We offer a Master of American History and Government program that is content-based. The courses are only offered during the summer so as to accommodate the population which this program is geared towards: teachers. Each course is one week long and is offered for two semester hours. The courses begin on Sunday afternoon and conclude on Friday afternoon.
By transferring eight hours from other universities and completing the thesis/capstone project during the academic year, the degree can be completed with three summers at Ashland. Students may take up to ten years to complete the program.
One advantage of offering courses only in the summer is that full-time faculty from other universities—not junior faculty, but noted scholars from colleges and universities nationwide—will be able to teach in this graduate program. Almost all of the courses in the program are taught by two faculty, and both instructors are present during the entire course.
The courses in this program emphasize a specific instructional strategy: the use of original documents. In every class, students read and study these documents, including diaries, state papers, speeches, and letters, as well as autobiographies and works of literature and philosophy. These are materials from which we build historical understanding. Confronting them directly is the best way to improve our understanding.
For more information and to apply to the Master of American History and Government program, please go to: mahg.ashland.edu.