JAIMIE FRANKLIN
News Assistant
A department meeting Tuesday determined that Pepperdine’s history graduate program will not continue in the fall due to low student enrollment, according to Maire Mullins, Humanities division chair. However, students currently enrolled in the program will be able to complete their degrees.
The program offered graduate students a Master of Arts in History, with a concentration on either United States or global and European history. Students also had the option to complete a thesis program.
According to Judith Tapper, coordinator of communication graduate programs and a current student in the history program, the number of applicants has declined in recent years and the program is no longer cost-effective for the university. Tapper estimated there are six or seven students enrolled at various stages in the program.
Tapper said offering an accelerated masters program in history that allowed undergraduate history majors to receive a masters degree with an additional year of course work, similar to what is offered in the communications division, may have helped save the program by retaining more Seaver students. She did not believe that the idea was ever discussed.
However, Mullins said low enrollment could be explained by the fact that most universities are moving towards doctorate programs in history and that masters programs are fairly uncommon.
Mullins also said that the cancellation of the history program may encourage prospective students to apply to the newly created Screen and Television Writing program and American Studies program, which is designed accredit potential high school humanities teachers.
Overall, Tapper expressed disappointment with the cancellation of the program, which she feels to be competitive with programs at UCLA and the University of Southern California despite its small size.
“My experience has been excellent, and I feel like there are a number of quality faculty members that I have been honored to have classes with,” Tapper said. “The rigor of the program has been the equal of anything I could have gotten elsewhere.”
Several classes in the program have been instructed by Dean David Baird and other notable faculty members.
“I think it’s very sad because part of what makes Seaver College vibrant is its graduate programs,” Tapper said. “It steps up the academics a notch and it requires that faculty have a whole different level of understanding with the graduate students. I think it really adds something to the community.”
04-10-2008