There are two tracks in our American Studies MA program. The General Track prepares those students who may wish to go on to a PhD in American Studies or another field through classes in the history, theories, and methods of American Studies and an original research project. The Public Humanities track is designed to ground students in the history, theory and methods of the public humanities, and in a foundation in nonprofit management, and bring it all together with project-based courses, an internship and capstone, preparing students for careers in cultural and community institutions.
Year 1
Year 2
To apply, you will need to submit:
The GRE is not required.
We welcome students who are already employed in public history and public humanities into our program. Depending on your professional experience, it may be possible to waive one or both nonprofit management courses and the internship, at the discretion of the program chair and with the support of a faculty advisor.
A maximum of 12 graduate credits may be transferred from another institution toward the completion of the M.A. degree. Acceptance of these credits will be at the discretion of the Program Director in consultation with the Graduate School and will depend on the field of the student's Master's degree, the appropriateness to American Studies of specific courses taken, and the rules of the Graduate School.
With the advance approval of the Program Director, the student’s academic advisor, and the course instructors, up to three Rutgers University-Newark undergraduate courses at the 300 or 400 level may be counted toward the completion of the M.A. Degree. No more than one undergraduate course may be taken per semester. To receive graduate credit, the student must have been assigned and successfully completed significant additional work in the undergraduate course.
With the approval of the Program Director and the student’s academic advisor, up to six credits in directed readings may be counted toward the completion of the M..A. Degree.
Notwithstanding the above options, at least five courses (15 credits) must be taken as master’s seminars.
Students choosing the thesis option must signal their intention and identify a thesis advisor no later than after having completed 18 credits.
Upon admission to the Master’s program, each student will be assigned an academic advisor from the American Studies faculty. Students are free to change advisors at the end of their first year. Every year, however, students must submit to the Program Director a form identifying their advisor.
