The history graduate program provides students with cutting-edge training in historical and historiographical knowledge and professional debates. Our curriculum emphasizes the inevitable connections between the local and the global through small seminars and close faculty guidance of student scholarship. Our strengths in the U.S. West and Borderlands are complemented by expertise in theoretical and thematic fields such as gender, environment, and race.
The Master of Arts in History prepares students for careers in academia as well as the public and private sectors. Many of our students have continued for the PhD and now serve on university faculties across the country. Others have pursued careers as foundation or government historians. Still others have used their degree to excel as public historians, including museum curators and cultural interpretation specialists at historic sites and parks.
To receive a master’s degree at Northern Arizona University, you must complete a planned group of courses from one or more subject areas, consisting of at least 30 units of graduate-level courses. Many master’s degree programs require more than 30 units.
You must additionally complete:
Read the full policy here.
In addition to University Requirements:
| Minimum Units for Completion | 36 |
| Additional Admission Requirements | Individual program admission requirements over and above admission to NAU are required. |
| Fieldwork Experience/Internship | Optional |
| Thesis | Thesis may be required by chosen emphasis or offered as an option. |
| Comprehensive Exam | Comprehensive Exam may be required by chosen emphasis or offered as an option. |
| Oral Defense | Oral Defense may be required by chosen emphasis or offered as an option. |
| Foreign Language | A foreign language may be required by chosen emphasis or offered as an option. |
| Research | Individualized research may be required by chosen emphasis or offered as an option. |
| Progression Plan Link | View Program of Study |
| Accelerated Undergraduate/Graduate Plan | Optional |
Purpose Statement
Located on the beautiful Colorado Plateau, our focus begins by understanding the relationship between this area and the history of the larger U.S. West and the thematic areas of Borderlands, Environment, and Indigeneity as well as broader connections of race, class, gender, and colonialism across the Americas and the world. Small seminars and close faculty-student mentorship ensure that students recognize the connections between local and global historical processes. Students also benefit from access to NAU’s Cline Library Special Collections, which offers unique research materials that document the diverse human and natural history of the Colorado Plateau and Northern Arizona, and Flagstaff is within driving distance to major research collections in Phoenix, Tucson, Las Vegas, and Albuquerque.
The history MA provides students with knowledge and skills that prepare them for diverse careers in historical interpretation, including academia, public history and cultural management, K-12 education, public administration, pre-law, and library science. There are three main paths – or tracks – to obtaining the degree. The research “track” prepares students for academia with close faculty mentorship of an extended, independent research project that culminates in a thesis. The extended coursework track allows students to deepen their content knowledge and hone their critical thinking and research skills for a wide variety of careers in the nonprofit and private sector; it is particularly popular with pre-service and in-service teachers who become qualified to teach dual-enrollment courses in high school. The public history track trains students for careers in historical and cultural interpretation and management through internships with the National Park Service, the Arizona Historical Society, Arizona State Parks, the Museum of Northern Arizona, and Lowell Observatory, among other institutions.
Whatever their career goals, all MA graduate students learn the key theories, methods, and debates of the historical discipline; learn how to evaluate historical arguments within a field of study; develop their research skills through collecting, analyzing, and interpreting primary and secondary sources; and learn how to craft well-supported historical narratives and arguments. Students on the public history track further learn the methods and ethics of gathering, preserving, and disseminating historical knowledge in public settings.
We are a student-centered program designed to start careers in a variety of professions. Regardless of student emphasis, all three tracks are designed to nurture close student-faculty relationships. Most full-time graduate students receive some type of departmental funding and are eligible for competitive teaching assistantships and department research grants for travel, research, and conferences. Students planning to teach for two years after obtaining the MA may be eligible for the Arizona Teachers Academy, which offers scholarships to cover fees and tuition. Our accelerated 4+1 program allows top-performing NAU undergraduates to enter the MA program in their junior year and complete a BA and MA in five years.
Student Learning Outcomes
Core History Learning Outcomes
The NAU graduate online application is required for all programs. Admission to many graduate programs is on a competitive basis, and programs may have higher standards than those established by the Office of Graduate and Professional Studies.
Admission requirements include the following:
Visit the NAU Graduate Admissions website for additional information about graduate school application deadlines, eligibility for study, and admissions policies.
Ready to apply? Begin your application now.
International applicants have additional admission requirements. Please see the International Graduate Admissions Policy.
Individual program admission requirements over and above admission to NAU are required.
This Master's degree requires 36 units distributed as follows:
Select one of the following tracks (36 units):
Thesis Track (36 units)
Students must have an approved thesis prospectus or public history project prospectus by the end of their third semester or will be diverted to the Portfolio Track with Public History or the Portfolio Track without Public History Track.
Depending on your research interest, your committee may require you to demonstrate competence in a foreign language before you register for thesis units.
Public History Project Track (36 units)
With Public History (36 units)
Without Public History (36 units)
You must pass the required portfolio assessment.
This program is available as an Accelerated Undergraduate/Graduate Plan wherein a student may start a master's degree while simultaneously completing their bachelor's degree.
Students enrolled at the Flagstaff campus for both undergraduate and graduate programs are eligible to complete the Bachelor of Arts in History and start a Master of Arts in History - Portfolio Track at NAU.
OR
Students enrolled at the Flagstaff campus for both undergraduate and graduate programs are eligible to complete the Bachelor of Science in History and start a Master of Arts in History - Portfolio Track at NAU.
OR
Students enrolled at the Flagstaff campus for both undergraduate and graduate programs are eligible to complete the Bachelor of Science in Education in Secondary Education - History and Social Studies and start a Master of Arts in History - Portfolio Track at NAU.
Students accepted into the Accelerated Program should complete the following requirements:
Master's Requirements
This Master's degree requires 36 units distributed as follows:
Portfolio Track With Public History (36 units)
Students selecting a coursework (track) option must complete 24 units of formal letter-graded coursework.
Portfolio Track Without Public History (36 units)
Be aware that some courses may have prerequisites that you must also successfully complete. For prerequisite information, click on the course or see your advisor.