Program Introduction

The Graduate Program in History dates back to the mid-1980s, and the concentration in Local/Regional/Public History was formally adopted in 2000. At any given time, the Graduate Program has around 30-35 students enrolled with around one-fourth of these students enrolled part-time. The M.A. Program admits around 10-15 students each year. Between 10-15 students graduate from the History M.A. Program each year.

Degrees Offered

  • B.A. in History
  • B.A. in History with a Certificate or Concentration in Public History
  • M.A. in History
  • M.A. in History with a Certificate or Concentration in Public History

Program Strengths

  • Archival Practices
  • Digital Media
  • Historic Preservation
  • Historical Archaeology
  • Local/Community History
  • Material Culture
  • Museum Studies
  • Oral History
  • Publishing

Credit Hour Requirements

30 graduate hours in History

How Many Students are Admitted Annually

BAn/a

MAapproximately 10-15

PhDn/a

MAs produced last year

approximately 10-15

Financial Aid Available

Teaching assistantships, a Public History assistantship at various venues including museums and archival collections, and a publishing assistantship editing the _Madison Historical Review_, the Program's graduate student journal.

Deadline To Apply

January 15

Job Placement Assistance

We have a pretty well-established network of alumni/ae of both the graduate and the undergraduate public history programs in place in the mid-Atlantic region.

Employers Who Have Hired Graduates from this Program within the Past Five Years

  • Colonial Williamsburg (VA)
  • Historic Stagville (NC)
  • Columbus Museum (GA)
  • Mount Vernon (VA)
  • Virginia Historical Society (VA)
  • George Ranch Historical Park (TX)
  • Frontier Culture Museum of Virginia (VA)
  • Americans for the Arts (DC)

Program Introduction

The concentration in Public History at James Madison University was established in 2001 and has averaged about 43 students per year over the last seven years. History majors pursuing the concentration may declare the concentration at any time. Upon graduation, they receive a B.A. in History with a concentration in Public History.

Public History students also often opt to pursue a minor in Historical Archaeology.

Degrees Offered

  • B.A. in History with a Certificate or Concentration in Public History

Program Strengths

  • Archival Practices
  • Digital Media
  • Historic Preservation
  • Historical Archaeology
  • Local/Community History
  • Material Culture
  • Museum Studies
  • Oral History

Credit Hour Requirements

36 credit hours

How Many Students are Admitted Annually

BAn/a

MAn/a

PhDn/a

Financial Aid Available

We have numerous scholarships in place.

Internship Requirements

In most instances students earn three credit hours for Internship in History (HIST 340 or
HIST 640). However, in some exceptional cases, a student can earn six credit hours for HIST
340 by participating in two separate and distinct internship experiences. In short, they take two
courses.

The Department of History requires that students have a formal face-to-face interview
with an individual at the proposed internship agency to discuss the possible internship activities.
If the student and the internship supervisor agree to work together, the student completes a
“Student Learning Contract”. This contract is usually a three- to five-page description of the
proposed internship, a brief history of the institution and a commentary on who will supervise
and evaluate the internship work. The supervisor of the internship must approve this contract
with their signature. The student signs the contract form, as does the Department of History’s
coordinator of internships. This form is submitted to the coordinator of internships during the
first few days of the internship.

The Department of History requires that students successfully complete between 140 to
160 hours on the internship. Students are required to keep a work log or diary, where they
describe the daily internship work. This log/diary is submitted to the coordinator of internships
for evaluation at the conclusion of the work. In addition, any paperwork that the student intern
submits to the agency as part of their work must be submitted to the coordinator of internships.
This written work has taken a variety of forms: formal research papers, research notes for
museum exhibits, tax records for historic preservation activities, genealogical information,
manuscript collection finding guide and oral history interview transcripts, etc.

The student’s work in the internship is evaluated in several ways. Both the agency
supervisor and the coordinator of internships evaluate the student’s internship work. The agency supervisor completes a written evaluation at the conclusion of the internship, which is submitted to the coordinator of internships. The coordinator evaluates the student’s log/diary and submitted written work. Finally, the coordinator of internships conducts an interview with the student about the internship.

Places Where Students Have Interned During the Past 3 Years

  • Some recent JMU internship locations include:
  • George Washington’s Mount Vernon
  • Library of Congress American Folklife Center
  • The Valentine Museum
  • The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History
  • Frontier Culture Museum of Virginia
  • Historic Lexington Foundation
  • Fredericksburg-Spotsylvania National Military Park
  • CIA Museum
  • Museum of the Shenandoah Valley
  • South Atlantic Humanities Center at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities
  • Virginia Department of Historic Resources
  • U.S. Department of State’s Foreign Service Institute
  • Hampton Roads Naval Museum

Employers Who Have Hired Graduates from this Program within the Past Five Years

  • Gunston Hall (curator)
  • Virginia Quilt Museum (executive director)
  • Museum of Culpeper History (director)
  • Menokin (executive director)
  • WHYY radio in Philadelphia (director of marketing)
  • Museum of the Shenandoah Balley (curator)
  • Daniel Boone Homestead (site manager)

among others