Master of Arts [MA]

On this page:

Doing MA (by thesis) in History Entry requirements for an MA in History Writing an MA thesis proposal Enrolment process Postgraduate supervision and six monthly written reports History Postgraduate Seminar and Conference Binding and depositing your thesis Financial assistance Current MA history students and their topics Recent MA graduates

Also See:

Completed Masters theses (abstracts) Victoria's Postgraduate Degrees information Responsibilities of Supervisors and Student Memo of Agreement Scholarships and Prizes Postgraduate Student Association Victoria International Using your History degree

Doing an MA (by thesis) in History

An MA in History requires completion of a thesis of c. 30,000 - 40,000 words based on a programme of independent research. The work for the thesis normally requires one year, but not less than one semester, of full-time work, or the equivalent in part-time work. General information about the MA degree can be found on the FHSS website and the Postgraduate Degrees page.

The MA degree is awarded with Distinction if the thesis is judged to be of A+ or A standard, or with Merit if is judged to be of A- or B+ standard.

Expectations for an MA Thesis in History

The History Programme expects that an MA thesis in History will demonstrate the acquisition of skills in the following areas:

• The definition of a significant question or questions about an historical topic, historiographical debate or area of research;
• The selection and analysis of the historiography relating to the question(s) and a critical awareness of its development and relevance to the topic;
• The selection, analysis and use of primary material to produce an answer or answers to the research question(s) ;
• The use of appropriate methodologies to collect and analyse the evidence;
• The ability to develop an argument which supports conclusions validating, challenging or in other ways contributing to the historiography about the topic;
• A scholarly level of written expression, referencing and presentation;

Further information is set out in the MA Policy.

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Entry requirements for an MA in History

Students proposing to do an MA in History are expected to have a BA (Hons) degree in History. Those with an Honours degree in a cognate discipline, but with at least one paper in History, are also eligible to apply for admission.

University regulations allow for this qualification to be waived, but only in exceptional circumstances and with the approval of the Academic Committee.

Students who have gained First Class Honours or Second Class Honours (upper division) are well placed to consider doing an MA degree. Those with Second Class Honours (lower division) may find the demands of writing an MA thesis very challenging and should seek advice from History's Postgraduate Coordinator. A student with Third Class Honours is required under University Regulations to demonstrate to the Head of Programme’s satisfaction that he/she has the capacity and background to complete an MA successfully.

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Writing an MA thesis proposal

For applicants who wish to enrol in a Masters in the History Programme the procedures are as follows:
After consultation with the Postgraduate Coordinator and an appropriate member of the History Staff, the applicant prepares and submits to the History Research Committee:

1. A research proposal of approximately 3,500 words detailing the research question, the primary evidence, the justification, a brief bibliography outlining the major works in the field, and a discussion of resource requirements;
2. Two academic references;
3. An Academic Transcript;
4. A sample of written work, preferably a research-based Honours essay.

This proposal should follow the guidelines set out on the Writing a Full Thesis Proposal page. See also the list of Suggested topics for MA and PhD theses in History.

The Research Committee will assess the proposal, the availability of a supervisor and the candidate’s capacity to complete an MA thesis, and decide whether to recommend the candidate for enrolment to the Deputy Dean of FHSS.

Enrolment is authorised once History's Research Committee has approved a candidate's thesis proposal. The proposal should be developed with the help of a supervisor.  Four months after enrolment, the Masters' student should submit a progress report to the Postgraduate Coordinator to be considered by the Research Committee and advise him/her of any necessary revisions.

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Enrolment procedure

Enrolment for an MA can be made as soon as the thesis proposal is approved and at any time of the year; the enrolment form is available from Admissions and Enrolment.

When the initial thesis proposal is approved, the Research Committee will formally appoint a main supervisor and, sometimes, a second supervisor. The candidate will then meet with the Postgraduate Coordinator and supervisor(s), sign the Memorandum of Agreement, and complete the enrolment form.

For further information see the History Programme Prospectus online or available at the History Programme office.

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Postgraduate supervision and six monthly written reports

Academic Board policy requires all supervisors to provide six-monthly written reports on students enrolled in MA by thesis and PhD courses (download a copy of the report form here). These reports are expected to identify what has been achieved, outline agreed timetables for future work and identify any problems with a student's performance requiring to be rectified.

