Ashbrook Establishes New Online Master of Arts Program for Social Studies Teachers

The Ashbrook Center, in cooperation with Ashland University, has introduced a new fully online master’s degree program for social studies teachers: the Master of Arts with a Specialization in Teaching American History and Government (MASTAHG). MASTAHG is designed to provide secondary school teachers with the content expertise they need to develop civic and historical literacy in the next generation of American political, social, and business leaders.

Unlike typical graduate programs for teachers that focus solely on pedagogy and teaching methodologies, MASTAHG integrates the study of the best practices in teaching with a deep study of the history and government of the United States. Available as a fully online, hybrid online/on-campus, or fully on-campus program, MASTAHG combines high-quality instruction from leading scholars with a flexible format.

The MASTAHG program is an extension of the existing Master of Arts program in American History and Government (MAHG), which launched online courses in the fall of 2012. The success of the hybrid MAHG program has led to the creation of this new fully online program.

“Ashbrook’s programs are designed to provide social studies teachers with what they need to succeed in the classroom: deep, meaningful instruction about the people, places, events, and ideas that make up the American experience,” said Roger Beckett, Executive Director of the Ashbrook Center.

“At Ashbrook, we treat teachers with dignity and respect. We know they want to become better scholars of their subject, they want to become better teachers, and they want to improve what their students learn about America.”

The Ashbrook Center began an outreach to teachers of American history and government in 1989. Since then, Ashbrook has grown into one of the nation’s leading providers of content and training for teachers of American history and government, offering teachers an unmatched range of professional development resources.  These resources provide teachers with the skills and materials they need to succeed in the classroom.

Ashbrook’s fully online MASTAHG program is made possible by the success of its Live Online graduate courses. Unlike standard models of online education – correspondence courses or passive recorded lectures – Ashbrook’s online courses open up a virtual seminar room. Using the latest videoconferencing technology, participating teachers can see, hear, and interact with their professor and classmates live and in real time. Each class is capped at just 16 students, allowing everyone an opportunity to engage.

“Class meetings are discussions with an exchange of ideas. Forget the old ‘sage on the stage’ model of dry, one-way lectures. The faculty Ashbrook has assembled for our graduate courses are accomplished scholars, but more importantly, talented teachers committed to engaging their classes in conversation, rather than lecturing. In no other program will you learn from the best faculty from institutions like Pepperdine University, Boston College, the University of Dallas, Skidmore College, the United States Military Academy, Michigan State University, and more,” said Chris Pascarella, director of the Master of Arts program. “Ashbrook aspires to create a national university dedicated to the study and teaching of American history and government.”

For more information on the Ashbrook Center’s programs for teachers, please visit TeachingAmericanHistory.org, or contact Chris Pascarella at cpascarella@ashbrook.org or (419) 289-5411.

The Ashbrook Center is an independent center at Ashland University. Founded in 1983, Ashbrook offers a range of educational programs and resources for teachers and students of American history and government. These include the Ashbrook Scholar Program for undergraduate students; the teacher resource website TeachingAmericanHistory.org; MAHG; Live Online graduate courses in American History and Government; and a variety of lectures, seminars, and webinars.