What’s the point of studying History? Surely it’s all dead, isn’t it?
Well, no. Not only is the discipline of History alive and well, it is also one of the most important subjects you can encounter as a student and as a citizen. The study of History is crucial to an informed electorate in a democratic society, teaching key skills for an increasingly communications-oriented, multiple-platform information economy and providing diverse perspectives on the present along with amazing stories from the past.
Undergraduate Study
Students completing a major in History will study the past across many centuries in a panorama of places and through a variety of methological, theoretical, comparative, and ideological lenses. Historians research, write, present information, and explain complex topics in language accessible to anyone who can read. Historians grapple with questions like, who are we and how did we develop into this type of society? Why is economic activity carried out in this way? How and why have human identities developed as they did? What historical forces have shaped our cultures and our ways of seeing? From wars and monarchs to factories and trades, from teatime and tee times to weapons and fashions, historians research, write, discuss, and above all teach about the massive range of human experience.