History (MA)

Students will demonstrate the ability to:

1. Think critically and to evaluate historical information, analyzing the past in its own right, across time and space, and comparatively, with an understanding of how it relates to and informs the present.
2. Describe and utilize the epistemological foundations of the discipline, with a broad understanding of historiographical approaches and methods such as empiricism, historicism, modernism, post-modernism, the Annales School, micro-history and the like. This includes knowledge of the archival tradition, the working of museums, and nature of public history. 
3. Conduct research and develop interpretive historical arguments drawing on primary and secondary sources.
4. Make effective ethical decisions and judgements. This involves a range of principles and practices: inclusive and equitable approaches to research and knowledge production, the due diligence of fairly evaluating the scholarship of others, the principle of accurate citation and attribution, and the professional duty to pursue open and free inquiry and engage with all legitimate scholarship, including knowledge rooted in epistemologies historically marginalized by Western academia.
5. Represent and articulate the knowledge they have gained in a compelling and succinct manner. This includes the ability to write clearly and cogently, with proper attention to chronological flow, thematic coherence, engaging style and appropriate word choice. This also includes oral presentations at conferences, in writing, in the form of articles and books, and by way of visual presentation, museum exhibits, or public history.