 Undergraduate major in History at Ohio University
As a history major at Ohio University, you will have the opportunity to work with many of the 23 full-time faculty members that make up the department. Our professors, who hold Ph.D.s from many of the premier graduate institutions in the nation, are noted for their exceptional teaching abilities. Each faculty member seeks to inspire their students to explore important and fascinating aspects of the discipline of history. Courses in American, European, African, Asian, Latin American, Southeast Asian, and Middle Eastern history are offered every quarter, presenting the student with a wealth of possibilities not found in many history departments.
Students begin their study of history in lower-level survey courses which provide useful overviews and important chronological grounding. The upper-division history courses offered by the Department give history majors the chance to study historical topics in depth. Students can take classes on women in America, the Vietnam War, Native Americans, Tudor England, the Soviet Union, U.S.-Latin American relations, the Holocaust, Genghis Khan, South Africa, history through film, traditional China, and many other subjects. At both the survey and upper-division levels, courses are taught largely by full-time faculty members who actively seek to incorporate new technologies into their classes. Students are encouraged to develop sophisticated analytical, reading, and writing skills. Small class sizes at the upper-division level also promote the personal interaction between professors and students that enhances the undergraduate study of history.
The question that history majors face most often is, "what are you going to do with a history degree"? This query persists even though the country is filled with individuals in all fields of work who willingly credit a large portion of their success to their historical studies as undergraduates. The unspoken concern behind the question is the sense that if your undergraduate degree cannot be instantly matched with a career, then you are doomed to be unemployable. Those making the inquiry often overlook that one of the primary purposes of an undergraduate education is to equip students with the skills that they need not just immediately after graduation, but for the rest of their lives. Programs that are geared to producing individuals with particular job profiles frequently neglect to train their students in the most fundamental skills. One of the lessons of the rapidly changing workplace is that focusing on one set of specialized tasks no longer provides job security or satisfaction.
The study of history at the undergraduate level, if pursued with vigor and dedication, will give you the ability to work successfully in any setting that puts a premium on analysis, strategic thinking, written communication, and information gathering. This is not just speculation on our part; history majors at Ohio University have gone on to successful careers in business, government service, publishing, teaching, consulting, medicine, law, and museum work. Several recent generous donations given to the department by former students further testify to the fact that being a history major at Ohio University can be a key to future success.
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