Recent graduate earns scholarship to history master’s program

Recent Northwest graduate Madison Barben is furthering her education in a master's degree program at Washington State University.

With the encouragement of Northwest Missouri State University faculty, Madison Barben is furthering her education and working toward her career goal of collegiate teaching.

Barben completed her bachelor’s degree in history at Northwest last spring and now is pursuing her master’s degree in history, specializing in modern European history with an emphasis in modern German history, at Washington State University. She received a full scholarship to pursue the advanced degree. 

Barben was drawn to Northwest to pursue her undergraduate degree by opportunities available in the University’s programs in public history and museum studies. The knowledgeable and supportive faculty proved to be an advantage. 

“My professors showed me that there is that possibility of going off to higher education and gave me the confidence to be able to do it,” Barben said. “Without my professors, I don’t think I would have been able to get this far.” 

She chose Washington State University’s master’s program because a faculty member with whom she communicated focused on the Holocaust and religion in Germany. The full-ride scholarship helped finalize her decision. 

“I knew it would be stressful for me to go to grad school and have to pay most of it out of pocket,” Barben said. “Getting a full-ride made me feel like I can do this and put my full effort into this and have less of a worry. It also showed that not only was it me being interested but then the school was interested as well.” 

In addition to her full-ride scholarship, Barben was awarded the Phi Alpha Theta graduate scholarship. Phi Alpha Theta, a national history honor society, provides multiple awards and scholarships to students interested in history. Barben’s membership in the organization allowed her to participate in multiple conferences and share her research at two conferences.