Career Choices
What to Do with a major in History!
There are several answers to the question "why study history?" First, by studying the human past you will considerably broaden your own horizons as an individual. While is usually not true that we can draw direct lessons from the past for the future, the search for historical truth can lead us to question our assumptions about the present and understand our place in it better. Perhaps most importantly, learning about the past is a very enjoyable and engaging pursuit.
Second, studying history provides training in many areas that you can use for the rest of your life. Reading and writing are central to the historical discipline, and successful majors become well-versed in both. They learn to research and process large amounts of information and communicate it understandably to others. In order to think historically, students have to use both their imagination and their ability to reason critically. Since its topic is the human past, a vast field, studying history also will expose you to a variety of different academic disciplines - anthropology, archeology, art, economics, international relations, literature, music, political science, and sociology, to name a few. This also makes history an ideal double-major or minor. Therefore, studying history should help you to hone your reading, writing, and research skills, improve your critical thinking abilities, and make you better-rounded intellectually. All of these things will also make you an attractive candidate on the job market, and not just in fields that are directly related to the major (see below).
Careers in History
The history major can prepare you for a wide variety of careers. Some of the possible career paths are directly related to history as a discipline. These include work:
- in archives
- as consultants
- in museums and historical sites
- as a researcher in the public or private sector
- as a Social Studies teacher in primary or secondary schools (usually requires a double major in Education)
- in universities as a history professor
The American Historical Association's brochure provides an excellent overview of jobs in these fields as well as the additional requirements, for example additional specialized degrees or training, that may be necessary to obtain one of them.
By the way, if you intend to go to grad school to pursue one of these careers it is a good idea to try to acquire additional skills like proficiency in a foreign language and basic computer competency.
However, you can find work in a wide variety of other areas with a BA in History due to the general skills that you will acquire. About one third of all current law students were undergraduate History majors. History provides excellent background for work in journalism as well as in publishing. Federal, state, and local governments all hire people trained in history in various capacities. Finally, business and industry are increasingly turning to liberal arts majors to fill leadership positions.
Examples of recent graduates:
- Beth Gottung (2000) -- earned her M.A. degree in history at Trinity College, and is now the head coach for field hockey and women's lacrosse at Montclair State University, New Jersey
- Brian Park (2000) -- went to live in Japan to teach English as a secondary language
- Mike Aftowski (2001) -- coached high school football in New Hampshire before beginning a position teaching history at a high school in Guilford, Connecticut; now takes students to Europe as part of a travel program
- Karena Bonacorsi (2001) -- toured the U.S. and then moved to New Mexico to enter the travel industry
- Joel Senez (2001) -- entered the M.Ed. program at AIC with plans to teach high school
- Shaun Tharaldson (2001) -- earned his M.Ed. degree at AIC and now teaches high school
- Tanis Blaszczyk (2002) -- earned her Master's degree in Sports Management at Springfield College and now works as Assistant Director of Sports Information, Central Connecticut State University
- Mike McGivern (2002) -- has been teaching high school in Springfield
- Mike Bujdos (2003) -- began a career playing professional hockey in Europe
- Lacy McCabe (2003) -- entered Suffolk University Law School in Boston
- Peter Bisson (2004) -- began teaching and coaching high school football
- Sydney Nelson (2005) -- College Valedictorian; entered graduate studies in political science/public policy at American University, Washington, D.C.
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