About Us
History is the study of change over time, but it's also the story of who we are as people, how our world was created, and what we value and believe. Our faculty members are leaders in their fields, pushing their specialties in new and exciting directions. They also pride themselves on excellent teaching. Our graduate students enter into a vibrant community of scholars, and many of them go on to secure tenure-track jobs in universities and colleges throughout the nation. Our undergraduates have the freedom to explore their variety of interests while remaining grounded in the mainstream of the discipline. All of them take advantage of the wonderful setting of Chicago, and the department's connections to institutions and universities throughout the area. All together, the department is a perfect setting to garner a broad-based education to form a well-informed citizenry.
Why MAJOR IN History?
Because every succeeding generation has new questions to ask of the past, history is constantly being rewritten, which makes it an exciting, sometimes dramatic discipline. Perhaps of equal importance, studying history allows students to develop numerous skills that are constantly in demand in the workplace. In fact, a recent survey found that employers rate writing, research, critical-thinking, and perspective-taking as the most vital skills they hope to see in new hires. These are precisely the skills you develop in the sustained study of history. Majors not only take numerous classes requiring them to develop as writers, they also produce a capstone paper inviting them to locate, evaluate, and order evidence. Learning history is thus not only vital to understanding the past and the present, it also invites students to develop skills viable in the workplace. For more on how to articulate the skills you develop as a history major, click here or here (pdf).