History, M.A.

The Master of Arts degree program in History at California State University, Fresno offers graduate students seminars on a wide range of historical periods and approaches. The program also provides the conscientious student with the requisite research skills to ensure success in future academic or related pursuits. Many of our students have become successful teachers at the community college level while others have continued on to competitive doctoral programs around the country.Former students have pursued wide-ranging and diverse research topics, with subjects as varied as Native frontier violence in Colonial America, education in Vichy France, Mexican-American relations and the Bracero Program, Children's literature and the Cold War, and the influence of the Quebec Act on the American Revolution (recipient of the 2009 University Outstanding Thesis Award). Advanced degree holders in the area of history take many different paths in their career choices upon graduation. Many graduates have used their history expertise to teach, pursue careers in law, in the clergy, or as business executives, legislators, or journalists. Others have used their history preparation for highly specialized positions such as curators, archivists, or historical editors and administrators, all of which require a strong commitment to research and, in many instances, a record of publication.