Bachelor of Arts - History

Program Description

History is at the center of a liberal arts education. It provides people not only with a memory of the past – a sense of how people, groups, states, and nations arrived at where they are now – but also perspectives on other cultures and civilizations, past and present, and an appreciation for the varieties and ambiguities of the human experience. By educating students about their own past and the past of others, using evidence from different times and places, the Department of History seeks to prepare students for responsible citizenship at home and in the world community.

The department stresses the development of critical reading and thinking skills, reasoning, oral and written communication, and the analysis and interpretation of conflicting evidence. Above all, the history program emphasizes the cultivation of sensitivity to human differences and values. Historical study prepares students for careers in teaching, law, journalism, public history, local, state, and national service, business, and graduate study in history or in other disciplines.