History

What it’s about:

History is the study of the record of past human experience. Working with written, oral, visual and artifacts, history majors examine the causes, contexts, and chronologies of historical events to understand how human experiences have both remained the same and changed over time.

What the study of this major is like:

As a history major, you examine the causes, contexts, and narratives of past events. Historians now study a wide range of subjects, but most historians work with either political or social history. Although historians employ their own methods, they also make use of those of many other disciplines. Some “studies” majors include history; for instance, American studies generally has a literary or historical emphasis, whereas Russian/Slavic studies tends to focus on political science or international relations.

Courses usually focus on time periods, nations, geographic areas, historical perspectives, and themes, often in combination (for example, civil rights in the United States, or women in nineteenth-century Europe). Your course work helps you to understand the purposes, principles, and methods of the study of history, and to grasp both the particulars and the universals of societies past and present. You also explore questions of judgment and interpretation.

There are prerequisites for advanced work, but you do not necessarily have to take courses in a fixed, chronological order. You devise a program that meets your interests and also fulfils requirements found in most colleges: one or two introductory courses, one or more courses that acquaint you with cultures and histories other than your own, a course in historical methods, and a research seminar.

Some programs offer an introductory course that teaches the basics of history while featuring a particular topic, such as immigration in American history. Other lower-level courses may cover the history of Europe, the United States, and, perhaps, the non-Western world. Upper-level courses are usually seminars in areas you find most interesting. There is generally a capstone course that may explore great historical writing, the different genres of the subject, or the construction of chronologies from the raw materials of human experience.

As a major, you read extensively and develop writing skills through essay exams, book reviews, and research papers (you must become familiar with computer-aided research, especially if your research project has a social science focus). Because history majors often do archival research and interviewing, and your classes rely on lectures and discussion, you’ll need to sharpen your listening and speaking skills.

The main challenge you will face as a major is to find source material for your research studies. At first, you’ll interpret documents presented to you. Eventually, though, you must choose a question you want to answer (such as, what was the route of the Underground Railroad)?and then decide how to locate the book and other sources that will help you come up with an answer. With the encouragement of instructors and other in the field, you should quickly become an independent historian.

Career options and trends:

College professor; high school teacher*; lawyer; museum curator or archivist*; journalist.

History major learn how to locate, synthesize, and present information-valuable training for almost any career. Graduate and professional schools also value the education history majors receive. Few majors actually become historians-and college level teaching position are extremely competitive-but employment options are many and varied, including government service, business, teaching in elementary and secondary schools, law, medicine, and other professions.

Source: CollegeBoard 2012 Book of Majors