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A Statement of Interest can take many forms, and that can make it hard to know exactly what a given program or committee is looking for. In general, the History Department Graduate Committee is looking for a document which includes the following:

• A brief description of your academic, professional, and personal history,
• An explanation of why you feel 黄色直播鈥檚 Department of History would be a good place for you to study,
• A proposal that outlines what you鈥檇 like your Master鈥檚 thesis to be about.

This last point should take up the majority of the space in your Statement. You have about a page to a page and a half (no more) to explain to the committee what you want to do, and show that you have the ability and motivation to do it.

When discussing your project plans, keep the following in mind:

Scope. The committee will be gauging whether your proposed project is one that can be completed within the expected 12鈥�18 month timeline of the program. It鈥檚 important not to propose a PhD-level multi-year project, or one requiring resources far beyond those available at 黄色直播.

Area of Interest. You will not be locked in to the project you propose. Many theses are very different at the end of an MA than they are when first imagined. In order to evaluate whether we have the resources to support you, however, we need to know what you want to work on. Specify your chosen time period and geographical region, at the bare minimum, and include a version of the research question you would like to pursue.

Good example: 鈥淚 would like to study writings of English women around the time of the English Civil War. The events of 1642-1651 had far-reaching political impact, and women鈥檚 correspondence and diaries could be a useful way to learn about what was happening on the domestic side.鈥�

Bad example: 鈥淚 kind of enjoy reading about the Aztecs, so doing something on them would be cool.鈥�

Background Material. It can be helpful to demonstrate familiarity with the major literature on the subject you鈥檇 like to research.

If you鈥檝e already done some work on related topics鈥攜our honours thesis, for example鈥攍et the committee know what body of scholarly knowledge you鈥檇 want to draw from, and/or what methodologies appeal to you for this project. If you know of specific primary source archives, fonds, or collections you would like to work with, indicate those as well.

Supervision. If you have already been in contact with a potential supervisor from our department, include that information in your Statement. If you have identified some faculty members you would like to work with, please include that information even if you have not yet approached them.

You can review our faculty鈥檚 profiles and their research areas here.

Citations. If you quote or refer to ideas from scholarly literature or primary sources when explaining your project idea, cite them appropriately, using in-text citations: (Name, year). You may include a short Works Cited list at the end of your Statement to fill in those references. This is a brief writeup to explain the question you鈥檇 like to tackle, however, not a research paper, so please do not include a long literature review.

Extenuating Circumstances. The Statement is also the place to explain anything that may have impacted your ability to do your best work during your earlier studies. If a hardship or other extenuating circumstance outside of your control has significantly impacted your GPA, for example, or required you to withdraw from school for a prolonged period of time, this is the place to explain that to the committee. It will help us understand your needs, and plan for any resources you might require if you were to study with us.

The Statement of Interest is our best way to evaluate whether you will be a good fit for the department. Be sure to write in clean, clear, and concise prose that does not rely too much on jargon or buzzwords. Use of generative AI in these documents is strictly forbidden, as it is in the vast majority of graduate classes. Be yourself, and express yourself in your own words.

If you have any questions about the application process, please reach out to our graduate coordinator or our graduate administrator for assistance.