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The Master of Arts in History & Archival Studies combines training in the researching and writing of scholarly history with the study of archival practice and maintenance, preparing students for careers in special collections, libraries, museums, and other entities that recognize the critical value of keeping and maintaining historical documentation.

The Archival Studies program provides a theoretical and practical framework for creating and understanding archival collections, including why we make them and how we maintain them. Theoretical and scholarly historical work is complemented by experiential learning opportunities, such as internships, in order to ground your knowledge in the current practices of the professional world. Throughout the program, you may take advantage of the many benefits that CGU’s History Department confers: access to faculty-scholars who specialize in U.S. and European history and abundant opportunities to collaborate with students and faculty in other CGU departments as well as at other member institutions of the highly ranked Claremont Colleges. You’ll gain a broad-based, humanistic education that equips you with the research, analytical, and communication skills critical for successful careers.

Program Highlights

Program At a Glance

UNITS
48 units

ESTIMATED COMPLETION TIME*
2 years

*Program completion times may vary depending on course registration, units transferred, and time to complete other degree requirements.

COURSES BEGIN
Fall | Spring

DEPARTMENT
History

DEGREE AWARDED
MA in History and Archival Studies

Featured Courses

ARCH 310
Introduction to Archival Studies

Introduces archival theory and practice in which you explore professional work through archives, records, and special collections.

HIST 440
Minority Religions and Politics in US History

Explores how multiple groups envisioned their politics against the backdrop of dominant American Protestants.

ARCH 396
Internship/Practicum

Hands-on work in an archive for applied and practical experience with archival studies.

ARCH 311
Topics and Advanced Training

Explores the evolution of archival work, especially how archives and archivists engage & work with community and the digital world.

TNDY 405
Heritage, Culture and Managing the Past

Examines heritage management of historical sites & museums in both Los Angeles and Bath, England.

HIST 336
California History through Biography

Analyzes recent biographies about Californians and develops original research biographies.

Curriculum

Courses
Required History courses (4 units)

Archival Studies courses (12 units)

History elective courses (28 units)
Open elective courses (4 units)

Research Tools Requirement

Research Paper

Thesis

An original scholarly work written in consultation with a Thesis Committee and based on an array of primary and secondary sources.

Internship

You can gain professional experience in the field through a required internship in archives or special collections at numerous institutions in the L.A. region, including:

Faculty & Research

Where You Can Find Our Alumni

Interdisciplinary Concentrations

As a student in the School of Arts & Humanities, you have the option of completing one of five interdisciplinary concentrations.

American Studies

The American Studies concentration takes a multidisciplinary approach to the study of United States culture, society, civilization, and identity through the curricular lenses of history, literature, critical theory, and more.

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Early Modern Studies

The Early Modern Studies concentration undertakes interdisciplinary examination of history, culture, politics, and society within the transitional and transformative period that stretched between Medieval and modern societies, marked especially by the advent of print, Christian confessional war, and the rise of the modern state.

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Hemispheric & Transnational Studies

A comparative analysis of culture in the Americas, the concentration in Hemispheric & Transnational Studies explores how scholarship on the Atlantic, borderlands, and diaspora have reshaped U.S. American Studies, Caribbean Studies, and Latin American Studies, emphasizing the topics of empire, race, religion, and revolution.

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Media Studies

Situated at the bustling intersection of cultural studies, new media, critical theory, and popular culture, the burgeoning field of Media Studies examines the creative and critical practices of media consumers, producers, artists, and scholars, focusing on questions of representation, power, technology, politics, and economy.

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Museum Studies

The Museum Studies concentration investigates the history and political role of museums in society, the interpretation and display of a wide variety of cultural productions, and topics of special concern to museums as cultural organizations, using a multidisciplinary, practice-based approach to understand the historical development of this evolving field.

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These concentrations are available for students pursuing the following degree programs:

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Gigi Audoma

Director of Recruitment for the School of Arts & Humanities
T: 909-607-0441
E: geraldine.audoma@cgu.edu