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MA History
Duration: 2 years (four semesters) Total
credits: 64
Medium of instruction:
English Number of seats:
35
Eligibility: Bachelor’s degree with 45% marks (or an equivalent
grade) from a recognized University. Relaxation of 5% marks
for candidates belonging to SC/ST and PD categories.
Reservation of seats:
In accordance with Government of NCT of Delhi rules.
The
purpose of the Masters Programme in History is two-fold.
First, it seeks to impart knowledge of historical phenomena
and processes. Second, it tries to transmit skills of
historical analysis and encourage the historical
imagination. Students are expected to learn the historian’s
craft, to acquire competence in independently formulating
ideas and judgments on the basis of historical data and
through logical procedures of enquiry. The Programme also
teaches students to think about historical issues in an
interdisciplinary manner and seeks to encourage a spirit of
critical thinking about contemporary social questions. Not
all graduates of the Programme are likely to pursue careers
as academic historians and teachers. However, the tools of
historical scholarship combined with a spirit of critical
engagement shall serve Programme graduates well in such
careers as journalism, publishing, educational
administration, museology/archival management, heritage
management, government service, and many others.
Proposed Programme Structure
The Programme requires students to complete courses
amounting to at least 64 credits over four semesters.
Most courses are identified as 4-credit courses; each of
these entails nominally 56 - 64 hours of classroom teaching
per semester. All courses are of the length of a semester, 14
to 16 weeks. A ‘taught’ course or independent study course
may be turned into a 6 credit course under circumstances
explained in the section on evaluation and assessment. A
few 2 credit courses may also be offered.
Sixteen credits are devoted to four core courses,
which are compulsory and common for all students. The
remaining courses are elective in nature. MA History
students must complete between 4 and 8 credits of courses
offered through other MA Programmes of the University,
whether in the School of Liberal Studies or in other Schools
of the University.
Students must complete at least 28 credits of elective
courses in one ‘major’ specialization area.
Students must complete at least 12 credits of elective
courses in another ‘minor’ specialization area.
There are presently two specialization areas, the History
of South Asia and Comparative History.
Students must identify, by the commencement of the third
Programme semester, one of these areas as their major
specialization area and the other as their minor
specialization area.
They may experiment with courses in both of these areas
until declaring their major and minor areas, and they may
enrol in courses in any specialization area in any Programme semester.
The South Asian History specialization
area is unified with respect to its geographical
dimension. The ‘Comparative’ History specialization area
is not defined by any particular geographical area, period
or set of historical issues. Many courses in this area are
thematic and do not centre on India. They represent a
variety of national, regional, global and generic histories,
and historical methods, and they are designed to acquaint
students with the eclectic nature of historical research
while encouraging them to reflect upon connections between
‘Indian history’ and other fields of history.
The credit requirements of the Programme are given below.
A student’s normal credit load in each semester is 16
credits. With permission, a student may ‘over-enrol’ in one
or more semesters for a total of 66 or 68 Programme credits.
·Compulsory common Core courses
(16 credits)
·Elective ‘Major’ specialization area courses
(28 to 36 credits)
·Elective ‘Minor’ specialization area courses (12 to
24) credits)
·Elective Courses from other areas of study
(4 or 8 credits)
1.In
the case of ‘Major’ specialization area courses at least 24
of these credits must be earned through regularly taught
courses. See the section on ‘Research’ below regarding the
‘research essay’ requirement.
Core Courses
The following four core courses are offered in
successive semesters and students must (normally) complete
them in the sequence in which they are offered.
1.
Problems of Historical Analysis
This course focuses on key issues, questions and problems
involved in historical research and writing. It reviews
various historiographical traditions and formulations of
historical method, giving special attention to the
development of historical science during the nineteenth and
twentieth centuries. The course familiarizes students with
seminal ideas of modern philosophy that have influenced the
development of the social sciences in general and history in
particular.
2.
Emergence of Modern World
This course defines what is meant by modern world and
indicates how the distinctively modern world was constituted
over the last three centuries. It systematically explores
processes (and human interactions) through which the modern
world was made and examines its essential features,
highlighting its divergences from the pre-modern world.
3.The State in Indian History
This course transits the ‘ancient’, ‘medieval’ and ‘modern’
periods of Indian history, concentrating on the important
political institution called the State. Students examine
the processes of State formation, ideas and institutions of
the State, and the different types of State-systems that
have emerged in India down to the present time.
4.Power, Culture and Marginality in India
This course familiarizes students with the key concepts of
power, culture and marginality, showing how they relate to
major historical processes and structures in India. The
course explores power not only as exercised through
‘political’ authority structures but as dispersed through
social practices and culture; it examines dynamics of
marginality, inequality and hierarchy, showing how these are
expressed historically in relation to caste, gender, class
and ethnicity. Formations of ‘religious identity’ are also
examined. Although the course focuses on India, it takes a
comparative approach in exploring experiences across
societies and in featuring examples and cases relevant to
parts of the world other than India.
