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Graduate Program |
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214 Allen Hall Department of History, Mississippi State University Mississippi State, MS 39762 Telephone: (662) 325-3604 |
Admissions | Fields of Study | Financial Aid | Graduate HandbookA New Era in Graduate Studies at MSU . . . and Continuation of the OldMississippi State University's Graduate Program has traditionally highlighted the South, Race Relations, the Civil War and Gender. We will continue to specialize in those areas. But we have added three exciting new nodes of excellence. We now will focus on Agricultural, Rural and Environmental History (ARE); International Security/Internal Safety (ISIS); and History of Science and Technology (HOST). Each graduate student will take a field in one of those three new areas. It is anticipated that most theses and dissertations will encompass some aspect of one of those fields. We conceive of our new nodes of excellence broadly. For example, subjects as diverse as military history, international relations, municipal police agencies, paramilitary organizations--particularly prominent in southern history--and homeland security fit comfortably within ISIS. Rural enclaves, agribusiness, farming practices, agricultural price support policies, logging and community studies could be done under the ARE rubric. HOTS could entail studies of eugenics, technical education, cancer research, national science policy, fatigue, and local industries. At least as exciting is the possibility of crossing over between two or more of these new nodes. Topics such as adoption of technology among African-American sharecroppers would combine two areas. So too would the relationship among colonial European powers and the conquest of tropical disease or Confederate soldiers and naval shipyards. The attempt to establish chemical industries using agricultural products in rural Mississippi during World War II would bring together the three new areas. So too would Jimmy Carter's embargo on agricultural products-grain and technology--to the Soviet Union. Each node will be organized around a fundamental seminar. Other course offerings to prepare graduate students in these new nodes of excellence will be selected with the individual in mind; courses required will in each case depend on a discussion among the graduate student and graduate committee members. Admissions
Each applicant must submit the following materials to the Office of Graduate Studies
The History Department expects applicants to have a GPA of 3.00 in their last two years of undergraduate study. The prerequisite for admission to a graduate program in history is a minimum of 18 hours of undergraduate history courses; for a graduate minor in history, 12 hours of undergraduate history courses are required. Each applicant to the Ph.D. program must take the Graduate Record Examination. Applicants should ask the Educational Testing Service to send the scores directly to Mississippi State University. (This requirement is waived for applicants who have completed the M.A. in History at Mississippi State University.) Each applicant to the Ph.D. program must submit a writing sample directly to the Graduate Coordinator of the History Department. Examples of acceptable writing samples are publications, chapters from a thesis, or a seminar paper. Applicants should understand that the History Department uses the Statement of Purpose as a major factor in making admissions decisions. It is to the applicant's advantage to take special care in completing this statement. Applicants should add additional pages to the Statement of Purpose if necessary. Before the History Department admits a student, a member of the graduate faculty must personally agree to serve as that student's major professor and graduate advisor. Completed applications must be received in the History Department by November 1 for admission for the spring semester and by April 1 for admission for the fall semester. Normallu, applicants will receive an admission decision within 30 days after the recepit of all required materials.
Regular Admission: The applicant must hold a bachelor's degree from an accredited institution, and meet the History Department's requirements for admission. Provisional Admission: An applicant not satisfying the History Department's minimum requirements can be admitted on a provisional basis, but must earn a 3.00 grade point average in his or her first nine hours of graduate work at MSU. Contingent Admission: This category of admission is reserved for students not meeting a specific requirement, but who seem likely to meet it in the near future. This category is most often used for applicants who have completed the requirements for degrees which have yet to be formally awarded. Unclassified Admission: This admission status is normally reserved for students desiring graduate study for purposes other than earning an advanced degree. It may be used, however, by students who have not completed the formal admission process, but who wish to begin taking history courses immediately. A student may take graduate courses at Mississippi State as an unclassified student without going through the Office of Graduate Studies or departmental screening process. If an unclassified student is later admitted to a degree program, he or she may transfer up to nine hours of credit into that program. Taking courses does not in any way signify or guarantee admission to the History Department's graduate program.
International students intending to pursue a graduate degree in history must meet all regular requirements and, in addition, present a Test of English as a Foreign Language score of 550 or higher. This requirement does not apply to international students with degrees from an American institution, nor to students from countries where English is the primary language. Graduate Fields in History
The Department of History offers graduate fields in a wide variety of areas, the principal fields are listed below. (Please consult the Graduate Handbook for a complete list.) Nodes of Excellence: Agricultural, Rural, and Environmental History International Security/Internal Safety History of Science and Technology
Africa Asia Europe United States Latin America World
African-American Southern Diplomatic Intellectual Military Economic Imperialism, Colonialism, and Decolonization U.S. Women's Not all of the fields listed above are available for dissertation research or as the major field for a Master of Arts degree. Opportunities for Financial Aid for Graduate Students
Information about the above forms of financial aid may be obtained from:
P. O. Box AB Mississippi State, MS 39762
Information about Minority Fellowships may be obtained from:
P. O. Box G Mississippi State, MS 39762
Teaching and Research Assistantships, Dissertation Fellowships--The History Department awards a number of teaching, dissertation, and research assistantships each year to its most outstanding students. First Year M.A. Student Scholarships--The Mississippi State University Department of History has awarded First Year Garner Scholarships in honor of James W. Garner for up to three students seeking the master's degree. Applications for assistantships, fellowships, and scholarships administered by the History Department must be submitted directly to the History Department before March 1, and awards will be made in April. Application Form: For more information about Departmental Financial Aid, Contact Graduate Coordinator, Peter Messer.
History graduate students are also eligible for research assistantships in the Social Science Research Center (SSRC). Graduate students awarded an SSRC assistantship will typically assist faculty members engaged in large-scale collaborative projects. Information about these assistantships may be obtained from:
P. O. Box 5287 Mississippi State, MS 29762 |