History Education
The School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies is committed to history education at the elementary, secondary, and collegiate levels. A significant number of our students are history education majors and will be future teachers in the state and elsewhere. Our goal is to prepare these future teachers by building their historical knowledge base, grounding them in historical thinking skills, and equipping them with pedagogical techniques to effectively communicate history in the classroom. We also are committed to serving history teachers in the Valley and are actively engaged in developing meaningful partnerships and collaborations with area schools, museums, archives, and public history sites in order to further history education. This project is funded in part by a generous grant from the Helios Education Foundation/William C. Jenkins History Fund.
Our projects include the Salt River Project Centennial Conversation Series Curriculum and Nature, Culture and History at the Grand Canyon.
Funding
In 2005, the Arizona State University Department of History was awarded a generous gift from the Helios Education Foundation. William C. Jenkins, a Helios Foundation founding board member, ASU graduate, Scottsdale history teacher for 25 years, retired naval officer, and former Scottsdale mayor chose to give the gift of $175,000 to his alma mater to help improve the teaching of history at the secondary level. Beginning in the fall of 2005, the Department of History began to use the funds to educate students in the History Methods courses.
In 2008 the Helios Education Foundation gave an additional $1 million dollars to the Department of History. This money will provide permanent funding for the William C. Jenkins – Helios Education Foundation History Teaching Fellowship, and a mentoring program for history teachers in Arizona. For more information on this gift, please read the article from ASU. For more information on the fellowship, click here.
Teachers may design a degree program that meets their needs as a history educator through the Applied Project Option.
Teacher Proposal for Funding
Teachers can submit a proposal for funding to support the teaching of historical content and historical thinking skills, in accordance with recent scholarship in the teaching and learning of history. Click here for the proposal. For questions regarding the proposal please contact Erin Craft.
Helios Education Foundation
Teaching Fellowship
The William C. Jenkins - Helios Education Foundation History Teaching Fellowship is available for graduate students who currently teach or persons who hold a teaching certificate and are preparing to teach history in Arizona schools.
- The number of awards and the amount of each award may vary on an annual basis.
- The fellowship is renewable for up to three years.
- An application is required for renewal of the fellowship each year.
Why MA in History for Teachers?
Build your historical knowledge base in North American, World, Europe, Asia, and Latin America, as well topical areas such as Western, Women’s, Urban, Slavic, Political and Public History. Learn from nationally respected historians from a top research institution.
Enrich and invigorate your teaching of history with
- Advanced historical content
- Historical thinking skills
- Content and skills in line with the Common Core standards and AP curriculum
- History MA now available 100% online
Develop meaningful partnerships and collaborations with
- ASU history faculty that are affiliated with a wide range of units across the university
- Centers in the School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies, including the Melikian Center for Russian, Eurasian, and East European Studies, the Center for Jewish Studies, the Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict and the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies
Design a degree program that meets your needs as a history educator through the Thesis Equivalent Option, the Applied Project. Your applied project could be designed for classroom use or for the professional development of other history educators.
Fellowship Criteria
Fellowships are for graduate students enrolled in Masters of Arts Degree in History at the School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies at the ASU Tempe Campus.
- Students may be enrolled on a part-time or full-time basis. Classes will accommodate high school teachers’ schedules.
- Fellowships are for graduate students who hold a teaching certificate.
- Preference will be given to applicants with a current Arizona connection. Examples include applicants who teach in Arizona, or those who have graduated from an Arizona high school, college, or university and also express a desire to teach in Arizona.
- Applicants must exhibit a significant appreciation for history and a passion for teaching. The committee will consider applicants’ past performance and future promise.
- The selection committee, when comparing potential recipients, shall consider financial need.
MA in History Application Process
All William C. Jenkins – Helios Education Foundation History Teaching Fellowship applicants must submit the required application materials to the ASU Graduate College. The required application materials and deadlines can be found under admission requirements for the History MA.
Fellowship Application Process
In addition, all Fellowship applicants must submit the following materials to the selection committee:
- Two letters of recommendation (at least one should be a university/college faculty member who can evaluate applicant’s academic performance; another should be an educator who can evaluate the applicant’s ability to teach history).
- A written statement (500 words) about your educational and career goals
- All fellowship application materials should be submitted here by May 2
- If you have questions, please reach out to Becky.Tsang@asu.edu.
Current Fellows
- Emma Gould
- Bobbi Doherty
- Briana Turner
- William James
- Eric Walker
- Jennifer Hepworth
Resources
Arizona Department of Education K-12 Academic Standards
Arizona State Professional Organizations
- Arizona Council for History Education
- Arizona Council for the Social Studies
- Arizona Foundation for Legal Services and Education
- Arizona Geographic Alliance
- Arizona Humanities Council
National Professional Organizations
- American Historical Association
- Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
- National Council for History Education
- National Council for the Social Studies
- National Middle School Association
- Organization of American Historians
- Society for History Education
Summer Institutes and Workshops for Teachers
- Japanese American National Museum
- National Archives Teacher Workshops and Summer Institute
- National Archives Presidential Libraries
- NEH Summer Programs in the Humanities for School and College Educators
- The History Teacher.org
Miscellaneous Professional Development Information
- American Historical Association, "Resources for Teachers at All Levels"
- Arizona Teacher Certification
- Peter Stearns, et al., "Benchmarks for Professional Development in Teaching of History as a Discipline," American Historical Association
- DOCS Teach: The National Archives Experience
- The Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy (Yale Law School)
- EdTechTeacher: Best of History Websites
- Social Studies Listserv
- H-Net High School Social Studies Education
- To subscribe to this discussion list, visit this website and click on "Subscribe." Then select H-High-S and register.
- H-Net High School Social Studies Education