You are entitled to review the performance of your supervisor. You may do this at 12 monthly intervals beginning at or before the expiry of nine months from the date of first enrolment. The evaluation can take one of two forms: either a discussion in person with the administrative supervisor, i.e. in the case of History, the Postgraduate Coordinator, or, if you prefer to provide written feedback, a formative evaluation using questions selected by the supervisor from a question pool provided through the UTDC. If you wish to adopt the former procedure, please contact the Postgraduate Coordinator to make an appointment. If you prefer the latter, please advise your supervisor. Please note that it is over to you to decide whether or not you wish to make an evaluation. There is also provision for a summative evaluation to be completed at the time of the submission of the thesis.

See the code outlining the Responsibilities of Supervisors and Students as approved by the Academic Board.

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The History Postgraduate Seminar and Conference

In 2009, Evan Roberts and Alexander Maxwell will coordinate the Postgraduate Seminar, a programme of weekly meetings through the teaching semesters for MA and PhD students. The first and third meetings of each month consist of presentations designed to help students with their professional development, covering topics such as thesis completion, finding jobs or fellowships, and scholarly publication. Details of the Postgraduate Seminar programme will be decided between students attending the initial meeting and the conveners. In the second and fourth meetings of each month, students will present work in progress to the seminar, in a similar format to conference presentations. Presentations will assist students in public speaking and presentation, and provide regular peer feedback on research and writing. After student presentations we will continue the conversation over drinks. All MA and PhD students are expected to participate regularly in seminars. Participants are encouraged to propose ideas to the conveners: the purpose of the seminar is to assist postgraduate students. The postgraduate seminar may also provide a forum for organising a Postgraduate conference like those held successfully in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

Go to the 2008 Postgraduate Seminar Programme to see the kinds of topics discussed, and papers presented.

MA Work-in-Progress Presentations

MA students should make at least one presentation on their work-in-progress in either the Postgraduate Seminar or at the Postgraduate Conference (if one is organised). The History Programme also actively encourages postgraduate students to present their research at academic conferences and financial support can be provided from the FHSS Research grant or other funding which may become available.

For Information about current MA students and recently completed MA theses see Postgraduate Research and Research Student Profiles.

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Binding and depositing your thesis

You are allowed to submit the two examination copies of your MA thesis in a temporary binding - thus making it easier and less costly to make minor corrections if these should be required by the examiners.

Information about the University's requirements for the bound and electronic copies of your thesis that must be deposited in the Main Library are set out on the library website at http://www.victoria.ac.nz/library/services/thesesdeposit.aspx and http://www.victoria.ac.nz/library/services/thesis_deposit.pdf

See also the MA Policy (sections 4.11 and 4.12.1). It is customary to also present a copy to the History Programme.

When you deposit the bound and electronic copies of your thesis you will also need to fill in and sign an "Availability of Thesis" form; this allows the library to make your thesis available, according to its Regulations, to other researchers. Any embargo on access to theses must be authorised by the Academic Committee.

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Financial assistance

Information about Victoria University MA scholarships can be obtained from the scholarships section of the University website (check both the Scholarships Database and the Scholarships Noticeboard).

MA and PhD students are entitled to some financial assistance towards the costs of research during their enrolment from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. For MA students this is currently set at $2,000. These funds must be applied for using the Oracle system. They can be used for such things as photocopying, interloan costs, conference attendance, travel to repositories, but cannot be used for costs of thesis production or purchase of equipment. Further information about these funds can be accessed from the Faculty Research Committee page. Information and advice on other funding opportunities within the School and University will be issued by the Postgraduate Coordinator throughout the year.

Financial assistance also may be available from external sources depending on the topic of research. It is worth checking the research and scholarships section of the University website (and other noticeboards) for funds related to your subject as well as your degree and qualifications. For further information the scholarships section of the University website.

The University’s Research Office also provides information about research funding which can be accessed on the intranet.

The Postgraduate Students Association has information on StudyLink funding.

