<p>I am a junior in high school and my dream is to go to college and major in history. Based on your experience can you please tell me how is life as a history major ?</p>
<p>easy.</p>
<p>10char</p>
<p>My best friend is a history major…she enjoys it but has to do a LOT of reading and research papers and such. Definitely takes up a lot of her time.</p>
<p>What are your plans after you “go to college and major in history”? Forgive my ignorance, but I’m not sure what most history majors do after college. Could someone enlighten me?</p>
<p>[url=<a href=“http://www.dartmouth.edu/~csrc/students/majors/history.html]History[/url”>http://www.dartmouth.edu/~csrc/students/majors/history.html]History[/url</a>]</p>
<p>AlexGanao, make damn sure you get into Dartmouth then.</p>
<p>It sounds pretty awful honestly. I couldn’t stand sitting there and having someone feed me their twisted version of history. Major in something where there’s more room for innovation and self-expression and less room for shameless indoctrination.</p>
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<p>The purpose was more to show that most history majors don’t do something directly related to history.</p>
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<p>I would disagree with the idea that history is shameless indoctrination. Sure, professors will have their opinions, but you should be able to differentiate between fact and opinion by now. Anyway, you can usually tell which way they lean which makes it even easier to pick out where they are editorializing. </p>
<p>I would also say that there is most definitely room for innovation and self-expression. Sure, there is no innovation in that you can’t change what’s already happened, but you can choose to look at it a different way. Assignments for papers most often allow for personal expression. You can develop an opinion on history, and defend that stance. You’ll have to take all the information you’ve learned synthesize it, and interpret the history in your own way.</p>
<p>eh, still, to what end, if, according to that list you posted, most history majors end up lawyers and teachers anyway? I mean, unless you’re planning to write a novel on history or something… Just read some history books and you’ll be good, I find that history classes are boring anyway in that I could learn a whole semester’s worth of material just by reading independently.</p>
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<p>That is the end many history major desire, and to achieve that end, history is an excellent means. </p>
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<p>This is all your opinion based on your interests and learning styles. In a history class, you’ll develop a richer understanding of the material than you would get by simply reading a book. Yes, there is a text that will give you the same information you can get without the class, but what makes the class worthwhile is the professors expertise and the extra readings beyond the text. The primary sources and things of the sort. Also, I find the papers to be really beneficial because they require a more critical look at thie history and (in a broader sense) improve my writing skills. </p>
<p>In my current history class, not a single student is a history major, but they’re all taking it for those reasons (or some are filling a grad requirement, I believe). Bottom line is, it comes down to your personal interests. If you don’t really enjoy history, don’t take history classes and that’s fine. Here are certainly other subjects that should be studied. However, history definitely is a worthwhile course of study that can lead to good tings after graduation.</p>
<p>AlexGenao:</p>
<p>I’m a history student. I’m concentrating on United States social and cultural history in urban centers, between 1900 and 1930. My favorite research topics include the socialization of women, class structure and conflict, and industrialization. I have other research interests as well (feel free to send me a message if you’d like to know more).</p>
<p>Being a history major has been a fantastic experience for me. I’ve personally always have been passionate about history from childhood onwards, and I knew I wanted to major in history as early as the end of middle school. To keep this post from becoming a novel, I’ll just say the following: I could never see myself NOT studying history. It made me smile to see that your dream is to be a history major. You won’t regret the opportunity or the discipline you will gain from it. </p>
<p>I’m currently in my third year at a community college, but I will be transferring to a four-year university next year, where I’ll complete my degree. I’m personally looking forward to making new connections with professors who work specifically in my area of concentration, and hopefully will gain excellent internship and research opportunities in the process.</p>
<p>History is quite a versatile degree. You can go into so many different career tracks with a history degree, such as law, teaching, archival work, museum curation, historic preservation, government-related positions, journalism, etc. I myself want to obtain a doctorate in history and teach as a professor, but before that, I hope to gain experience working in historic archives and in preservation. You’re not limited to merely teaching or to attending law school, as some may believe.</p>
<p>One important thing that I must tell you is when you apply to schools, check out the department’s website and look at its faculty pages. Usually, full-time professors will have their area of concentration listed next to their names (and sometimes will post their resume alongside it). If you have a specialty you want to incorporate into your major (which I highly recommend), this is a definite step to take. It’s always lovely to have a professor who focuses on topics similar to those you’re passionate about (and it could mean research and/or internship opportunities in the future). I love being able to talk to my professors about my historical research interests because I can relate to them so much on that level. Talking with your history professors at your individual university is crucial to your success as a history student, and as a historian in the future. </p>
<p>Another good measure to follow is to apply for Phi Alpha Theta, which is the national history honors association. Most schools have a chapter that you can apply for and join. Usually, you are required to maintain a specific GPA in your history courses, as well as take a certain amount of history courses prior to joining it. By joining it, though, you will gain opportunities to attend conferences, special events, etc. with other like-minded history students. You will also get to meet seasoned historians and network with faculty from other universities.</p>
<p>If you have any more questions for me, feel free to send me a message anytime. Like I said, I’m extremely passionate about history and I love meeting and getting to know other history students. Good luck with your aspirations!</p>
<p>@antipacifist: the purpose of studying history isn’t to learn “what happened” but rather to develop the skills necessary for historical research, analysis and interpretation. The actual practice of history is very much about “self-expression,” in fact historians can be considered storytellers, albeit ones who work with a peculiar set of restrictions on how they can tell stories. Good historical writing is an act of imagination as much as anything. </p>
<p>I don’t really understand what you mean by “twisted version of history.” There’s not a right answer, just approximations of the truth refracted through the prism of our own social concerns, values, and biases. You seem to have a very shallow view of how history is studied, why, and what it means.</p>
<p>Adding to that, it’s really a shame that so many people have this idea that history is just the regurgitation of an accepted body of facts. Facts are really merely the raw material from which history is created; the job of a historian is to create a convincing story from this vast mass of available data. It requires sound judgment, the ability to synthesize disparate strands of information that often do not appear immediately related, and a talent for persuasive, lucid prose that allows one to turn all this research into a meaningful work of history.</p>
<p>Unfortunately the falling standards of undergraduate education have made it easy to write off history and other humanities subjects as “easy,” when really they’ve just been dumbed down to meet the demands of the semi-literate philistines coming out of American high schools today.</p>
<p>Its harder than engineering.</p>
<p>JanofLeiden, I totally agree with you. And, for that matter, only the strongest and most determined students in these majors, including history, will come out on top in the end and will feel the most rewarded for their work and dedication. Those who choose it purely because they think it’s an “easy” major, will earn their degree without truly learning anything; they’ll just soak up information in order to get a good grade. It’s unfortunate, and it’s slightly disrespectful to history students like myself who are passionate about what we study and who have ambitions to pursue graduate studies in history in the future or make a career out if it.</p>
<p>Oh don’t overstate my case I don’t think the strongest history students will come out on top in fact I think they’ll end up unemployed/working dead end jobs/suicides. </p>
<p>Obviously every human should study engineering.</p>
<p>If that’s the case, then I’m clearly not like the history students you have in mind, nor are other history majors I know. We work hard, and we will get where we want to be in the end.</p>
<p>To me, I really don’t care how hard it is… This is what I want to do and I’m sticking with it. And if it is a challenge than I’m up for it… It will only make me a better person</p>
<p>@AlexGenao: Woooo! Go history majors!</p>