Online learning helped one aspiring archaeologist keep digging
No matter where Madeline Flókadóttir’s travels took her, her University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC) coursework went with her.
As she worked across three states, traveled with family to Sweden and Norway, got married in Iceland, and spent long weeks in the field, Flókadóttir was able to keep working toward her degree from wherever she had an internet connection. For her, UMGC offered more than convenience. It gave her the flexibility and academic support to turn a childhood fascination with archaeology into field experience, original research, and graduate study.
“I love how flexible UMGC is. You can be fully online, and that made a huge difference,” said Flókadóttir. “While you’re working, it’s such a pain to get to scheduled classes. So it was nice to be able to do it from home and then, when I was in the field, to do homework from whatever hotel I was staying in.”
Madeline Flókadóttir ’25 BS, History and Social Science (double major)
Flókadóttir began at UMGC in 2021, studying history, social science, and anthropology. But her interest in archaeology began long before she enrolled.
“I have pretty much wanted to be an archaeologist since I was a toddler,” she said. “I used to watch the Indiana Jones movies and Jurassic Park with my dad, and I just instantly felt, ‘I have to do that.’ Obviously, it’s not like that in real life, but it’s still super cool and interesting.”
Her path to UMGC was not linear. After high school, she attended Montgomery College in Maryland but acknowledged she was not yet ready. A few years later, with a clearer sense of purpose, she began asking herself how to pursue the career she had imagined since childhood. That search led her to UMGC’s history and social science programs.
A childhood interest takes shape
At UMGC, her interests quickly evolved into practical experience.
One anthropology course in particular, ANTH 235: World Prehistory and Archaeology, gave Flókadóttir an early opportunity to experience the field firsthand through volunteer archaeology work. The class helped her test what professional fieldwork would actually feel like and confirmed archaeology as a path she wanted to pursue seriously.
“I took one particular class at UMGC that was really cool because the professor had us go out and do volunteer archaeology work,” said Flókadóttir. “I wasn’t a professional archaeologist then, so participating in archaeological fieldwork and digs for that class gave me a sense of what doing fieldwork would be like. That was really important when finding work and ultimately deciding to go to grad school.”
That combination of flexibility and hands-on learning proved especially important as she began building her professional career. Since 2024, Flókadóttir has worked as an archaeologist for Chronicle Heritage, a global cultural resource management firm. Her work has included a range of fieldwork and artifact analysis, giving her practical experience while she pursued her degree.
Even while balancing demanding work in the field, she was able to stay on track academically because UMGC’s online format fit around the realities of her schedule.
After completing her undergraduate studies at UMGC in 2025 as a Bachelor of Science double major in history and social science, Flókadóttir moved on to the next stage of her academic career. She is now pursuing a master’s degree through a joint history and archaeology program at the University of the Highlands and Islands in Scotland, where her studies focus on Norse interaction in Scotland. She began virtual classes from her home in Maryland in fall 2026 while working full-time and hopes eventually to pursue a PhD, most likely at the University of Iceland.
Turning coursework into field experience
Faculty members say her success reflects both her own drive and the support she found through the program.
Danielle Mead Skjelver, PhD, collegiate professor of history, and Damon Freeman, PhD, portfolio director of history and African American studies, said that Flókadóttir’s experience is not accidental and pointed out that UMGC’s 120-credit bachelor’s in history is built to help learners produce original work and prepare for what comes next, whether that means graduate school, public history, teaching, or careers outside the discipline.
A key part of that preparation is a deliberate three-course core sequence: historical methods, historical writing, and a final polished project. Together, those courses help students build research skills, refine their ideas, and produce work they can use for conferences, journals, or graduate school applications.
“Each of these courses is intense, and that’s what separates us from a lot of other online undergraduate history programs,” said Freeman.
He said the sequence begins with historical methods, where students learn how historians approach sources and arguments. In the second course, they begin to research their own topics and share their findings with classmates for feedback. In the third, they polish that work into a final project that can serve as a writing sample, conference presentation, or journal submission.
That structure helped Flókadóttir develop one of the most important projects of her undergraduate career: her senior thesis, The Impact of Christianization on Folk Practices and Class Struggle in Early Modern Nordics. In October 2025, she presented it to UMGC’s History Student Society.
For Flókadóttir, the thesis was more than a graduation requirement. It allowed her to pursue a subject she cared deeply about through research shaped by her own academic interests.
Madeline Flókadóttir ’25 BS, History and Social Science (double major)
Skjelver said that kind of meaningful, student-driven scholarship is a hallmark of the program.
“Majoring in history lets you do altruistic work that really matters to you while you’re in college,” said Skjelver. “Madeline’s work was on witchcraft in medieval Icelandic sources. Other students have researched a World War II unit at their base that had been ignored, or civil rights as they played out in their town, or even a local pet cemetery. The students are doing work that really matters to them, and it can change the discourse around it. They can have a real impact on public memory.”
The program, Skjelver said, is designed not just to teach content, but to help learners build confidence, originality, and analytical skills that serve them in many fields.
“Most history majors don’t work in the field of history,” said Skjelver. “They work in project management, they work in government, and many end up in management and leadership roles. It’s the historical thinking skills, especially originality and the ability to look at something in a new way, that help our graduates excel in their fields.”
Support for the next chapter
Just as important as the structure of the program, faculty say, is the level of personal support students receive along the way.
Skjelver and Freeman describe the department as highly engaged with students, even in an online environment. Faculty members offer one-on-one mentoring, extra office hours, presentation guidance, graduate school support, and letters of recommendation. They also help connect students to a broader academic community through the History Student Society and the university’s annual International Undergraduate History Conference, which brings together UMGC learners and alumni from around the world.
“Doing hard things, but doing them with support, is a big part of the experience we provide,” said Skjelver. “Online students can feel alone, so we work very intentionally to create community and high-touch support.”
Danielle Mead Skjelver, PhD UMGC Collegiate Professor, History
That support made a real difference for Flókadóttir. She credited Skjelver and history professor Jeffrey Glasco, PhD, with helping her through important moments in her undergraduate career, including her thesis presentation, capstone work, and graduate school applications. In another instance, she recalled a professor being understanding and accommodating when her laptop broke while she was traveling overseas and an assignment deadline was approaching.
For Flókadóttir, those experiences underscored what she now encourages other learners to remember, that in an online program, connection still matters.
“Reach out to your professors,” she said. “I know it can be scary, especially since you don’t see them in person, but they can be such a great help and support.”
Faculty members say those experiences are shared by many learners who balance education with work, travel, and other responsibilities.
“Our International Undergraduate History Conference is a collaborative, symbiotic mutual mentorship process,” said Skjelver. “We invite people from the world over to present. We receive proposals from Oxford, West Point, Delhi, Cairo, and Toronto to name just a few, and of course from colleges across the U.S. The online piece is irreplaceable because it truly is global.”
As Flókadóttir begins graduate study at UHI, her academic path support illustrates how flexible learning and faculty mentorship helped her continue building on a lifelong interest in archaeology. UMGC offered the opportunity to continue her education while working, traveling, and building experience in the field, ultimately connecting her with faculty mentors and research opportunities that helped turn that interest into a profession.