History MA Program

* In addition to HIST 815 and HIST 814, students in the thesis stream are required to take three courses over the length of their program (not counting HIST 898). They have to enroll in HIST 898 once they have started researching and writing their thesis. See below for more details.  

** In addition to HIST 815 and HIST 814, students in the course-intensive stream are required to take six graduate courses over the length of their program (not counting HIST 800). Students will have to declare a major from the following options: Americas, Asia, Canada, Europe, and Middle East. At least two of the six courses must be in the major field. Once coursework is complete, they will need to enroll in HIST 800 in order to undertake the field exam or project. See below for more details.

Accelerated MA: If you are an undergraduate student at SFU and wish to apply to our MA program, you can undertake the accelerated MA program. This will allow you to get started on your graduate coursework while still an undergraduate. For more details, please consult this page.

A short synopsis of our MA program:

Pre-arrival:

• Read the General Graduate Regulations and the History Department website
• Contact Supervisor to discuss course selection (thesis option)
• Contact Graduate Chair to discuss course selection (course-based option)
  
• Register for courses

First Semester:

• Attend orientation
• Meet with Supervisor (thesis option) or Graduate Chair (course-based option)
• Seek out an advisor in your major field (course-based MA)
  
• Take 814, 815, other courses
• Attend teaching, grant-writing, and professional development workshops
• Discuss the composition of your committee with your Supervisor, who will submit the Approval of Supervisory Committee form to the Graduate Program Assistant (thesis option)
  
• Apply for SSHRC (for Canadian nationals and permenant residents with a minimum GPA of 3.67)

Second Semester:

• Coursework
• Finish 815
• Defend prospectus (thesis-based option)

Third Semester:

• Meet with your Supervisor to establish clear expectations for the first research semester (thesis option)
• Meet with your Field Advisor to discuss progress so far and to establish a plan of program completion (course-based option)
• Complete graduate progress report by the end of the summer

Subsequent Semesters:

• Meet at least once a semester with Supervisor (thesis option) or Field Advisor (course-based option) to discuss progress
• Thesis option: defend your thesis once your Supervisor feels you are ready to do so; please read this memo carefully
  
• Course-based option: sit for your field exam once you have finished your coursework

Field Directed Essay or Project (course-based MA)

A student can choose to write an article length essay (8,000 words) under the supervision of a History department faculty member or do a project (oral history, digital humanities project, etc.). If the project option is selected the graduate student and faculty member who will supervise the project need to submit a proposal to the Graduate Program Committee for approval. The project or essay will be assessed by two readers one of whom will be the supervisor of the project or essay. The student will defend their work in an oral examination that will not exceed 60 minutes. Following this the two readers will assign a grade each and their average will be the final grade for the course”.

MA Thesis Prospectus (thesis-based MA)

All  thesis-stream MA students must write and defend a thesis prospectus. Students will work on their prospectus during HIST 815 and in consultation with their Supervisory Committee. A thesis prospectus should present a coherent thesis topic and engage with existing scholarly work about the topic. The thesis prospectus will be 10 - 15 pages in length. It should contain:

• A precise definition of the topic.
• A demonstration of critical awareness of scholarly literature.
• A statement of the significance of the topic in relation to existing knowledge
  and theory in the area.
• A discussion of principal sources and a rationale for the chosen methodology.
• Where applicable, a discussion of research ethics.

All students proposing research involving human subjects, including oral history, whether funded or unfunded, must have their research approved in advance by the Office of Research Ethics. The approval normally should be sought prior to the prospectus defence. We advise students to take the Tri-Council Course on Research Ethics and to work closely with their Senior Supervisor to craft their application for ethics approval.

The thesis prospectus defence consists of a brief presentation (no more than 10 minutes) on the prospectus followed by 2 rounds of questions by the Supervisory Committee.

• One of three recommendations can be made by the Supervisory Committee to the GPC:
• That the student proceeds to work on the thesis.
• That the student revises the thesis prospectus as specified by the prospectus
  examining committee and then proceed to work on the thesis.
• That the student be required to submit a revised proposal for another defence.
  The total number of revised proposals will be limited to a maximum of two.

MA Thesis and Defence (thesis-based MA)

Thesis-based MA students are required to write a thesis of between 15,000 and 21,000 words, including footnotes (excluding bibliography). Shorter or longer theses may be submitted only with the graduate chair's prior approval. If a thesis will exceed the word limit, the graduate chair must give formal approval prior to scheduling the defence.

The History Department has adopted the Chicago Manual of Style as its style manual, but the more concise Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses and Dissertations by Kate L. Turabian will be adequate for most purposes.

Before a defence date can be set, the Supervisory Committee must have read a complete draft of the thesis and agreed that it is ready to be defended. Agreement does not mean that the thesis is perfect; merely that it is defensible. The Supervisory Committee may raise questions and challenge key aspects of the thesis during the oral examination.

In addition to the Supervisory Committee, the thesis defence examining committee includes a member of faculty at the university, or a person otherwise suitably qualified, who is not a member of the student's supervisory committee. The master's examiner may not be a member of the same department as the one granting the degree, unless a waiver is granted by the Dean of Arts and Social Sciences or designate.”

Refer to the Library’s Thesis Assistance page and the University’s General Graduate Regulations for more detailed information about MA thesis submission and defence.