HGSA

History Graduate Student Association

We Are Virginia Tech

As students of Virginia Tech’s History Master’s program, we are historians-in-training from across the country. We come to Blacksburg, Virginia with a broad range of experiences and skills and from a wide variety of backgrounds. Our decision to pursue rigorous scholarship and a career in history unites us both on campus and beyond.

Why We Are Hereunnamed (1)

This two-year MA program offers the option to design a program with our career goals in mind.

  • Public History: If we are interested in public history, we add a graduate certificate in public history to our MA degree.
  • Stepping Stone to a Professional Degree: Some of us see our History MA as a  springboard to a PhD program, a law degree, or library science program.

What it Means to be One of Us

As students, we actively engage with history on a daily basis in our classes and through the following roles:

  • As researchers: Writing an original research article or thesis is the gateway to graduation. We are all researchers and writers who work collaboratively and independently to interpret the past in new and innovative ways that push the discipline of history further.
  • As graduate assistants: Most of us entered graduate school fully-funded with graduate assistantships. We work closely with faculty members as teaching assistants for undergraduate classes and as research assistants on new projects. Many of us also have the unique chance to serve as editors of the Virginia Tech Undergraduate History Review and as archival assistants in the library’s Special Collections and University Archives.
  • As interns: If public history is our passion, we pursue internships as part of our requirements for the Public History Certificate program.

Recent Posts

Alumni Interview with Heath Furrow

by bethanypstewart, posted in Alum Interview

Q: After graduating from Virginia Tech’s M.A. program, what have you done professionally? Shortly after completing my M.A. in History I was hired on as the History Department’s Academic Advisor and Administrative Assistant. My duties included both assisting students in navigating the curriculum of the History Major and life at Virginia Tech, as well as … Continue reading Alumni Interview with Heath Furrow

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