AMU doesn't require a certain amount of undergrad courses to enter their MA in History. However would those with minimal undergrad history credits be at a substantial disadvantage in the grad level courses at AMU? Do most of the folks in these classes have a substantial history background? Would it be beneficial to take some LSU undergrad courses prior to embarking on this course of study? I'm hoping for responses from those who have taken grad level history courses at AMU.
I have looked at the AMU masters in public history (amd the WNMU masters) and wondered the same thing. I imagine that reading a dozen text books in basic history would be a great help (cheap on line).
My experience in taking history courses at an undergraduate level was that each course stood on its own, (language and other general disciplines being the exception) unless it was a course that built on the outcomes of the last. (a research semester building on a course of the same topic) I'd gather that if AMU does not require pre-existing history credit you'd be fine. The instructor is not going to grade you on topics that do not exist or are not taught within the context of his course or courses. In terms of reading up on history, if you're going to do that, after having looked at AMU's programs, I'd recommend making a decision as to what your discipline is going to be within the program (classical, etc) and spend a good amount of time on wikipedia or the world history wikipedia and bone up. Buying textbooks twice isn't going to help you much. The idea is to get a basic grounding from somewhere before jumping into the class. The goal there is not to "learn something" it's to be "familiar with something" as your prof is likely better as a source than whomever wrote what you're boning up on. Especially since he or she is grading you. It is a good idea though to prepare yourself to some small degree.
One of the texts for the first class at APU/AMU is A Short Guide to Writing About History (7th ed) by Richard Marius & Melvin E Page. Even though I decided not to start the APU MA, I got this short book, it basically teaches you how to write a history essay. So if you want to prepare, this would be a good choice, and you'd be ahead in your reading for what will likely be your first class (History Research Methods - HIST500).
I have a BS in Business and am now in the MA History program at AMU. I had 12 credits of undergrad history before starting, none of them were upper level. The hardest part for me was getting up to speed on writing papers and properly citing sources. I'm sure someone that had done it in their undergrad program would have an easier time. None of the classes I'm taking build upon previous undergrad course material. The work is harder and more is expected of you but you won't be lost if you come into the program w/o previous history coursework. Knowing the basics, however, would be a help. If you are interested enough in history to pursue a MA in History, you already probably know enough about the subjects you will be studying to be successful.
Another way to attack the program, however, is to start with a class that sounds really interesting. Doing it this way helped me stay fired up about completing the program. If I took HIST500 and HIST501 as my first classes, I think I'd have washed out as I'd have been too bored. I still haven't taken HIST500. I have HIST501 (Historiography) this semester and plan to take HIST500 sometime soon. I'm too far into the program now to wash out from taking a boring class. There isn't a requirement to take classes in any sort of order. I agree with emmzee on getting that book regardless of when you take HIST500. It's helped me greatly in the classes I've taken.
Thanks for the advice and comments, especially Bazonkers since we have similar backgrounds and you're actually doing the program. By gosh that Short Guide is expensive. Being a cheap Scandinavian I think I'll buy an older edition for about .40 plus shipping at Amazon for review purposes.
Wow, I forgot it was over $30. It's only 240 pages so that's like 12.5 cents per page. It IS very useful, however, and you'd easily get your money's worth when it gets you higher grades on your papers and coursework. I'm glad you were able to find one for 40 cents. That's a great deal. That would only buy you a little over 3 pages in the latest edition.
Thanks for the tip about the book. Can I recommend that anyone who is interested have a look at www.abebooks.com I just bought a copy of the 6th edition there for around $20.00 Australian. They have many copies of a number of editions listed across a range of prices.
