MA in History
Table of Contents
Why History at WWU?
The History MA offers students an opportunity to deepen their understanding of historical methods and to produce an original work of scholarship. In addition to seminars, graduate students work under faculty advisors to pursue a thesis topic of their choice. The MA thesis is filed with the library and in an online database available to researchers from around the world. Masters' students therefore can make a real contribution to historical knowledge, and their work can and will be used by scholars.
In short, the MA in History allows you to make an impact on how professional historians understand the past.
Discover Faculty Research Topics
Find a professor who shares your research interests and contact them!
Email is the preferred form of communication for all our professors. Email format for is firstname.lastname@wwu.edu. If a professor has a hyphenated last name, only the first last name is used.
Careers with an MA
Careers with an MA
Some MA students wish to become historians, but many do not. The MA History teaches the kinds of research, thinking, and writing skills that employers want most. It is thus good preparation for a variety of careers.
The History MA prepares students to: 1) enter doctoral programs or pursue other advanced academic training in history; 2) teach at the secondary or community-college level, and 3) assume positions as researchers, writers, teachers and curators in a variety of businesses, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies.
Our graduates have entered the top doctoral programs in the country and become tenured professors. They have worked as archivists and historians in museums ranging from local historical societies to the Library of Congress. They have entered the business world and thrived at such places as Facebook. They have become teachers, lawyers, and entrepreneurs. For a taste of the different ways that an MA History can prepare you for a career, read our Alumni Stories.
For more information, visit our Career Resources Page.
My degree laid a foundation for my love of research...A whole world of data science has opened up, and I have jumped in with both feet using the foundation built within my history classes at Western.
Becky Richardson
History BA (1996) and History MA (1998)
Program Learning Outcomes
Students will demonstrate the ability to
- Describe and evaluate a variety of methods of historical analysis
- Identify a set of relevant primary sources for historical evidence on a particular project
- Identify and evaluate arguments by different scholars in different fields of research
- Develop a historical question for a particular project
- Complete an original work of scholarship in the form of a master’s thesis
- Articulate ideas in oral presentations