Summer Intensive History Graduate Program for Teachers

The master's degree in History at CMU is a thirty-hour program. The cornerstones of this program are the colloquia (600 level) and the seminars (700 level). In a colloquium, you will read and discuss books and articles—a lot of them. In a seminar, you will produce a major scholarly paper (roughly 25 pages) based on primary sources and grounded in the historical literature. You can also take up to four 500-level courses. These courses are designed for advanced undergraduates as well as graduate students and can be either lecture or discussion based.

The only required course in the program is historiography, but at least eighteen hours of your coursework must be at the 600 level or above and must include at least two colloquia and one seminar. There is also a research requirement, which most students complete by taking a second seminar or HST 791 (Graduate Research).

History Course Catalog

The Summer Intensive History Graduate Program for Teachers was conceived with working teachers in mind. The courses are offered in a synchronous, online format, so that you can enjoy the energy and intellectual rigor of interactive graduate classes without the hassle of a commute. And because the courses are offered after most schools have let out for the summer, you can concentrate on teaching during the school year and then devote yourself fulltime to your graduate studies in the summer months. Your coursework will focus on topics in the teaching standards for grades 6-12, so you will have lots of material from which to draw as you create your own lesson plans. And, because the program brings together dedicated teaching professionals from around the country, you and your classmates will have ample opportunity to share ideas about how to make the material you are learning in the summer come alive in your own classrooms in the fall.

It might. The reading, writing and analytical skills you will acquire in a history graduate program will be the same whether you take your courses in the summer or during the academic year. Where the programs differ is in course content. Because school teachers are typically responsible for a broad range of content, the SI courses cover longer time periods and larger geographical areas. By contrast, the courses offered during the regular academic year focus on narrower timeframes and more specialized subject matter and put more emphasis on theoretical and historiographical issues. If you are hoping to acquire a broad-based knowledge of history in your graduate program, the summer intensive program could work well for you. 

NOTE: If you are interested in pursuing a Ph.D., you should pursue your degree during the regular academic year. 

Absolutely. Beginning in the summer of 2024, SI students will be able to complete a colloquium and a seminar through the Summer Intensive in Europe. Complete both courses by spending a little over a month in Europe. Can’t get away for that long?  Not a problem. The courses are offered back-to-back, so you can opt to take just one, which means you would only spend a couple of weeks abroad.

HST 652 Americans in Paris
After participating in a handful of synchronous online sessions in the spring, spend late June and early July in Paris and Normandy, France.  The course meets one of your two colloquium requirements.

HST 758 Keep Calm & Carry On: The Allied Home Front during WWII 
Spend mid- to late July in Edinburgh and Glasgow, Scotland, and complete one of your seminar requirements for the M.A. In addition to multiple site visits, you will spend a few days doing archival research. Once you are back in the U.S., you will use that research to write a seminar paper.

This is actually up to you. The typical load is two to three courses, but you are free to take more. And, some students add online education courses during the academic year. Note: If you will be applying for summer financial aid and plan to take fewer than nine hours, you will need to contact the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid to see how your enrollment status will affect your financial-aid eligibility.

Enrollment Status

If you opt to take three courses each summer and an online education course during the academic year, you can finish your degree in three summers (i.e., a little over two years).

HST 609:Historiography for Teachers
Dr. Doina Harsanyi
Historiography can be succinctly defined as the history of history, acknowledging that, if the past does not change, our knowledge of it does. The discipline seeks to answer fundamental questions regarding our understanding of the past: How are events, facts, and phenomena recorded? Who produced the narrative of what happened and why? What is the difference between history and memory or between history and myth? If different, even contradictory, perspectives on the past are equally valid, how is historical truth assessed? With so many questions arising as soon as we begin thinking about history, how can we teach the subject without confusing our students? In this course we will attempt to answer these and related questions as we survey the field from the earliest known self-described historians to contemporary approaches (gender history; cultural history; visual history; transnational history; oral history; microhistory; public history). The elusive concept of objectivity will structure our discussions.

HST 611: Colloquium on U.S. history Topics for Teachers: Religious Encounter and Exchange in World History
Dr. David Papendorf
This course explores the religious encounters and exchanges between the peoples of Europe within the context of world history from the ancient through the modern period. Special attention is given to colonialism, indigeneity, intellectual-religious history, and religious pilgrimage and/or immigration.

In order to enroll in courses offered during the summer intensive, you will need to be accepted into the master's program in History. To apply, just complete CMU's online application.

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Yes! You can count up to 10 hours from other disciplines toward your History graduate degree. The Teacher Education Program offers courses online in the summer. Feel free to mix and match.