MA

All incoming students are initially registered in Pattern II (Cognate). Students wishing to pursue Pattern I will submit a change request form and prepare a preliminary proposal for the thesis by December 15 of the year the student is admitted. This proposal should be between 1-2 pages, double-spaced, and include a list of primary and secondary sources. (For guidance, consult the section Cognate Essay Proposals.) The thesis proposal must be approved by the proposed supervisor and then by the Graduate Committee for the pattern change to become official. Good standing in fall term graduate courses is also required. All decisions will normally be finalized before January 14.

The recommended length of the thesis is 100 pp., maximum length 150 pp. The Pattern I is designed to be completed within 16-20 months from initial registration. 

Courses

All incoming full-time students enrolled in the MA degree programme must in their first year of study take six term-length graduate courses (or the equivalent in term-length courses) plus a Master's Thesis [HIST-899]. A mandatory workshop-based research methods and professionalization course (HIST811) will be taken by all MA students. Although the workshops are spaced across both the fall and winter terms, HIST811 counts as one of these six term-length courses. 

Directed Readings - History 895 or 896 ‘Directed Reading' courses are not encouraged and may make up no more than one session-length course in the student's programme. Students must have the approval of the prospective instructor of a reading course and the Graduate chair before registering for it in the summer preregistration period.  

Other Departments/Royal Military College (RMC) - One session-length (1.0) or two term-length (0.5) courses may be taken in another department or at RMC. One of the courses must be closely related to the subject of the student's thesis.  

Thesis Proposal Update

The thesis proposal update must be submitted to the Graduate Committee for approval by the end of the second term of the first academic session of M.A. study (May 15). Please email your update to the Graduate Assistant at hist.grad@queensu.ca and she will forward it to the Graduate Committee members.

The thesis proposal update should be 1-2 pages double-spaced and include a revised list of primary and secondary sources. It should explain how the project has evolved from the preliminary proposal submitted in December and outline a plan for completing the thesis. If the topic or another aspect of the proposed thesis has changed significantly, the update should elaborate.

Approval

The Graduate Committee's approval must be obtained before the candidate commences work on the thesis. The thesis proposal update must be approved (by signature or email) by the proposed supervisor(s) prior to submission to the committee.

Exam

The Master's thesis will be subject to examination under the general regulations of the School of Graduate Studies. The examination committee for the thesis will consist of (a) the Chair of Committee, (b) the Supervisor(s), and (c) at least one other faculty member, who will normally be from the department but, with the approval of the graduate chair, may be from another department at Queen’s or, in exceptional circumstances, external to Queen’s. The candidate shall email a copy of the thesis to each member of the Thesis Examining Committee, including the Chair of the Committee no later than ten working days before the tentative examination date. 

The outcome of the oral thesis examination is based on the acceptability of both the thesis and the defence of the thesis at the oral thesis examination. The possible outcomes at the end of the oral thesis examination are Passed, Referred or Failed. The Chair of the examination committee is not a voting member of the committee. In the event that the two examiners vote for two different outcome categories, the Graduate Chair will appoint a third examiner to read the thesis and cast a deciding vote within ten working days. If the Graduate Chair is also the supervisor of the student, the Department Chair will be responsible for appointing a third examiner to read the thesis and cast a deciding vote within ten working days.

Format

The format of the thesis must be in compliance with the School of Graduate Studies. Titles of theses will be listed in the Canadian Historical Association, Register of Post-Graduate Dissertations in Progress in History and Related Subjects.

All History theses are uploaded on to Q-space.

Completion of the M.A. 

The time limit for completion of the M.A. programme is five years from initial registration. Any request for extensions will be carefully reviewed by the department and the School of Graduate Studies, and M.A. students are encouraged to complete their programmes within 12-20 months from initial registration.

All incoming students are initially registered in Pattern II (Cognate). All incoming full-time students enrolled in the degree programmes must take in their first year of study six term-length seminar courses or their equivalents, plus a Master's cognate essay, recommended length 40-50 pp., maximum length 50 pp. The Pattern II M.A. is designed to be completed within twelve months from initial registration. 

