The Master of Arts in History teaches students to excel at historical analysis. The program builds critical thinking, research and communication skills. Students pursue research interests in Northern Ontario, North American or European history in either full or part time programs. The program is offered in both French and English and normally takes two years to complete in the Thesis stream, one year in the Research Essay stream. Our graduates excel in academics, teaching and other research-intensive careers.

Applications and Admissions

Candidates for the M.A. program in History will be judged based on three criteria:  letters of reference, statement of interest, and grades.  Letters of reference must be obtained from three professors, preferably those who are most familiar with your work.  The statement of interest should be a maximum of two pages, double-spaced (i.e., 500 words), and clearly identify the candidate’s intended research field.  Applicants should have a B.A. Honours or equivalent in History with a B+ or higher (3.3/4.0) level of performance over the last two years and within the major. Applicants must also provide undergraduate transcripts.

Students may be admitted to the program beginning in September or January.  For consideration for the September term, we encourage applicants to apply by February 15th.  For the January term, applications should be complete by November 1st.  Later applications will still be considered but may not be eligible for full financial support.

Applying to the program involves three steps.  The first is to send a brief email outlining your interest in the program to the Graduate Coordinator (Mark Kuhlberg – mkuhlberg@laurentian.ca).  The second involves applying to the program on-line.  Interested individuals may download the application via the following weblink: http://horizon.ouac.on.ca/laurentian/grad/e. The third step involves identifying a suitable supervisor for either the research essay or the thesis, communicating with that potential supervisor, and arranging to sign and have the potential supervisor sign the Master of History:  Faculty Thesis Advisor Form.

For more information, see the Department of History's Graduate Studies Handbook

The areas of specialization for the Master of Arts in History are:

• History of Northern Ontario
• North American History
• European History

Students must follow one of two program streams:

Thesis Stream:
24 credits including
• HIST 5066 (Historical Methods) 3cr
• HIST 5000 (Master’s Thesis) 12cr

Essay Stream:
24 credits including
• HIST 5066 (Historical Methods) 3cr
• HIST 5050 (Master’s Essay) 6cr