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History Department- San Francisco State University |
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History Department- San Francisco State University |
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THE M.A. PROGRAM IN MODERN WORLD HISTORY
The Modern World History concentration offers students both a distinctive perspective on the past and a particular subject matter. The perspective is critical and analytical, offering students an opportunity to join in a scholarly exchange about theoretical, methodological, and conceptual issues, such as how to define and study, for instance, the meaning and the impact of modernity and modernization on religious traditions, and how to explain the changing relationships among global, national, and local histories in relation to, for instance, trade, technological innovation, demographic change, diplomacy, nationalism, imperialism, and war.
The subject matter is transnational, offering students courses that examine global patterns as they occur in particular local, national, and regional historical cases, as well as courses that examine specific local, national, and regional cases in the context of global developments. The program places special emphasis on societies, cultures, and political and economic systems in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and the Americas outside the United States, and it also provides opportunities to study the global impact of Europe and the West since 1492.
This field is part of a larger professional phenomenon that was inspired partly by the pursuit of comparative social and cultural history as exemplified by Fernand Braudel and the Annales school in France. The field is also the product of political and historical changes at the end of the twentieth century that led to an increased dialogue among the global, national, and local cultures everywhere. The creation of the World History Association and the AP World History curriculum attest to the growing interest in the field. The program is particularly suited both to students interested in teaching World History in the middle and high schools, and community colleges, and students interested in pursuing doctoral work in World History.
Our graduate program in Modern World History consists of 30 units, and combines the normal primary and secondary historical fields into a single package. It is essential that students consult with an academic advisor in the selection of electives.
HIST 700 History as a Field of Knowledge (3 units);
HIST 701 The Historiography of Modern World History (3 units);
HIST 850 Topics in World History Since 1500 [must be repeated with a different topic for a total of 6 units];
Courses on advisement (15 units). These courses, combined with the two HIST 850 courses, must be distributed on a 6/6/9 unit basis across 3 of the 4 following areas of study: (a)Africa, (b)Asia, (c)Latin America, (d)United States and Europe since 1500.
HIST 896 (Directed Reading in History) or HIST 898 (Master’s Thesis) (3 units). 3 of these 30 units for the degree must also include Research (HIST 850, 898, or another graduate seminar). Students must also complete the language requirement for this field (see the Graduate Brochure for details).
Students doing another Primary Field may do a 9-unit Secondary Field in Modern World History: HIST 701, HIST 850 in one of the areas of study listed for the world history major, and an additional 3 unit graduate or upper division undergraduate course in a different regional area of study.
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