<p>I'm new to CC so I apologize if I'm putting this in the wrong forum!</p>
<p>I'm having a bit of a difficult time deciding what I should major in, or search for a career in, for that matter. I'm incredibly interested in historical artifacts. Things like clothing, items that people used, antiques, etc. I want to know more about how people lived in the past: what they used in daily life, how they dressed, and how the poor and rich differed. Things like historical plantations and reenactments intrigue me more than learning about what battle was fought when.
I suppose history would be the clear choice, but that tends to deal more with dates and wars. I'm not entirely sure what anthropology entails, so that may be what I'm looking for. I'm also interested in psychology and creative writing, but to a lesser degree.
Thank you in advance for anyone who can help with my rather silly question!</p>
<p>Anthropology, which is essentially the study of how people/cultures lived. I’m sure you can google the anthropology course listing for a university you’re interested in to see if that fits.</p>
<p>I would recommend a dual degree in Psych+Anthro. A major in Anthropology is <em>almost</em> useless but when combined with pscyh you have a few developing career fields that you can enter. Social engineering and applying psychology to large populations is becoming more popular now, and many cities are hiring for these types of positions. (Sociology would clearly be better than anthro for this, but anthro seems to fit your criteria better). If you feel you can go the academic route with your major rather than a career focused one then anthropology should likely be paired with sociology.</p>
<p>Also your question is not silly, it is a very important question that not enough people think about. </p>
<p>That’s a really great answer, thank you! I was definitely considering double majoring in psych + something. I was leaning more towards history but anthro is definitely a better fit for psych. I’ll definitely look into it more!</p>
This displays a very skewed view of what history actually is. Unfortunately, that’s not at all surprising since the majority of high schools do an extremely poor job of teaching history. </p>
<p>Dates and wars are aspects of political history, which is only one subdiscipline of history and no longer the most popular. (Military history, meanwhile, has fallen out of favor entirely.) Your interests align perfectly with social history, which is rather different. Spinning out of the Annales school (spurred by Braudel and his truly incredible history of the early modern Mediterranean), social history uses related disciplines like anthropology, economics, and demography to examine “ordinary people” in the past. This includes such diverse topics as the diet of slaves in ancient Rome, the role of midwives in Medieval society, the class system in Colonial America, and popular entertainment in the early 1900s. </p>
<p>A history major coupled with a degree in education, business, or museum studies could set you up quite nicely for a job in a history museum. Public history is a growing field. Such jobs often expect a MA, however. </p>
<p>Anthropology might also be worth a look, as others have said, but cultural anthropology frequently focuses on modern cultures. Archaeology would be a poor fit, I think, unless the college in question has a strong emphasis on historical archaeology. </p>
<p>Warblersrule is right about history. History can be anything from the past, including the things you mentioned. The difference between history and archaeology is that with a history degree you’ll most likely be focusing on books to learn, teach, and record. Archaeology focuses on history that is unwritten. It’s using artifacts to figure out the past. The two career paths cross often though. Archaeology can be anything from 50+ years ago, but is often about ancient cultures, as that’s the most likely to not be written about.</p>
<p>If you go for archaeology and want a minor, I recommend history, since they cross so much. Or museum science. There’s a few museums in my area that hire archaeologists who can’t find work in their field, even if those people don’t have a museum science degree. If you find yourself out of work and are willing to take a museum job, having a minor in that will give you a boost compared to the other archaeologist. If you want to live and work in a certain area, then you could get a minor for that specific area too. Asian studies is common. The university I’ll be going to offers a history of medieval ages (or something like that) degree. I read a few news stories about archaeologist in that sub field find out interesting and hidden things about churches. I’m sure there’s a bunch of other stuff that you can pair with archaeology though. Psychology makes sense too.</p>
<p>I also suggest history, but with this caveat: not all history departments are the same. Look closely at course offerings (catalog stuff) to narrow your search. Make sure the school teaches what you are interested in, and then narrow it further by looking at class offerings for recent years (not always possible, but often it is). The latter is important because schools are often slow to remove courses that used to be taught by a professor who has retired or changed specialties.</p>
<p>And be aware that your first job as a history student will be to get a broad view of world history. You may only get a few courses that really focus on the kind of stuff you’ve mentioned.</p>
<p>@warblersrule My view of history is a bit skewed, you’re right. The curriculum of the school I attend really only deals with political history, like you said. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy knowing the dates and facts, and my history teacher does a stunning job of teaching the poor curriculum, but I enjoy the more hands-on parts of history and physically seeing items from the past. Museums and historical sites thrill me.</p>
<p>I’ve thought about a museum job, but like you said, that often requires a MA. I’ll likely double major in history + psych or anthropology. </p>
<p>im totally confused on what i should major in… i was thinking abt petroleum engineering but i suck at chemistry as in balancing equation,memorizing formulas n so on… will that affect me from doing petroleum engineering???</p>
<p>@dn0064 I’m sorry? I’m unsure if this is supposed to be satirical because my dilemma is rather silly–liking the physical side of history rather than learning facts–or if you are actually confused. If the latter, I’d suggest you make a board, as someone might be able to actually help you. </p>
<p>Perhaps you might get some ideas by approaching the problem “backwards” - rather than picking the major first, try contacting someone at a place like Plimoth Plantation or Colonial Williamsburg for an “informational interview” about careers in the field and their suggestions for a major. Just glancing at the website, it looks like many historical reenactment places do take interns, and you would have a variety of potential jobs ranging from “skilled reenactor” e.g. blacksmith to “customer service” (provides info about the time period) to more general jobs. And of course, I’m sure there’s the “behind the scenes” research jobs too. (That sounds like a really fun career!)</p>
<p>If you have a local museum of natural history, they may also be of interest to you.</p>
<p>An anthropology major might not be appropriate ITE… Anecdotal, but a close friend’s sister finished her undergrad work in anthropology (graduated magna cum laude), was unable to find a job, and went back to school to get her nursing degree. </p>
<p>To quote Archer on this subject: </p>
<p>“Hey guy, my field’s anthropology!”
“Good luck with the job hunt.”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but I plan to teach?!”
“Anthropology.”
“Wh-? Yes!”
“To anthropology majors.”
“Hey ya know what?”
“Thus continuing the circle of why bother.”</p>
<p>@stradmom I actually live relatively nearby to a lot of incredible historical sites, and was planning to do that! Thank you for the suggestion. :)</p>