The History Department encourages us to present our research at local, regional, and national conferences and there are lots of opportunities each year to share our research with the community of scholars. The MA program makes travel funds available to help us with the expenses; funds are usually limited to those presenting papers.
If you are presenting at a conference, submit a budget to the Director of Graduate Studies before you travel. The award doesn’t usually cover all the expenses but they definitely help get us out of Blacksburg.
In the budget include when, where, and to whom you are presenting, and include registration fee, travel, lodging, and meals. To make up your budget, use the official state reimbursement rates.
The university’s Graduate Student Association also offers assistance to students giving conference presentations.
As graduate students we often have to travel to libraries and archives to complete our MA research projects. In past years, MA students have had to go to the National Archives, the Social Welfare History Archives, the Truman Library, and the Country Music Hall of Fame, just to name a few. We’ve also traveled to libraries like those at New York University, the University of North Carolina, and Carnegie Mellon to consult manuscript collections not available in digital form.
The program offers summer research grants to help us get there. We apply at the end of our second (spring) semester for funds to use during the summer and early fall, the time when most of us complete the bulk of our primary research. We usually submit the application as part of our Research Methods class.
The form for Summer Research Funding is on the “Resources” page under “Current Students.” And more information about these funds is in the “Guidelines for Completing the MA Research Requirements.”
Virginia Tech History Master's Program 