Elective Courses
Elective courses shall be offered in such quantity and
variety that students would be able to choose at least two
courses in their major specialization area and one or two
courses in their minor area in each semester of the
Programme. Some courses shall be offered more frequently
than others. Courses will be added to the lists below
according to the availability and interests of faculty
(including visiting and guest faculty) and in response to
the expressed needs of the students. Although there is a
high probability of most of these courses being offered, the
lists are suggestive rather than definitive. Many courses
not listed here are being contemplated. Note that these
lists do not indicate which courses will be offered in each
semester or in what order. This information shall be made
available before the commencement of each semester.
The South Asian History specialization area
presently consists of the following courses.
· Economic History of Modern India
· The Indian Nationalist Movement
· Partitions in South Asia
· Tribals, Peasants and the Workers in Modern India
· Aspects of the Environmental History of South Asia
·
Urbanization in South Asia
· History of Science and Technology in Modern India
· The Making of Modern Punjab
· Devotion, Diversity and Dissent in Medieval India
· History of Education in India
· India’s Engagement with Modernity during the Nineteenth and
Twentieth Centuries
· Literature and Society in Modern India
·
Village in Indian History
·
Religious Practices and Traditions in South Asia
· [Various courses focusing on regional and sub-regional
identities and on ‘frontiers’ and ‘boundaries’ in South Asia
shall be offered.]
The Comparative History specialization area presently
consists of the following courses.
o Introduction to Environmental History
o Migrations and Diasporas in History
o
From Colonialism to National Independence in the Caribbean
o
The British Empire, 1600-1970: Experiences, Institutions,
Adaptations
o
India and China in the Twentieth Century
o
Explorations in Intellectual and Cultural History
o
Nations and Nationalisms
o
Aspects of Gender in History
o Industrial Society in Historical Context
o History and the Archives
Courses from Other Areas of Study
Ambedkar University, Delhi is committed to interdisciplinary
learning. Its faculty recognizes the intellectual
enrichment that students experience when they are exposed to
more than one knowledge area. No intellectual discipline is
isolated and self-sufficient and stasis occurs when a
discipline attempts to close itself off from others.
History students encounter ideas, concepts and theories that
have either been generated from within other knowledge areas
or have interdisciplinary implications and applications.
MA History students are encouraged to deepen their
familiarity with other fields of knowledge by formally
completing 4-8 credits of courses from other areas of study.
These courses may be part of curricula of other MA
Programmes at AUD. After consultation with a faculty
advisor, MA History students may enrol in courses in
language and literature, gender studies, economics, and
environmental studies, among other Programmes. Students
shall generally be counselled to enrol in such courses after
the first Programme semester.
Assessment/Evaluation and Responsibilities of the Students
Courses shall be transacted through classroom teaching,
teacher-guided discussions, tutorial writing and oral
presentations made by the students. The medium of
instruction is English. Students shall be evaluated on
the basis of tutorials, written and oral assignments and
participation in discussions, ‘mid-term’ examinations,
term-end examinations and research essays (see below). AUD
is committed to pedagogy of continuous assessment; this
means that students will obtain grades across the teaching
semester by completing a variety of exercises or
assessments, and no single exercise shall account for more
than 40% of the total assessment, the only exception being
the courses based on the production of research essays.
Students will not be able to perform at the required level
and complete the Programme simply by attending classes and
‘clearing’ an end-term examination. Failed courses may
be repeated or another course fulfilling the same
Programme requirements as the failed course (and with the
same credit weightage) may be opted for. On other matters,
the general policy framework of the University is applicable
to the admission and academic requirements of MA History
students.
Research
During the third and fourth Programme semesters, all MA
History students are required to complete two major
‘research assignments’ on topics of their choice, for which
they shall be awarded course grades and credits amounting to
six (6) credits each.
While there is no thesis requirement, as such, the 6-credit
enriched courses are designed to engage students in
extensive and intensive review of historical literature
(i.e., secondary sources) and/or conducting research with
historical data and primary documents/source materials.
Whereas a student’s credit load during the first and second
Programme semesters shall usually consist of four, 4-credit
courses, during the third or fourth semesters he/she may
carry a credit load of 6 – 6 - 4: that is, two ‘research
paper courses’ (each of six credits) and a single ‘regularly
taught’ course (four credits). The research paper courses
shall usually involve less direct or less regular contact
with faculty members and shall require the student to do
‘independent research’. The research paper in each case is
expected to be 5,000 – 8,000 words in length, including
notes and bibliography. The research papers may involve use
of non-English language sources as well as sources in
English, conducting oral interviews or utilizing other
non-written sources. In the case of these research courses,
the assignments shall be evaluated by a faculty member
(‘supervisor’) or a group of faculty members. Research
essay courses shall be counted in fulfilment of the
specialization area requirements outlined above. Students
may complete both research papers for their major
specialization or one each in the major and minor
areas. Students shall receive guidance in the modalities of
completing the research papers.
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