Thanks a lot Teresa!
This just might come in handy one of these days!
yp, casey
Casey Macpherson
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of the American Indian
Cultural Resources Center
4220 Silver Hill Road
Suitland, Md 20746-2863
Phone: 301-238-6624 ext. 6281
Fax: 301-238-3201
>>> [log in to unmask] 01/31/02 09:12PM >>>
I thought the following would be of interest to those who have or are
getting a degree in History.
What Can I Do With a History Major?
Prepared by Professor Catherine Lavender
Department of History
The College of Staten Island of The City University of New York
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Only a small percentage of history majors go on to be historians; most go
on, instead, to become lawyers, librarians, businesspersons, writers,
archivists, researchers, teachers, politicians, and even entertainers.
Leaders in every industry, from business to the arts, can point to their
training as history majors as the starting point for their success. Below is
a brief examination of the sorts of skills developed by the study of history
and various career options available to history majors. By examining the
varieties of approaches historians use, the discussion below seeks to
identify the advantages of historical study in fostering well-rounded
intellectual development as well as developing valuable career skills in
research, writing, argumentation, and documentation.
What are the skills one learns as an historian?
One of the key ways of thinking about what a history major prepares you to
pursue after graduation is to focus on the skills one acquires as a history
student. These include:
Effective writing skills--vital to any job for which a college degree is a
necessity, effective writing means the ability to successfully and precisely
communicate one's ideas in text.
Critical analysis skills--vital to the decision-making process for any job,
critical analysis means the ability to analyze a situation and come up with
creative and practical solutions.
Research skills--vital to any job, research skills mean the ability to
understand past practices and policies and to trace the roots of any issue,
to find new information which bears on that issue, and to incorporate that
information into one's analysis of an issue.
Interdisciplinary thinking and training--vital to any position,
interdisciplinary thinking and training means the ability to think about a
problem in a multitude of ways, to analyze it using multiple tools, and to
provide solutions which draw from different traditions of thought.
Curiosity and inquisitiveness--vital to any position, curiosity and
inquisitiveness mean the desire to learn more and to continue learning, to
examine reasons beneath issues, and to come to understand them as part of a
continual, life-long, education process.
What are some of the careers paths which history majors commonly follow?
Historians as Educators:
Many history majors go on to become educators, focusing on the communication
of their ideas. Educators include teachers in Elementary and Secondary
education. They also include Higher Education on many levels, including
teaching at community and junior Colleges, undergraduate colleges, and
universities. But educators are also important members of other educational
institutions that you may not think of as immediately as schools. These
include historic sites and museums, where history majors can become docents,
education directors, curators, guides, and interpreters. In addition, there
are other forms of teaching than standing up in front of a classroom. These
include work as historical consultants, contract archivists, public
historians, writers, and even filmmakers.
Historians as Researchers:
Many history majors go on to careers as researchers, emphasizing their
skills in evaluating and analyzing documentary evidence. Historians as
researchers include public historians as well as policy advisors, who serve
as planners, evaluators, and policy analysts, often for state, local, and
federal governments. In addition, historians often find employment as
researchers for museums and historical organizations, or pursue additional
specialized training to become professionals in cultural resources
management and historic preservation.
Historians as Writers and Editors:
Because success as a history major depends upon learning to write
effectively, many historians become writers and editors. They make their
living as authors of historical books, or more commonly, they work as
editors at a publishing house. Many historians become print and broadcast
journalists, and others become documentary editors who oversee the
publication of documents such as those produced by government agencies.
Historians as Information Managers:
Because history majors must learn to deal with documents, many pursue a one-
or two-year graduate program in library studies (commonly, a Master of
Library Science, or MLS, degree) or archival management and enter careers as
information managers. With this additional training, they enter the fields
of archives management, information management, records management, and
librarianship.
Historians as Advocates:
Many history majors find that historical training makes a perfect
preparation for Law School, as historians and lawyers often do roughly the
same thing--they argue persuasively using historical data to support their
arguments. Many history majors become lawyers; others undertake careers in
litigation support as paralegals. Others enter public service and become
policymakers, serve as legislative staff at all levels of government, and
become officers of granting agencies and foundations.
Historians as Businesspeople:
Most people overlook the value of a history major in preparing an
intelligent person for a career in business. Yet, historians track historic
trends, an important skill for those developing products to market or
engaged in corporate or financial planning. Many history majors enter
banking, insurance, and stock analysis. Historians also learn how to write
persuasively, and this training gives them an edge in advertising,
communications media, and marketing. Finally, many industries depend on an
intimate knowledge of government policies and historical trends; thus,
history majors have found their skills useful in extractive industries and
in public utilities.
Recommended Reading: Barbara Howe, Careers for Students of History
(Washington DC: American Historical Association and the Council on Public
History, 1989). (To order, contact the American Historical Association)
John
SLC, UT
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