Courses

All incoming full-time students enrolled in the MA degree programme must in their first year of study take six term-length graduate courses (or the equivalent in term-length courses) plus a Master's cognate essay [HIST-898]. A mandatory workshop-based research methods and professionalization course (HIST811) will be taken by all MA students. Although the workshops are spaced across both the fall and winter terms, HIST811 counts as one of these six term-length courses.

Directed Readings - History 895 or 896 ‘Directed Reading' courses are not encouraged and may make up no more than one session-length course in the student's programme. Students must have the approval of the prospective instructor of a reading course and the Graduate chair before registering for it in the summer preregistration period.  

Other Departments/Royal Military College (RMC) - One session-length (1.0) or two term-length (0.5) courses may be taken in another department or at RMC. One of the courses must be closely related to the subject of the student's cognate essay. 

Cognate essay

The Master's cognate essay (50 pages maximum) is usually the outgrowth of a term paper from one of the student's courses. It may be based on primary research, or it may be an interpretive essay based on secondary sources. The cognate essay proposal must be submitted to the Graduate Committee for approval by the end of the second term of the first academic session of M.A. study (May 15). The Graduate Committee's approval must be obtained before the candidate commences work on the essay. The cognate essay proposal must be approved (by signature or email) by the proposed supervisor(s) prior to submission to the committee.

Examination of the cognate essay

The Master's essay will not be subject to an oral defence and there will be no grade awarded. It will be read by one member of the department in addition to the essay supervisor. The format of the cognate essay must conform to the high standards expected of graduate students in order to secure approval of the supervisor and second reader. In particular, cognate essays should be typed, doubled spaced, single-sided and with reasonable margins (at least one inch), include footnotes or endnotes, and a bibliography formatted to a recognized style in the discipline, and a title page that clearly identifies the student's name, student number, title, supervisor, year of submission, and the phrase "cognate essay submitted in partial fulfillment of the degree Master's of Arts in the Department of History."

The student, supervisor, graduate chair, and second reader will select a date when the essay is to be submitted to the graduate office of the department.

In order to give adequate time for examination and revisions, the essay should be submitted at least four weeks before any deadline for completion. The supervisor and the second reader will report on the essay within 14 days of receiving it. These reports will pass, fail, or recommend minor revisions to the essay. If minor revisions are required, then the revised essay is to be resubmitted to the supervisor and second reader within 14 days of the student being informed of the assessment. Students are entitled to a copy of the second reader's report.

If major revisions are required, then a failing grade is assigned. Should the second reader and the supervisor differ on their assessment of the essay, the graduate chair will attempt to resolve the differences, but will provide compulsory arbitration of any dispute should this be necessary. The student is entitled to resubmit an essay judged to have failed within three months of being informed of the original assessment. The supervisor's permission is advisable but not compulsory to have the essay resubmitted. In addition, normal academic grievance procedures apply.

After approval of their cognate essay, candidates will provide a final electronic copy of the cognate essay to the Graduate Assistant by email (hist.grad@queensu.ca).

Switching from Pattern II to Pattern I 

Students wishing to pursue Pattern are expected to submit a change request form and prepare a preliminary proposal for the thesis by December 15 of the year the student is admitted. This proposal should be between 1-2 pages, double-spaced, and include a list of primary and secondary sources. The thesis proposal must be approved by the proposed supervisor, and then by the Graduate Committee, for the pattern change to become official. Good standing in fall term graduate courses is also required. All decisions will normally be finalized before January 14.

Completion of the M.A.

The time limit for completion of the M.A. programme is five years from initial registration. Any request for extensions will be carefully reviewed by the department and the School of Graduate Studies, and M.A. students are encouraged to complete their programmes within 12 months from initial registration. 

Master's students may select any 800-numbered course, whether these be exclusively graduate courses or joint graduate/undergraduate courses (combined). Students may include up to one session-length (1.0) directed reading course (895*, 896*, 897) with the prior approval of the prospective instructor and the Graduate Chair. 

Instructors are asked to arrange their courses so that each student will have completed by mid-October in fall-term courses and mid-February in winter-term courses sufficient written work to provide a standard upon which to judge a student’s progress. The purpose of this regulation is to assist in the writing of references and so that students have an indication of their standing to date in each course.

