PHOENIX – Arizona State University announced it was partnering with the National WWII Museum to offer a graduate degree in World War II studies starting in the spring semester.

The online Master of Arts program will begin in January 2019 and include 30 credit hours for the 10 classes.

“These courses are new developments,” Volker Benkert, assistant professor of history at ASU, told KTAR News 92.3 FM. “We have not done this before here at ASU. It’s also new ground for the museum that has a host of online offerings and a big online presence but has never done … a degree program.”

Benkert said WWII cuts deep into the American experience and remains relevant to modern society.

“It indeed shaped the world that we live in today,” he said. “Not just the Cold War, but the post-Cold War world that we live in.”

Benkert said students will have access to hands-on, interactive lectures from experts at ASU and the museum, which is located in New Orleans.

“But the coolest thing for me is really the aura of the objects and the direct access to the stories that are embedded in the museum,” he said.

Penelope Moon, director of online programs at ASU’s School of Historical, Philosophical, and Religious Studies, said expanding online offerings is part of the university’s mission of making education more accessible.

“The students that enter our online programs, you know they’re a diverse lot,” she told KTAR, “but so many of them have said, ‘I would not be able to pursue my education dreams if there was not a fully online component.’”

More information about the program can be found at ASU’s website and the museum’s website.

KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Martha Maurer contributed to this report.

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