Explore online master’s degrees in humanities

Choose a humanities master’s by the questions and forms of work you want to develop. Historical inquiry, English studies and interdisciplinary liberal studies can all involve close reading and sustained writing, but their methods, evidence and final projects differ.

Start with a question you would enjoy revising over several months. You might want to explain how a public memory changed, interpret a body of writing, or investigate a cultural issue through more than one discipline. Then identify what a strong answer would require: primary sources, a theoretical framework, a particular language, a creative artifact or a carefully argued research paper.

Explore three humanities routes

• History: interpretation grounded in sources and context
• English: language, literature and the analysis of expression
• Liberal studies: an approved interdisciplinary question

History: learn to justify an account of the past

A history route should be investigated for the methods behind a historical argument, not only for exposure to an interesting period. Ask how students evaluate sources, engage with previous interpretations and explain the limits of what survives. The work can be demanding even when the topic is familiar: a persuasive account needs evidence, context and a defensible interpretation.

Arizona State’s MA in History offers a concrete online example. Its 30-credit program includes historical and research methods, and online students complete the capstone rather than the thesis or applied-project alternatives listed for other formats. The admission page permits degrees in any field while requiring writing evidence and the other application materials. A different undergraduate major therefore need not settle the decision, but the quality of your preparation and writing still matters.

Ask whether the sources needed for your intended work are accessible remotely and legally. A digitized collection may omit records or provide limited reproductions. Language ability, travel, copying charges or permission to use images could change the project. Start with a feasible research question and a backup source base, rather than assuming that a preferred archive will be available whenever an assignment is due.

English: distinguish scholarly interpretation from a writing credential

English studies can involve literature, rhetoric, linguistics and the contexts in which texts are produced and read. Compare those activities with your actual goal. Wanting to write a novel, analyze language, teach a specific course or improve organizational communication creates different curriculum questions. A degree title alone does not show how much creative practice, theoretical analysis or pedagogy the program requires.

The ASU Online MA in English is a 30-credit example spanning literary and rhetorical analysis, language, writing and related English studies, culminating in a public-facing capstone. Read that structure as a particular MA, not as a substitute description for every English degree or a Master of Fine Arts. Review sample assignments and feedback arrangements to see whether the actual work develops the capability you want.

For preparation, inventory the analytical writing you can already do. Can you sustain an argument, explain a source’s significance and revise in response to criticism? Ask which materials best demonstrate that readiness and whether there are subject-specific expectations. A published piece or workplace writing sample may need a different kind of analysis before it serves an academic application.

Liberal studies: create coherence across disciplines

An interdisciplinary route is worth investigating when one disciplinary lens would leave an important part of your question unanswered. The challenge is coherence: combining unrelated electives is different from using several methods to examine a defined problem. Ask how advising, core seminars and the final project connect the parts of the plan.

Indiana University’s online Master of Liberal Studies combines humanities, social-science and natural-science perspectives with a capstone. Its page lists a bachelor’s degree and a 3.0 GPA for entry, and describes several possible capstone forms. Check the approved option and requirements with the hosting campus before designing the project. A creative or applied outcome still needs the supporting scholarly work required by that route.

Read the full award name when comparing programs. Here, MLS means Master of Liberal Studies; legal-studies programs also use that abbreviation for a different degree. Compare methods, required work and entry conditions rather than relying on initials. If your goal is a later research degree, ask the receiving department how it evaluates an interdisciplinary background.

A worked example: interpreting a local memorial

Suppose a hypothetical learner wants to investigate a local memorial. A history project could examine the circumstances of its creation and changes in its public interpretation. An English-studies project could analyze the language and rhetoric used to describe it. A liberal-studies project could combine historical evidence with another disciplinary method under an approved question. The same object can support different projects; choose the route that teaches the method you need, rather than the one whose title sounds broadest.

Plan for the actual reading and writing process

• Ask how seminars, discussions, peer responses and supervision are scheduled, including time zones and participation expectations.
• Check access to journals, books, archives, language resources and accessible document formats before choosing a project.
• Allow time for research, drafting, feedback and substantial revision; an online course can still have fixed stages and collaborative deadlines.
• Compare tuition and mandatory fees for the approved route, then add books, permissions, travel or other project-specific expenses where applicable.

If teaching is your goal, confirm the employer’s and relevant authority’s exact qualifications. An academic master’s does not by itself settle teacher certification or eligibility to teach every college subject. If the goal is a specific portfolio or professional task, a focused course, certificate or supervised project may be an appropriate comparison.

Compare neighboring professional subjects

Library science can be relevant when the central task is organizing, preserving or helping people access information. Communication can be relevant when you want to study messages, audiences and organizational purposes. Those professional questions overlap with humanities interests, but they should be compared through their own required methods and practical work.

Build a shortlist from evidence

Save a sample syllabus, an example of the expected final work and the current application instructions for each option. Explain what each route would teach you that your existing experience does not. Then compare a realistic term plan and complete cost rather than treating a broad humanities label as a promise of an employment outcome.

Official degree examples checked November 2, 2026. Each illustrates an academic route; requirements, supervision and professional uses must be confirmed for the exact program.

Search related federal master’s fields

History · English language and literature · Liberal arts, general studies and humanities. These searches show College Scorecard field groups with reported distance options. A field can include several degrees; confirm the exact current program and its format with the college. The named university examples above are separate from our reviewed program catalog.