Northwestern launches new M.Ed. degree and graduate certificate in teaching history

Northwestern College’s new graduate programs in teaching history are being directed by Dr. Rebecca Koerselman, associate professor of history education.

Northwestern College will begin offering two new graduate education programs in teaching history in January.

The online Master of Education (M.Ed.) in teaching history features 18 graduate credits in history and is specifically designed for current K–12 social studies and history teachers. Completion of the program will qualify educators to teach dual-credit history courses or in a community college setting. Educators will take 33 total credits for the M.Ed. degree, which can be completed in two years or less.

Teachers interested in completing the 18 graduate credits in history without earning a master’s degree can pursue the option of a graduate certificate in teaching history.

“There are very few programs that offer graduate history classes, all online, that are designed with current social studies teachers in mind,” says Dr. Rebecca Koerselman, director of Northwestern’s graduate programs in teaching history. “In addition, these classes are taught by Northwestern history and political science professors with Ph.D.s and a wealth of experience teaching history. The classes include insightful topics history teachers will enjoy taking, with content and strategies that can be applied immediately to the classes they are teaching.”

Koerselman, a 2003 Northwestern College alumna who earned a doctorate in U.S. history at Michigan State University, has taught at her alma mater since 2014. She says she is excited to work with current K-12 classroom teachers on the best ways to implement effective and active strategies of historical inquiry. “I am also excited to engage with the ideas, people, events and movements of the past with adult learners at a graduate level who can thoughtfully understand theory, historiography and the ways that historians construct narratives.”

Northwestern’s next eight-week term for graduate classes begins Jan. 11. Visit nwciowa.edu/online or contact online@nwciowa.edu for more information.