Major:
- Bachelor of Arts, History
Minor:
- History
History critically studies the past and those key values which have shaped society. The best tradition of historical study enables students to assess change over time and to create an interpretative narrative of the human experience. As an intellectual discipline, historical study includes historiography and historiographical interpretation, critical evaluation of historical sources, and causation and contextualization. Students in historical studies courses should be able to identify what historical details are necessary to understand how change occurs and how the topic at hand relates to wider (temporal and spatial) historical frameworks.
History also provides students with a sense of perspective and with the ability to make critical judgments - skills that are broadly applicable and extremely useful in a broad range of professions across the long term of one's professional career. Those with a sharply honed historical consciousness know that often what appears to be a simple solution to a simple problem will not work because unexpressed historical forces and traditions lie just beneath the surface. Therefore, historical consciousness and historical analysis helps to make the world and the problems we confront on a daily basis - from the mundane to profound - comprehensible. From the broadest perspective, to be ignorant of history is to be, in a very fundamental way, intellectually defenseless, unable to understand the workings of this or other societies which are critical elements necessary in understanding our daily problems and devising solutions for them.
Students majoring in history are offered a flexible curriculum that allows them to have a double major or one or more minors. Students are also strongly encouraged to develop interdisciplinary areas of concentration to meet their interests and vocational and professional goals. Examples of areas of concentration are:
- Prelaw
- Business (with course work in Marketing, Finance, and other technical fields)
- International Studies and Human Rights
- Historical Administration, Preservation, and Archival Management
- Social Sciences, Mathematics and Statistics, and Economics
History majors should consult the department's Director of Curriculum and Advising for further details.
History majors pursue professions in numerous fields including:
- Historians as Educators
Elementary Schools
Secondary Schools
Postsecondary Education
Historic Sites and Museums - Historians as Researchers
Museums and Historical Organizations
Cultural Resources Management and Historic Preservation
Think Tanks - Historians as Communicators
Writers and Editors
Journalists
Documentary Editors
Producers of Multimedia Material - Historians as Information Managers
Archivists
Records Managers
Librarians
Information Managers - Historians as Advocates
Lawyers and Paralegals
Litigation Support
Legislative Staff Work
Foundations - Historians in Businesses and Associations
Historians as Skilled Managers in Corporations
Contract Historians
Historians and Nonprofit Associations
Students in B.A. programs can acquire teacher licensure through the dual-degree B.A. and B.S.E. program conducted in conjunction with the Department of Teacher Education in the School of Education and Health Sciences. For details consult the department chairperson.
A history minor consists of 18 semester hours.