Department of History

The history immersion provides students with intensive study within the discipline of history. Students may choose to structure their immersion broadly, by choosing a wide range of historical topics to study, or narrowly, by choosing a particular area to study, such as American, European, or Asian history.

The history minor provides students with a foundation in the academic study of history. It serves as a complement to any professional degree, as historical study at the college level hones the skills that are important to any well-trained professional: namely, effective writing, critical analysis, engaged reading, and logical thinking. Students are free to shape the history minor to their liking, by choosing the geographic areas of historical study of most interest to them, such as American, European, or Asian, or by choosing the historical topic of most interest to them, such as transnational history, comparative history, war, business, race, or gender.

The immersion in museum studies introduces students to the history, theory, and practice of institutional collecting, exhibiting, storing, and preserving our cultural heritage in museums, archives, collections, galleries, and libraries. It also provides students with an introduction to public history, the technical investigation of art, the history and theory of exhibitions, and interactive design for museums.

The museum studies minor provides students with a foundation in the history and practice of the museum as an institution and in the history, theory, and practice of collecting, exhibiting, and preserving the cultural heritage that defines the purpose and function of the museum. Courses cover a wide range of topics that are relevant to contemporary museology: the history of museums and collecting, the technical study of art and materials, the history and theory of exhibitions, interactive design, public history, the rise of the museum profession, legal and ethical concerns, and conservation.