The Mission of the Department

History is an encompassing discipline that examines the intersection of individual, social, political, economic, and cultural factors and how they influence human development over time. In both teaching and scholarship, the historical discipline has made major contributions to the liberal arts. It stresses an understanding of the continuities and discontinuities between the past and the present and places contemporary issues, ideas and relationships in historical perspective.

History also teaches the complexity of remembering and reconstructing the past and how each generation reinterprets past events. In its sensitivity to different people, cultures and times, the historical discipline fosters a sense of human community. The study of history requires people to hone their skills in reading, listening, analyzing, imagining, questioning, wondering and writing.

In preparing students for a more thoughtful and aware life, history supports the college mission to prepare leaders and cultivate the capacity for responsible human freedom. A major or minor provides training for any work that calls for critical reading, analysis of evidence, and ability to construct and critique an argument. Graduates have pursued careers in law, business, government service, journalism, archival or museum work and teaching.