History & Culture
History and Culture
Shape the Story.
The History and Culture graduate program specializes in cultural and intellectual history, with a strong emphasis on interdisciplinary work. While its geographic focus remains European and American, the course of study emphasizes the production and dissemination of knowledge in global contexts. Students are trained to consider a range of intellectual and cultural problems of pressing contemporary relevance from multiple disciplinary perspectives.
The program emphasizes the training of teachers alongside scholars, and preparation for non-academic as well as academic careers. Through opportunities such as internships, seminars, and workshops, students can receive additional training in various areas, including, but not limited to, publishing, digital media, museum curation, and philanthropic organizations.
The professors at Drew really helped me to decide what kind of historian I wanted to be and encouraged me to explore parts of history I would never have considered. For example, Dr. Jonathan Rose’s course, The Victorian Mind, did not just focus on prominent philosophers in Victorian England. Dr. Rose incorporated studies of art, theater and fiction to help us understand the political and cultural movements occurring at the time. ”
Curricular Components
Historiography – exposes students to numerous historical approaches over a variety of subjects and time periods, with the goal of understanding the kinds of questions historians ask and the various methodologies they use to study that past, via historical works critical to our collective understanding, and historiographical conversations between and among historians.
Methodology – covers methodological and/or theoretical approaches within history or from another discipline, via theoretical texts as well as work by scholars who use that theory.
Extradisciplinarity – develops familiarity with the scholarly perspectives, literature, and methods of an extra-disciplinary field, beyond history.
Research – develops the methods of historical scholarship, such as archival work, primary source analysis, and thesis and argument development, resulting in the preparation of a publishable paper, and supported by working closely with faculty members with expertise in the subject matter.
Flexible Program
- Students can choose to pursue their degree on a part-time or full-time basis, each semester
- Students can take courses on campus in person, hybrid or online synchronously via Zoom
- Our hybrid courses are all taught in specially equipped classrooms that enable the professors to facilitate lively discussion among all participants, whether they are in person or online
- Although the majority of our students choose to come to campus at some point in their studies, all required courses are offered online or hybrid to enable students to complete the degree fully online
Master of Arts (30 Credits)
A Step-by-Step Path to Your Degree
Students in the Master of Arts complete 30 credit hours from History and Culture listings, as well as approved courses from other Caspersen programs. In consultation with an advisor, students may choose to write a master’s thesis based on scholarly primary research or may choose a non-thesis track.
Required Courses (6 Credits)
Historiography (9 credits)