Track Description
The Public History Track in the History MA program is designed to teach students how to preserve and interpret history while engaging a broad variety of audiences. Students who wish to pursue careers in community and local history, digital history, historic site preservation and administration, museum studies, oral history, heritage tourism, or a variety of other careers that employ applied research will find this degree valuable and rewarding.
Courses in the Public History Track allow students to learn the theories, methods, and technical skills historians use as they put history to work in the world. They build on the foundation of reading colloquia and research seminars that are firmly located in time and space to explicitly focus on the practice of history.
Curriculum
The Public History track requires a minimum of 36 credit hours beyond the bachelor’s degree, including 9 credit hours of required core courses, 15 credit hours in the public history area of concentration, and; 6 credit hours of elective courses taken outside of the area of concentration. All students must pass a foreign language competency test, pass a written examination in two fields, and successfully complete and defend their thesis or project. No graduate credit is given for any grade lower than “B-.”
Total Credit Hours Required: 36 Credit Hours Minimum beyond the Bachelor’s Degree
Application Requirements
For information on general UCF graduate admissions requirements that apply to all prospective students, please visit the Admissions section of the Graduate Catalog. Applicants must apply online. All requested materials must be submitted by the established deadline.
In addition to the general UCF graduate application requirements , applicants must provide:
- One official transcript (in a sealed envelope) from each college/university attended.
- A bachelor’s degree in History (or an equivalent).
- A 3.25 GPA in all upper division history courses taken as an undergraduate student.
- Official, competitive GRE score taken in the last five years.
- A written statement describing personal goals and objectives in seeking a graduate degree in history.
- Three letters of recommendation from former professors who can address applicant’s ability to undertake graduate-level history courses.
- A computer-based score of 233 (or 91 internet-based score) on the Test of English as a Foreign language (TOEFL) if an applicant is from a country where English is not the official language, or if an applicant’s degree is not from an accredited U.S. institution, or if an applicant did not earn a degree in a country where English is the only official language or a university where English is the only official language of instruction. Although we prefer the TOEFL, we will accept IELTS scores of 7.0.
Applicants who hold an undergraduate degree in History but do not have a GPA of 3.0 in all work attempted while registered as an undergraduate student, or while registered as an upper-division undergraduate student (normally based on the last sixty attempted semester hours), or a 3.25 GPA in their history courses, or do not have a competitive score on the combined verbal-quantitative sections and/or the individual verbal or analytical writing sections of the GRE may take up to 9 hours of graduate courses as non-degree-seeking students. To be admitted into the graduate program, however, they must earn a 3.3 GPA or higher in the graduate-level history courses they take under this status.
Generally, applicants who meet all of the above requirements but do not have an undergraduate degree in History must complete 12 hours of history course work at the 3000 and 4000 level, with a 3.25 GPA in these courses, before entering the graduate program. These courses will not count toward the graduate degree. The History Department Graduate Committee can waive this requirement, in whole or in part, when applicants present evidence that they are capable of successfully completing graduate history courses.
If, in addition, applicants do not meet one of the other requirements for entry, such as a GPA of 3.0 in all work attempted while registered as an undergraduate student, or while registered as an upper-division undergraduate student (normally based on the last sixty attempted semester hours) or a competitive score on the combined verbal/quantitative and/or the individual verbal or analytical writing sections of the GRE, they must complete 12 hours of course work at the 3000 and 4000 level with GPA of 3.5 before they can be admitted to the graduate program.
Meeting minimum UCF admission criteria does not guarantee program admission. Final admission is based on evaluation of the applicant’s abilities, past performance, recommendations, match of this program and faculty expertise to the applicant’s career/academic goals, and the applicant’s potential for completing the degree.
Financials
Graduate students may receive financial assistance through fellowships, assistantships, tuition support, or loans. For more information, see the College of Graduate Studies Funding website, which describes the types of financial assistance available at UCF and provides general guidance in planning your graduate finances. The Financial Information section of the Graduate Catalog is another key resource.
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