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Bachelor of Arts / Master of Arts in Teaching
History / Teaching Social Studies: Transformational Teaching
Dual Degree, Initial Certification

Open to NYU College of Arts and Science (CAS) students, this dual-degree program allows you to complete your BA in History and MAT in Teaching Social Studies in only 5 years, making you eligible for New York State teaching certification for grades 7–12. You will start your work toward your master's degree as an undergraduate, taking content courses in history and acquiring valuable teaching experiences.

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Degree Details

Official Degree Title

Bachelor of Arts in History and Master of Arts in Teaching in Transformational Teaching in Middle & High Schools (Social Studies 7–12), Initial Certification

Licensure or Certification
Format
Full-time or Part-time
Credits
146
128 for BA, 30 for MA, 12 double-counted
Start Date
Fall
Application Deadline

Like New York State’s social studies curriculum, our program is history-centered. Your graduate studies will begin with course work designed to ensure that you have a strong mastery of history, as well as an understanding that history is more than a compilation of names and dates but is also a field that fosters critical thought, debate, and dialogue between the present and the past. With that foundation, you’ll learn:

  • Teaching approaches, pedagogical theories, and practical strategies for teaching middle and high school students
  • How to develop and implement innovative curricula for teaching social studies in multicultural, multiethnic urban schools
  • An interdisciplinary approach to teaching social studies: how to integrate historical narrative with novels, film, music, photography, and visual arts, and incorporate geography, economics, political science, psychology, sociology, and anthropology into your teaching

Extensive Field Experience

You will complete 100 hours of school-based fieldwork prior to student teaching, enabling you to become familiar with urban educational environments and develop classroom strategies that are innovative and appropriate for teaching today's students. You will complete a portion of the fieldwork during your junior or senior year.

The pivotal field experience of the degree consists of two semesters of student teaching, one at the middle and one at the high school level. As a student teacher, you will be mentored by the cooperating teacher and NYU field supervisors, and gain increasing responsibility for teaching in a New York City public school.

Upon graduation, you’ll be eligible for certification to teach social studies, history, and the humanities for grades 7–12 in New York. You’ll be prepared for a career as a social studies teacher, teacher trainer, or curriculum specialist in middle and high schools, educational agencies, and community colleges.

Learn more about teacher certification and our degree's accreditation.

CAS students majoring in history are eligible for this dual degree. You’ll complete some credits for the MAT while you are still an undergraduate; you must earn a B or better in all Steinhardt courses in order for these to be applied to the MAT. You must also complete all requirements of your major as well as CAS requirements prior to matriculating at Steinhardt.

In addition to your history major requirements, the MAT in Social Studies Education requires that you take two additional social studies content courses before the end of your senior year: one course in economics and one course in government. 

Visit the CAS BA/MAT website for more information.

Questions 

If you have any additional questions about our degree, please feel free to contact please feel free to contact Diana Turk, Program Director, at diana.turk@nyu.edu.