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MA projects (Current)

Lanei Alexander
'The discourse on excessive consumption, England 1558-1640'.
Supervisor: Dr Glyn Parry

James Campbell
‘William Cecil’s Patronage of Alchemical Projects’.
Supervisor: Dr Glyn Parry

Malcolm Craig
‘Korea: The Bomb That Never Dropped’.
Supervisor: Associate Professor Dolores Janiewski

Jeremy Cresswell
'Provincial Punches: Cartooning the Irish in 1860s New Zealand'.
Supervisor: Dr Miles Fairburn

Michael Devine
‘A Biography of John Prestall’.
Supervisor: Dr Glyn Parry

Tristan Egarr
‘The influence of warfare on New Zealand’s police and prisons, 1876-1925’.
Supervisor: Professor Richard Hill (Stout Research Centre)

Michael Gill
‘Another Swashbuckling Elizabethan: William Herle and the English Secret Service’.
Supervisor: Dr Glyn Parry

Susie Johnston
'Lighting up: The Social History of Smoking in New Zealand c1900-1962'.
Supervisor: Dr Charlotte Macdonald

Basil Keane
'Kotahitanga Parliament, 1892-1902'.
Supervisors: Professor James Belich and Professor Richard Hill (Stout Research Centre)

Sienna Latham
'Women and Alchemy in Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century England'.
Supervisor: Dr Glyn Parry

Nick Radburn
'The Government role in the British Transatlantic slave trade'.
Supervisor: Dr Steve Behrendt

Samuel Ritchie
'‘[T]he sound of the bell amidst the wilds’: Evangelical Perceptions of Northern Aotearoa/New Zealand Māori and the Aboriginal Peoples of Port Phillip Australia, c.1820s-1840s'.
Supervisor: Dr Charlotte Macdonald and Dr Adrian Muckle

Deborah Salter
' The "Ugly Sister of Welfare": Health Care Rationing in New Zealand 1968-c.1980’.
Supervisors: Dr Dolores Janiewski and Dr Malcolm McKinnon

James Taylor
The Clarion and New Zealand Labour c.1890-1914'.
Supervisor: Dr Jim McAloon

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MA recent graduates

See also MA Abstracts. All completed theses are deposited in the VUW Library.

Karen Cheer, MA, 2008
Irish Maritime Trade in the Eighteenth Century: a study in patterns of trade, market structures, and merchant communities, Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington, 2009.

Vivian Rodriguez, MA, 2008
Egypt Plantation, the Enslaved Workforce and Patterns of Runaway and Resistance: an analysis based on Thomas Thistlewood’s journal, Jamaica, 1751-1763, Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington, 2008.

Craig Watterson, MA, 2008
The Development of African History as a Discipline in the English-speaking World: a study of academic infrastructure, Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington, 2008.

Peter Carter, MA, 2007
A Yin-Yang Affair: The development of a New Zealand-Singapore bilateral relationship, 1950-67, Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington, 2007.

Nic Dempster, MA, 2007
Forgotten Sequins: Gay Identity in New Zealand Queer Cinema, 1980-1993, Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington, 2007.

Julie Bellingham, MA, 2006
The Office of Treaty Settlements and Treaty History: An historiographical study of the historical accounts, acknowledgements and apologies written by the Crown, 1992 to 2003, Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington, 2006.

Sharmila Bernau, MA, 2006
Imagining Community in Godzone – Hinduism and Identity Amongst Indians in Wellington: An Oral History Project, Wellington, Victoria University of Wellington, 2006.

Kate Geange, MA, 2006
Anti-Jacobite Attitudes to the Jacobite Risings of 1715 and 1745, Wellington, Victoria University of Wellington, 2006.

Emma Knowles, MA, 2006
‘Let Me Tell It In My Own Words’: Identity in Lakota Narratives of Wounded Knee, Wellington, Victoria University of Wellington, 2006.

Jonathan Sarich, MA, 2006
From Promotion to Reference, The New Zealand Official Year Book, 1893-1923: Its Content and Approach, Wellington, Victoria University of Wellington, 2006.

Debbie Stowe, MA, 2006
John Pascoe’s Photography of the New Zealand Home Front during the Second World War: An Historical Analysis, Wellington, Victoria University of Wellington, 2006.

Sarah Whitehead, MA, 2006
A Cartoon War: The Cartoons of the New Zealand Free Lance and New Zealand Observer as Historical Sources, August 1914 – November 1918, Wellington, Victoria University of Wellington, 2006.

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