Thesis Option

Students interested in writing a thesis should begin in their first year to discuss thesis possibilities with the history faculty member with whom the student hopes to work. The faculty member may impose any language or methodology prerequisites deemed necessary before acceptance of the thesis proposal. Admission to the thesis track is formally complete when the student has prepared a prospectus, and the prospectus has been approved by the thesis advisor and the other two members of the committee. The prospectus should contain a clear exposition of the working hypothesis, the approach and materials the student intends to use, and some indication of the significance of the work.

Approval is indicated by the committee members' signatures on the cover sheet of the prospectus, which must include the student's name, the tentative title of the thesis, and the statement "This prospectus has been approved by the advisor and committee members whose signatures appear below." The original goes to the graduate coordinator, with copies to the student and the thesis committee members.

Non-Thesis Option

The student will submit a research paper of at least twenty pages in length written for a UNF graduate course on a topic appropriate to the student?s area of concentration (the paper may be revised before submission). A committee of three faculty members, selected in consultation with the graduate program director and consisting of at least one faculty member from the student?s area of concentration, will review the paper and conduct an oral examination.

The student should be prepared to present and defend the paper?s findings and place the work in an appropriate historiographical context. The results of the examination will be graded either Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory and will be communicated to the student and the graduate program director.