courses, History and Theory and Researching and Writing History, and a selection from a range of other courses which cover many historical periods and exemplify a variety of historical techniques.

On this coursework basis students then explore an area of history in depth through the writing of a thesis under supervision (Part B). For this they will need to investigate and analyse some available body of historical data, and write a 30,000 word thesis according to professional standards. They will thus receive a training in research which can be applied in further historical work or in many other areas.

Prerequisites

Admission to the Master of Arts program is available by two means:

• Applicants for direct entry to the Master of Arts program should have obtained a Bachelor degree from an approved tertiary education institution, with passes at least at credit level in six courses other than first year courses; or
• Admission to Part B is available to students who have completed the coursework courses (36 units), or equivalent, for a Graduate Diploma of Arts, specialising in History with an overall average mark of at least 70%. In the case of students transferring from Graduate Diploma enrolment, the completed Graduate Diploma coursework will count as status for Part A of the MA degree.

In the case of students who enrol initially for the MA but who fail to achieve the required 70% average mark for coursework, they will have the option of reverting to Graduate Diploma enrolment and having that credential awarded on the basis of the level of coursework completed.

Requirements

The degree is in two parts. In Part A, candidates are required normally to complete courses to the value of 36 units taught in the area of their specialization. A maximum of 12 units (normally two courses) may be taken in a cognate area.

In order to proceed from Part A to Part B, a candidate must pass each course at their first attempt and achieve an overall 70% average or better.

Part B comprises an additional 36 units, normally comprising a thesis of between 25,000-30,000 words.

For a candidate to meet the requirements for admission to the degree, he or she must achieve a result of at least 70% (H2A) in the sub-thesis (Part B) component. A candidate's degree performance will be determined as a fail where this result is not achieved.

The information published on the Study at ANU 2011 website applies to the 2011 academic year only. All information provided on this website replaces the information contained in the Study at ANU 2010 website.