If course examinations are to be held they will take place in the ordinary fall or spring examination periods. Instructors are asked not to require work from students registered in their courses after these periods, because such work can be done only at the expense of the remainder of a student's programme. All Masters students must achieve a final grade of "B-" (2.7) in their primary courses in order to remain in the programme.

All graduate instructors of session-length courses (1.0) shall report to the Graduate Chair on the progress of students enrolled in their courses by the end of the first term of enrolment and at the end of the academic year. The Graduate Chair will provide a form for these reports and will make them available to the students on request. The purpose of this requirement is to enable the Graduate Committee to warn a student of unsatisfactory progress at the end of the first term. The committee may also judge it appropriate to recommend to the School of Graduate Studies that a student withdraw, if it is thought that he/she is not capable of showing improvement in the second term.

The deadline for completion of incomplete work in any graduate course is 15 August of the year following initial registration in the course. Individual exceptions can be made to this rule only on the explicit permission of the Graduate Committee following appeal by the student to the Graduate Committee. If a student has not completed all requirements for a course the year following initial registration, that student must sign a contract with his/her instructor that specifies exactly when those requirements are to be completed. A student may not register in the second or subsequent year of his/her graduate programme with an incomplete mark unless the Graduate Committee has ruled that an extension be granted.

A joint or combined course is a seminar in which both graduate and senior undergraduate students are enrolled. The orientation of joint or combined seminars should depend on the balance of enrolment. In joint courses where the graduate students constitute a majority, the primary orientation should be graduate. In combined courses where the undergraduate students constitute a majority, the primary orientation should be undergraduate. In any particular case, precise pedagogical methods remain the prerogative of the instructor. Students may take a maximum of one third of their courses as combined MA and upper year undergraduate seminars in History.

The size of graduate seminars normally should not exceed 12 students. Combined seminars should not contain more than 16 graduates and undergraduates. Enrolment in joint seminars will be limited on a sliding scale depending on the number of graduate students enrolled in the seminar. The maximum enrolment will be reduced by one for each graduate student registered in the seminar. Hence one graduate registration will reduce the total enrolment to 15; two will reduce it to 14, et seq. Four graduate student registrations reduce it to 12, and total enrolment will not be reduced further beyond that. If five graduate students register for a joint seminar, consideration will be given to de-combining the course.

Until a student has decided upon a supervisor, the Graduate Chair or his/her named deputy will oversee that student's progress. Once a student and supervisor have agreed on a supervision and the proposed thesis topic has received the approval of the Graduate Committee, that supervisor becomes the student's advisor in the department. History Department expectations regarding Student/Supervisor communication are further detailed in these guidelines.

Students intending to write a thesis in military history under the supervision of an RMC staff member will be required to have dual thesis supervision - one adviser from RMC and one adviser from the Queen's History Department. The Queen's History Department will bear the ultimate responsibility for the supervision of the thesis. Similar arrangements will be made for students wishing to have a dual supervisor at another university (e.g. under the Trent/Queen's cooperative agreement).

Thesis supervisors will report on the exact status of each thesis student they are supervising as of 1 May each year. The Graduate Chair will provide a form for this report which will ask for the current state of progress, the schedule for completion (with precise milestones), and the reason for any changes in the scheduling.

Proposed cognate essay topics shall be submitted to the Graduate Committee, in writing, for approval by May 15th.

Students must have their supervisor's approval of the topic.

The cognate essay proposal should be neither lengthy nor elaborate.

The format of proposals will differ depending on the nature of the topics, but in general they should contain, in no more than two double spaced typewritten pages, the following information:

• Significance
• Why is the topic important?
• Give a brief summary of the state of the question in the existing literature.
• What contribution do you expect to make?
• What is novel about your approach or interpretation?
• Sources
• What are the sources for the project?
• What sources will you be using that have not already been used by others?
• What problems do you expect to encounter in obtaining sources? (working bibliography to be included)
• Time
• Outline the stages of your project to completion.

Any research project involving human subjects, whether funded or not, must receive ethics approval of the General Research Ethics Board [GREB]. To determine if your project requires ethics consult either the Tri-Council Policy Statement or the Ethics Office.

