Study online for a master's degree in history.
With a master's degree in history, students can find work as historians, which include archivists, researchers, writers and teachers. Historians sift through interviews, periodicals, government records, daily journals and photographs to study the past, according to Education-Portal. An online master's degree program in this field teaches students distill this research into balanced analyses. Employment of social scientists, which include historians, is projected to increase by 22 percent through 2018. Median annual wages of historians in May 2008 were $54,530, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. There are several steps involved in earning a master's degree in history online.
Instructions
1. Complete a bachelor's degree program, which is required to get into a master's degree program in history online. The bachelor's degree program major can be flexible, but focus your attention on liberal arts and history courses. If you don't take a certain number of undergraduate credit hours in these subject areas, as required by the desired master's degree program, expect to take additional pre-requisite courses before enrolling in the online graduate program.
2. Take the Graduate Record Exam, which is required to enter an online master's degree program in history. Minimum grade point average and Graduate Record Exam score requirements vary by school. Master's programs can last two to three years and usually include 36 hours of coursework, according to Western Kentucky University. Once accepted into a program, make sure you have access to a computer with high-speed Internet and current media capabilities to view lectures and assignments, as well as to send tests and papers to instructors. Check with the online institution before you begin to ensure you have the software and hardware needed to complete the program. Also, ask the school about gaining access to its library resources online, and check to see if there is a delivery service for materials not available online.
3. Choose your online master's degree program in history concentration. The field of history is wide-ranging, so historians usually concentrate on a few subject areas such as time periods, regions or events. You might want to focus on American history, world history, European history or ancient history, for example. You also can consider studies in the influence of religions, the growth of technology, or military history. If you're interested in presenting the results of your studies to the public or in archiving historical artifacts, consider a concentration in public history.
4. Take and pass a variety of online courses in subjects pertaining to your concentration. Plan to also take courses research methodologies and digital preservation.
5. Complete your master's degree program in history online thesis, if your school requires this or if you choose this option. Research an area of interest to you. You will have to write and defend the master's thesis.
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