The following link will guide you through the process of applying for Ethics approval: https://www.queensu.ca/vpr/ethics

Withdrawal on Academic Grounds

There are two situations which require withdrawal from the graduate programme in History:

• failure on a primary course;
• failure of the qualifying exam for the second time;
• failure of the thesis (this is covered by the published regulations of the Graduate School).

Any student who receives a grade of less than 65% in a primary course has failed that course. A student who fails a primary course will be required to withdraw from a graduate degree programme in history. (A primary course is any course prescribed for a student's approved programme of study. Only courses additional to the student's approved programme -- e.g. language courses or remedial writing courses -- are designated as secondary. For these courses a mark of less than second class may be accepted.)

When a failing mark is reported to the graduate office, the graduate chair will confirm the mark with the instructor(s), ensure that the student is aware of the procedures for appealing the grade and any academic decision that may result from it as outlined in these regulations and in those of the School of Graduate Studies, and inform the student's supervisor(s) of the situation.

Complaints and Problems

If individual students have a complaint or problem they normally discuss it in the first instance with the faculty member concerned. If they remain dissatisfied they then normally take the problem to the Graduate Chair. If they are still dissatisfied the normal procedure is then to go to the Chair of the Department.

Students with complaints or problems should always feel free to seek the advice and assistance of the student members of the Graduate Committee. It should be noted that any student is free, at any time, to take a problem or a complaint directly or to either the Graduate Chair or to the Chair of the Department.

Grievance Procedures

If a student feels that he/she has a grievance and wishes to pursue formal grievance procedures he/she should in the first instance consult the Graduate Chair and the Chair of the Department. The full "Senate Statement on Grievance, Discipline and Related Matters" is available in the Graduate Chair's office for consultation by students and faculty members. A grievance should concern procedural (non-academic) matters only and should not be confused with an appeal of an academic decision.

Graduate School rules concerning grievance and appeal of academic decisions are described in Sections 8.8 and 8.9 of the current graduate calendar. Appeals beyond the department are limited to procedural matters; the ruling of the department with respect to academic decisions is final.

Appeals of Academic Course Decisions

Procedures for appealing non-course related academic decisions are outlined in the relevant sections of these regulations and by the School of Graduate Studies. Regarding final marks in a graduate course in the department:

1. Any student wishing clarification about, or who is dissatisfied with, an assigned grade in a graduate course should first discuss the matter with the course instructor(s) to ensure everyone is aware of all the relevant facts. The instructor(s) will review the work in question in a timely fashion. This discussion should take place within 14 days of the grades being available. If the instructor(s) agree to change a grade, a change of grade form shall be processed in the usual way. Either the instructor(s) or student may request that the graduate chair play an informal mediation role.
2. If the instructor confirms the original grade, and if the student is still dissatisfied, then the student should appeal to the department chair for a formal review, stating clearly the grounds on which the grade should be raised. The appeal should be made through the graduate chair. If the department chair believes the grounds to be reasonable, then he/she shall initiate a review of the grade. The department chair, in consultation with the graduate chair, will undertake the review which may include asking an appropriate member of the department's graduate faculty to grade a clean and blinded copy of any written work which forms part of the appeal. He/she may also seek the advice of the faculty members of the department's graduate committee. The final decision will be made by the department chair.
3. If the department chair does not agree to a review of the grade, then the student has the right to formally request a review of the grade through the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies. The Dean will forward the request to the department chair, who will conduct a review of the grade.
4. The grade determined by means of the review shall be recorded as the final official grade, irrespective of whether it is identical to, or higher or lower than, the original grade. The department chair or graduate chair will inform all parties, including the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies, of the result of the review.
5. Further appeal of an assigned grade can be made only on the basis of a specific procedural error or errors made in the departmental grade review procedures. This would be done through convening the Academic Appeal Board of the School of Graduate Studies (see Step 4 through Step 5, Appeals Against Academic Decisions).

Note: These procedures for review of an assigned grade do not apply when a failing grade (FA) has been received on courses numbered 899 (Master's Thesis) or 999 (Doctoral Thesis). Appeal of a grade of Fail on a graduate thesis is appealed through the Appeal of Thesis Examination Committee Decision, under Appeals Against Academic Decisions.